People ask me all the time what my top five children’s books are. My daughter, James, loves to read. She has memorized entire books that were read to her over and over again, and will read these books to her dolls during quiet time. She will ask us to read the same books to her over and over again every night for bed, in the morning when she wakes up, and randomly throughout the day. If the house ever gets too quiet, I know she is either drawing on her brother or she found a perfect corner to read in. James loves to read.
For years I was too scared to check out books for her at the library for fear that she would melt down when it was time to return them. We only just checked out books a few weeks ago. I’ll let you know if the tantrum follows. She currently owns over three hundred books and she’s not even four yet.
We get new books each month through two book subscription services. We signed up for Imagination Library through Dolly Parton. They send a free book to you each month until your child is five. You read right: FREE. We have gotten some of our favorite books from here, and now Sage is signed up too.
Another subscription box we are signed up for is Literati. Literati sends you five books each month. You can read through the books for a week, and keep the ones you want and send the ones you don’t back to them. The subscription is $9.95 per month and you only pay for the books you keep. They send stickers for your child, a special gift, and a unique poster for the theme of the month. This is one of our favorite deliveries each month.
James’ favorite book changes about weekly or so, but a few have remained in the top five children’s books throughout time. You can find a comprehensive look at her favorite books here. I’d like to highlight the books that have stood the test of time and remain on top always.
Here is a list of The Top Five Children’s Books (so far):
1. Pout Pout Fish: As I read the cover, “The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen. Pictures by…”, she will reply each time, “Dan Hanna”. I think it is important to point out the author and illustrator of the books we read. I want her to see these as potential future jobs for her, and simply want to give credit where credit is due. The book has an amazing cadence and I love to give each character a unique and wacky voice. I don’t think anyone reads this book quite like me. The pictures are exciting. James loves seeing how bioluminescent fish are shown in the book. This is one of the most fun books to read as a parent and it has stood the test of time. I’d like to also note that we have four other pout pout fish books. He will be around for a while.
2. We Don’t Eat Our Classmates: This book is a new love for us, but for the past three months this book has been requested daily. It’s a hilarious tale of a dinosaur attending school with children. In this book, she eats children and spits them out when her teacher sternly disapproves. Penelope Rex strives to make friends and stymie her desire to eat her classmates. This book is hilarious, and represents a diverse classroom very well.
3. I Am Enough: This book features characters that resemble James. I did not know or understand how important showcases diverse characters in literature was until I had James. This is important for her because she is a black girl, but is just as important for her white counterparts. It is super important to see all skin colors, and hair types on covers of books. And this beautiful brown skinned girl and her heavenly fro is a beautiful representation of the diversity needed in literature today. Recently James picked up this book and told me clear as day, “that’s me. That’s James”. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it wasn’t her, but she wouldn’t have listened anyways. She saw herself on the cover of one of her favorite children’s books. Powerful stuff.
4. Malala’s Magic Pencil: This autobiography written by Malala Yousafzai is an all time face for little J. The book opens with a question: Do you believe in magic? Each time I read that first line, James says, “yes”. It is rare for children to cling to autobiographies, but Malala wrote this book so children can access her story and fall in love with her character. It is personal, sometimes funny, and always inspiring. Malala reminds us that one voice can change the world.
5. The Cat in the Hat: Again, she knows this author quite well and will tell you instantly who wrote this book. She memorized about 17 pages of this book when she was two, but these days prefers not to recite from memory, but just to soak it all up. She likes to be read to and nowadays will remind you that she is not reading, you are. This book is a funny tale of a cat visiting two kids while their mother is gone for the day. The Cat and his friends cause quite a mess, and the kids and their fish are not happy. Not one little bit. She has loved this book since she was a baby and it’s still in the top five always.
If I continued to give an exhaustive list on all of her favorite books, this post would take forever. Like actually forever. I can make new lists for my top five children’s books as they change throughout time. I will continue to make book lists available on my blog for certain themes and share those with you throughout time, but for now HERE is a more comprehensive list of some more of her faves.
Something that is very important to me when looking for new books for James and Sage is making sure that their literature represents the diverse world we live in. More importantly, I want the characters in James’ books to look like her. When she sees Lala in I Just Want to Say Goodnight, or she sees the cover for I Am Enough, she sees herself. Quite obviously. She asks me if they are her. I ask her if they think they are her. She replies, “yes”. Who am I to tell her no? So I agree. She is happy. She sees herself in a book. She sees herself in many. The more and more I can make that happen, the wider her imagination will be, and she will truly see her possibilities as endless. One book character at a time.