As part of our 1000 Books Before Kindergarten series, we will introduce to books on a variety of topics from empathy to friendship, colors and alphabet to animals!
Do you start with the classics? Award winners? Fairy tales? Well known authors? In my opinion its all of the above! Having a good mix of books, on a variety of topics will help you figure out what topics your child will enjoy as they get older.
You don’t need expensive or fancy books to start a home library, so I hope the selection of books doesn’t make anyone feel that way. Also, it doesn’t matter if you read the same book to your child ten times, be sure to mark down all ten times that you read it.
Reading with Your Toddler/Preschooler
While reading make sure you encourage your child to take notice of the words in the books. This will help them make the connection between the pictures and the words. If lines are being repeated encourage him/her to say them with you. When you are finished with the book, be sure to ask your child open ended questions about the story to open a dialogue.
Below are some books that I consider essential when starting a home library for your child.
- Where the Wild Things Are
- Guess How Much I Love You
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
- Goodnight Moon
- Bear Snores On
- llama llama red pajama
- Head to Toe
- Big Red Barn
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
- Click, Clack, Moo-Cows That Type
- The Snowy Day
- The Giving Tree
- The Dot
- Where the Sidewalk Ends
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear
- Love You Forever
- Dragons Love Tacos
- If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
- The Very Hungry Catepillar
- The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
To purchase any of these books, please visit one of the following:
Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Books-a-Million
What other books do you think are great additions to start a home library?
Love of impromptu dance parties, 80’s cartoons, and horizontal life pauses (aka naps); Natasha Brown is a stay at home mom of 4 kids, and wife to one lucky guy! In her spare time, she is co-editor of Grits & Grace, as well as editor for The Mother Hustler Blog and Creative Director for the Mother Hustler podcast.
I love reading to my little ones. One of our favorites is “Snuggle Piggy and the Magic Blanket” it was one of my favorites as a kid so i love sharing it with my kids. My nanna had even made me a “magic blanket” as a kid which i still have.