What My Kids Are Reading: What’s in Our Christmas Basket!
In honor of the start of December (And the official start of the Christmas season-our elf arrives today), I thought I would show you all some of the books in our overflowing Christmas book basket! This isn’t even half the books, and I won’t list them all because, well, it would take too long to read! I’m going to list a few of our favorites, and try to highlight a few more throughout this month.
Tell me what Christmas or holiday books you read with your kids!
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
I mentioned this book on Instagram, and I was so happy to see that a lot of you also read this as a kid! I loved this book growing up (and I got to be in the play version and loved every minute of it) and my kids are loving it as well. It’s a short book, and is great for reading out loud together (6 and up) or for an older kid to read on their own (8ish and up). The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is about how a family of 6 ill-mannered kids, the Herdmans, end up attending Sunday school at a very traditional church. They go for the snacks, and end up staying and volunteering to be in the Christmas pageant. No one argues with them, because if you argue with a Herdman you might end up with a black eye. The Herdmans have no idea what the Christmas story is, and as they learn throughout the book, the kids and parents who thought they already knew everything end up learning a few things themselves. This is a great book that really highlights the importance of understanding and tolerance, even for the “worst” kids. And I have to say, the Herdman kids ask some interesting questions about the history of the Christmas story that started some great discussions between my own kids!
The Night Before Christmas
This is the classic Christmas book, and I’m sure everyone has a copy of it. We have the Mary Engelbreit illustrated version of it, and I just love it. The pictures are beautiful and keep a somewhat outdated story interesting for my kids. We read this every Christmas Eve right before bed!
Llama Llama Holiday Drama
We love the Llama Llama book series, and I was heartbroken when Anna Dewdney passed away in 2016. Even though this is a board book and probably too young for my kids, we still read it! (I think there’s something about Christmas books-no matter how old kids get, they’re never too old for favorite books.) It’s all about how tiring the holidays can be, and how hard it is to wait until Christmas. Llama Llama throws a tantrum, of course, and his mama explains that while holidays and gifts are fun, the real gift we have is each other. I think that’s a great message, delivered in a simple format, that’s wonderful for any age.
The Spirit of Christmas
The illustrations in this book are absolutely gorgeous, and the story is very sweet. (If you’re like me, you’ll tear up at the end.) It is told in rhyme, similar to The Night Before Christmas, and tells the story of the spirit of Christmas entering a family’s home and decorating it every which way to get ready for the holiday. But the narrator keeps thinking something is missing-ornaments, bells, cookies. At the end, the narrator realizes that Christmas isn’t Christmas without love and children, and I’m already tearing up just thinking about reading this to my kids again this year! It’s truly a wonderful book.
Little Critter: Merry Christmas Mom and Dad
I loved Little Critter as a kid, and I still love him! This is two books in one: Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad and Just for You. In Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad, Little Critter tries to make cookies, decorate the tree, and wrap presents in his own, messy way. In the classic Mercer Mayer style, Little Critter doesn’t always pay close attention to what he’s doing, but his heart is in the right place, and he just wants to please his parents. Just for You isn’t a Christmas story, but it is a sweet story of Little Critter trying to help his mom any way he can. (Even if that means it makes more work for his mom in the end!)
Little Blue Truck’s Christmas
Do your kids read the Little Blue Truck books? Mine loved these so much that I had them memorized for a good couple of years. In this cute Christmas story, Little Blue Truck is delivering Christmas trees to all of his friends. The illustrations are super cute, as usual, and there is a light-up element at the end of the book that any kid will love.
EXTRA!
Elf Alternative–North Pole Ninjas: MISSION: Christmas!
Do you have an Elf on the Shelf? We do, and it’s fun, but last year I wanted something a little different. (In addition to the elf, because my kids definitely did not forget about Elfie coming.) We tried the North Pole Ninjas, and it’s awesome! The set comes with a book, a stuffed elf ninja/sensei, and a bunch of good deed cards. This is sort of like the Elf on the Shelf in that you can move the ninja around every day, but instead of focusing on behavior, this is meant to focus on doing good deeds throughout the month of December. The book tells how there are special ninja elves at the north pole who perform top secret missions, and now that you have the sensei, you can also be a secret ninja and help them perform all their good deeds. There are 50 cards with suggestions on them, but you can always make up your own as well. The goal is to pick a card or two a day and carry out secret missions (good deeds) throughout the month, with the sensei guiding you. My kids love ninjas, and they really do like doing nice things for other people. We all need a little encouragement in this area sometimes, and this is a fun way to encourage it in kids.
What My Kids are Reading: November 17, 2017
It’s almost Thanksgiving, which means it’s almost time for the kids to be out of school for a week. 9 days, really, but who’s counting? I’m actually looking forward to being able to read more to both kids, since we can stay up a little bit later at night. As you can see from today’s post, they really love series, and they really love particular series! Tell me what you’re planning to read over the Thanksgiving break, and what your kids have been reading lately!
The 8-Year-Old
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
Do you remember how I said I was going to make my son wait awhile before starting the fifth Harry Potter book? Because books 5-7 are pretty dark and I was concerned about how he would handle it? Yeah. He wore me down after about a week, and he’s handling it just fine. Like my husband said, if I was 8 (almost 9) and had access to all 7 of the Harry Potter books, would I have wanted to wait? Nope. So he’s reading it on his own during the day, and I read it to him at night, and it’s been going great! He says this is his favorite one so far. (I’ll let you know what he thinks about the ending when we get there. Sirius is one of his favorite characters . . . )
I pre-ordered the newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book because my son is a HUGE fan, as is everyone else! He read this in a day, and I’m pretty sure he’s read it a couple more times since. In this one, Greg Heffley and his family go out of town for the holidays, but of course nothing goes right. My son loved it, and he already can’t wait for the next in the series!
The 6-Year-Old
The 65-Story Treehouse
Clearly, my younger son still loves this Treehouse series! We are on to the next one, and it’s just as silly and crazy as the others. as silly as these books are, I have to say that they’ve helped with his reading skills a lot. He’s a good reader, but this book makes him WANT to read more, and to really sound out bigger and more difficult words. There are also a lot of nonsense words, and he’s been doing a great job sounding those out. Being able to sound out nonsense words might not sound like an important skill, but it really is! It prepares kids for bigger, real words. Think of this series as a modern Dr. Seuss series . . . with flying cats and chainsaw juggling.
What We’re Reading Together
The Story of Doctor Dolittle
I started to read this book to my kids by accident! I was going through some of my old books, getting a little nostalgic and teary-eyed over those dusty covers, and I came across Doctor Dolittle. My kids were playing around me, and I just started to read this out loud. They stopped playing, got a blanket, listened, and asked me to keep going when I stopped. It’s such a simple story, of a doctor who prefers animals and discovers he can talk to them, but it’s fun, sentimental, and very entertaining. I highly recommend this one for any age-it really stands the test of time!
[Top]What My Kids Are Reading: Thanksgiving Edition 2017!
You guys, I love Christmas. Love. It. I won’t tell you how many VERY LARGE bins of decorations I have, or how many traditions I attempt to foist upon my family, but believe me when I say there are a lot. Of all of it.
BUT.
I also love Thanksgiving! And I have too many turkey decorations to just skip over this holiday for Christmas. Growing up, it was our biggest family holiday, and it continues to be that way. It now includes my family, my husband’s family, and any random friends that happen to need a place to go on Thanksgiving. The food is the best (my mom could take down Martha Stewart any day), the kids have a great time, and some years it’s even cold enough for a fire in the fireplace. (60 degrees or below if we’re hoping for a holiday fire!)
So in honor of the holiday that everyone seems to skip over in order to start decorating for Christmas, I’m going to share some of our favorite Thanksgiving books to read, as well as some new ones that I’ll be adding to our collection. I’ll probably also be sharing some of my many stuffed turkeys on Instagram over the next couple of weeks, so if you want to see just how many I actually have, head over there!
This isn’t a Thanksgiving book, but it might as well be. This is one I grew up reading, and it’s all about Mrs. Hedgehog and her forest friends, the trouble they get into, and the food they make. And somehow, she makes even dandelions sound delicious. I love reading this with my kids in the fall!
The Berenstain Bears and the Prize Pumpkin
By now, you know that we love the Berenstain Bears, and every year we read this one right before Thanksgiving. Papa Bear decides he’s going to outdo the farmer next door and grow the biggest pumpkin in Bear Country. As you can imagine, things don’t go as planned, and it’s a fun story to read! (Both of my boys still love it.)
Thanksgiving on Thursday (Magic Tree House 27)
If you have elementary or middle school age kids, this one is great! Jack and Annie are transported back to 1621 for the very first Thanksgiving. They want to help out, but they don’t know how to do things the way the Pilgrims did. They learn what the Pilgrims actually ate back then (not turkey), get an interesting visit from Squanto, and learn what it means to work together.
I got this years ago from a Scholastic book order form, and I still insist on reading it every year. It’s perfect for young kids and great for early readers. There are cute illustrations, and some funny parts about certain family members (grandma falls asleep), and of course there’s a big finale with the final meal!
This is a really fun book for younger kids about a group of turkeys who get into mischief on a train ride. The illustrations are really cute (I do love turkeys), and it’s a fun one to read out loud since it’s written in verse.
If your kids love Olivia (like mine used to), they’ll love her Thanksgiving book! She’s convinced she can “talk turkey” and tries to convince her parents that a turkey would make a great pet. If you can find the TV episode that this is based on, it would be fun to watch and read!
Pete the Cat: The First Thanksgiving
Do your kids love Pete the Cat? Ours do, and I have to say it’s one of the more fun books to read out loud. In this one, Pete is in the school play about the first Thanksgiving, and as usual, he uses his groovy ways to make it interesting! (There are also flaps with fun pictures hidden underneath.)
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey!
My 6-year-old LOVES this series, and I’m going to get this one for our collection this year! She swallows many things, including a turkey, a football, and a boat. This old lady must have an iron stomach to continue surviving this series.
The Pilgrims Didn’t Celebrate the First Thanksgiving: Exposing Myths About Colonial History
This is for older kids (9 or 10 and up), and if you have a kid who loves history, this is for them. It’s a fun way for kids to find out how the pilgrims really celebrated (or didn’t celebrate) Thanksgiving, and what the true history of Thanksgiving is.
What Was the First Thanksgiving?
This is such a fantastic book series, and so far I’ve loved every one we’ve read. It’s for older kids (8 and up) but I think it would be ok to read to younger kiddos as well. It’s a really great way for kids to learn about the pilgrims, Thanksgiving, the Wampanoag tribe, and how our Thanksgiving celebrations have changed throughout history.
[Top]What My Kids Are Reading: November 3, 2017
The Wizards of Once
Happy November! We are gearing up for the holidays (one down, two and a birthday to go), winding down fall sports, and finding lots of new books! It’s hard to get my kids to read anything but Harry Potter these days (as evidenced above), but we’re working on finding books that are just as worthy.
The 8-Year-Old
The Wizards of Once
We received this in our very first OwlCrateJr. subscription box, and I’m stealing it as soon as my son is finished with it. This is written by Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon
The 6-Year-Old
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Well, this is probably the millionth time I’ve talked about Harry Potter here, and it definitely won’t be the last. My 6-year-old is trying to read this on his own, but I’m mainly reading it to him because it’s a little difficult. He heard most of it when I read it to my 8-year-old, but he wants to start the series just for him now. And I’m ok with that!
What We’re Reading Together
The Magician’s Nephew
We’ve finally started the Narnia series! I’ve been dying to start this with my kids, and we’re reading about a chapter a night. My 8-year-old was a bit resistant, because he doesn’t want to read anything except Harry Potter right now, but he is loving it! My 6-year-old is too, and it’s tough to find a book that both of them love. I decided to read the series in chronological order, not publication order, and I THINK I’m ok with that. This book tells the story of the beginning of Narnia, and it makes me even more excited to read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to them next!
EXTRA!
Those bookmarks you see (Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and Lucy Pevensie in The Magician’s Nephew) are from Carrot Top Paper Shop. Y’all, she has the cutest female literary hero prints and bookmarks. I have a bunch, and I have a feeling my collection is only going to get bigger. (I’m not affiliated with her shop or sponsored or anything-I’m just a huge fan!)
[Top]
What My Kids Are Reading: Talking About Tough Things
The world can be a scary place. As a mom, I wish that I could put my kids in a bubble sometimes and protect them from all the bad things. Unfortunately, that’s not an option, nor is it the right thing to do. Aside from plastic bubbles not having great ventilation, it’s our job as parents, caregivers, and family members to help the kids in our lives understand tough subjects. But we can also help to make the world seem less scary, and to give them ideas of ways they can help and make the world a better place. (I think for a lot of kids, having an actionable task really helps.)
In the past few weeks, we’ve been having discussions about some tough subjects. One specific subject (9/11) and then the more global subjects of how people treat each other. I’m not going to get political in this post, so no worries! But I think we can all relate to finding it difficult when our young children ask really hard questions. We’ve discussed bullying, racism, and equality, to name a few. None of those are easy to talk about, but they are important. It’s a bit heartbreaking to watch my kids discover that the world can be a scary place, and that not everyone is as accepting, loving, and kind as they are.
My 8-year-old found out about 9/11 recently, so we’ve had quite a few discussions about that event lately, and that really spurred my search for some of these books. The books I’m talking about this week have been extremely helpful in offering concrete stories about 9/11, as well as showing ways in which we can all “look for the helpers” in the scariest situations.
I think books, in addition to open family discussions, can be so helpful for kids when it comes to understanding big topics. I’d like to highlight the books that we found the most informative and helpful with our kids, for several tough subjects. Today’s post focuses mainly on 9/11 books (which are pretty hard to find for younger kids), but some of them may be helpful for you! Let me know how you approach difficult subjects with your kids, and what books you’ve found that might be helpful.
I Survived the Attacks of September 11th, 2001
My 8-year-old loves the I Survived series, so this was the first place I looked to find a more tangible way for him to read about 9/11. I was so happy to see there is one, and so was he! It’s about a middle grade boy who ends up in Manhattan on 9/11 (he skips school to visit his dad’s firefighter friend), and the events are seen through his eyes. This was incredible helpful, since it’s from a kid’s perspective, and it’s not graphic at all. While I do not believe in banning books for kids, when it comes to something like this, I think it’s important to find age-appropriate books, and this one is great for 8 and up!
My 8-year-old was particularly interested in this one because he had a lot of questions about the people who helped that day, and we always talk about how people can help with terrible things happen, whether it’s a natural disaster or otherwise. This is 10 stories from first responders, military officials, and the story of United Flight 93. The stories are not sugar coated, and some of them are a bit more graphic, so if you have a younger kid, you might want to read this with them or just pick a few of the stories to read aloud. It’s a fantastic way to show how real-life heroes help in tough situations.
Seven and a Half Tons of Steel
This book was recommended to me by Bethany at Mom of Wild Things. I love this one because it is a picture book for all ages, and it focuses on what happens after a disaster. Like, way after. This book, which is beautifully illustrated, tells the story of how a steel beam from the World Trade Center was removed from the rubble and remade into the bow of a navy ship called the USS New York. That in itself is amazing. But the story goes on-the USS New York ended up housing shipbuilders who lost their homes after Katrina, and it continues to work in the ocean today. This is the best book I’ve seen for all ages that shows how good things can come out of the worst situations, with the concrete story of taking a steel beam that might have just been trashed and turning it into a massive navy ship. I highly recommend this one.
Kate at The Loud Library Lady recommended this to me, and it is the most gentle, wonderful book. This one is not about a specific event, but about a little girl who sees scary things on the news and how her parents take her out into the community to show her that not everyone is scary. It focuses on how we can all make a difference in the world, even if it’s something as small as being kind to a new friend or saying hello to everyone, even if those people don’t look like we do. This is a quietly powerful book, and I teared up reading it. I’m very glad it’s in our collection now.
Have You Filled a Bucket Today?: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids
I absolutely love this book, and we’ve had it for awhile. While it does not deal with disasters or scary subjects, it does show kids what it means to be kind to others (filling up their buckets, and by extension your own) and what it does when you’re mean to others for whatever reason (empties everyone’s buckets). I think this goes hand in hand with the other books, because it shows kids a tangible way to bring kindness into the world and make a difference, no matter how small. And for my kids at least, when we read it, they really do think more about how they act (especially with each other…) and what kind of people they want to be in the world. It’s also a great way to open discussions about what they can do at school if they see others not being kind or see someone who needs extra kindness.
[Top]