MommaReads

This is SUCH a great book…so much vocabulary and pictures to discuss. It is a non-fiction text with a short sentence or two on each page with great pictures that accompany the pics. Some of the great words that you might want to discuss with your child include: annual, perennial, bulb and tuber. We have had a family garden almost every year for the past five or six years, so this would be a great book for us to read to help us to learn even more. Don’t have a garden? This book might make you want to have one. 🙂

We are smack in the middle of baseball season around here, so it didn’t surprise me when I saw that our youngest had totally ransacked the baseball section of the library shelves. This was my absolute favorite of the bunch. The illustrations are adorable and the story is interlaced with baseball facts. Super cute and fun to read!

I have to admit that this is not my favorite series, but when kids start reading on their own they get to pick what they want to read (not what mom wants to read to them) and this was a favorite at our house for a while. This series follows Geronimo Stilton, who is a mouse, his crazy mouse family and all of the adventures they go on. I think one of the things that my oldest liked about this series, besides all of the adventures, is the mouse lingo. For example, they live in New Mouse City. They travel to the Mousific Ocean…you get the idea. (In my opinion all of that mouse lingo gets real old, real fast, but the kids love it.) I will admit that the stories are very creative, they are great for those kids who are ready for chapter books, they have some illustrations (that are in color) throughout the book and I know I heard some giggles coming from our son as he was reading them. He will still pick one up every now and again and re-read it or if a new one comes out he will check it out from the library. They are also available on CD if you want to listen to them in car.

If you have a child who loves sports then you need to check out Matt Christopher. He has written fiction books on every sport from baseball to skateboarding to ice hockey to soccer. Since this blog is dedicated to younger readers, it is important to note that he has books that are geared more for the 6-8 year old group and then others that are geared more for the 9-12 year old group. The books that are for the younger set are easier to read and have illustrations every few pages. Also, the books for the older kids do cover some topics that may not be appropriate for the younger set, nothing horrible, but maybe things they just aren’t dealing with socially at school yet…things like that.

Even though Easter was yesterday, it’s still the Easter season and a great time to continue to read Easter stories. (Especially since all the Easter books at the library will be available again.) 🙂 This rhyming story takes readers from Mary discovering Jesus’ empty tomb and ends with Thomas touching Jesus’ wounds. This book may not be available at the library, but this and many other great books are available at Arch Books.

Several years ago our church had a flier available for parents if they were interested in purchasing books for their kids. It was just like a book order your child might bring home from school, but it was for religious books. I ordered a few about Easter since it was that time of year. This one starts with Jesus praying in the garden and ends with them placing him in the tomb. I have read this to my own children again and again and have used it in my first grade Sunday school class as well. They love that it rhymes and I love that it tells the story in a way that engages the children.

First of all, let me just say that I have loved every book I have ever read to my kids by P.K. Hallinan. This one is no exception. I like this book because it combines the family traditions of Easter that many families probably participate in like Easter baskets, Easter egg hunts and family dinners along with dressing up in special clothes, going to church and praying. If you have been reading MommaReads long enough, you also know I am a sucker for a book that has a good rhyme as well.

This book is not just about Easter, it’s about the whole journey…his whole life. The books starts with his birth and concludes with his ascension. I like the illustrations in this book, as well as the story, of course. There is also an element to this book that makes it a fun one for families to read together, too. It has a repeating phrase, “journey, journey on” that pops up again and again. Children love books like this because, even though they may not be able to read, once they have heard the story they know there’s a repeating part and they can participate. Just stop reading when you get to that part and your child will know to chime in with the missing words.

There are over 60 books in this series and kids EAT THEM UP!!! They are great for kids who are starting beginning chapter books because the chapters are short, there are pictures every once in a while (kids at this stage still need a few pictures to give them a break from all that reading) and the kids love to see if the next book in the series has a sillier title than the one they are currently reading….with titles like Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots and Goblins Don’t Play Video Games. Children also love series because there are usually some characters that carry through from book to book. This holds true with the Bailey School Kids books with Liza, Melody, Howie and Eddy. Series books are great because children at this stage of reading tend to devour books…they have learned to read and read pretty well and they just can’t seem to get enough of it. (No, this does not hold true for all kids, but in general, it’s a pretty fair statement.) These also make silly and fun read alouds for kids who aren’t quite ready to read these books by themselves or who maybe want to read a little out loud while Mom or Dad share in the reading…it takes some stamina to read chapter books as any early elementary child will tell you. 🙂

There is also another set of Bailey School Kids books if your reader is quite ready for these called Bailey School Kids Jr.

This series of books is a MUST for those kids who are starting to read beginning chapter books. You would be hard pressed to find a second grader who hasn’t read at least one of them I imagine. This series is the kind, however, that once a child has read one of them, they usually just keep on reading and before you know it they have read all of them. Why do I love them? Not only are these books full of adventure, but they are very well researched and kids learn about people and places from history and geography as well. They also make great read alouds if your child isn’t quite ready to read them alone. Another thing I really like about these books is that they come on tape/CD. They are great to listen to in the car and the content is appropriate for children of various ages.

One last thing I love about them is that the fiction books also have non-fiction companion books that go along with them. So, if your child really enjoyed The Magic Treehouse book where Jack and Annie end up being a part of the American Revolution, then there is a non-fiction book that goes along with it where they can learn more about that part of history.