DragonFly's Book Suggestions

Reading the Rainbow Books about Colors 🌈      Children learn to distinguish colors at about 18 months and then name colors by 3 years of age. We use colors to describe things all the time. What color is the car? Which underwear would you like to wear today? Blue!       This is a time period of the child wanting to learn about, sort and say colors so why not couple their eagerness of colors with books about colors. With the seasons changing from winter to spring and St. Patrick's Day with the pot of gold under the rainbow, seasonally it is also a good time to be reading books about colors. I've been reading the Growing book by book website and I recieve her emails where a few weeks ago she had the idea of doing a color reading challenge. We decided to jump on the challenge and read more books about colors. We just finished doing her 7 Day Read the Rainbow Reading Challenge.   Below are 15 color books we've enjoyed and would recommend for you to ch...

  We've been reading, and would recommend, these books by Elizabeth Verdick. They are part of the Best Behavior series and the Toddler Tools series. They have simple words, colorful illustrations and they are written in a positive way. Our daughter loves looking at these books! We've heard her say "good job!" now that we have read "Manners Time" over and over. Each book has helpful tips for parents and caregivers, it is like a parenting book and kids book all-in-one! We can use phrases from the books like "tails are not for pulling." These board books are geared for the 0-3 age range. Even though kids learn best by absorbing what they see around them, it is also helpful to explicitly teach or read to them the desired behavior. "Whenever you ask, please say please!" is one of the lines from "Manners Time." Elizabeth Verdick has written over thirty books. Her books help kids grow. Her books have received numerous awards, including...

 What's more exciting than reading a book once?  Reading a book twice! What's more exciting than reading a book multiple times? Well, reading a series of books with the same characters and by the same author!  Book series allows for more books to unpack what happens with the character your child loves. The familiar is comfy. Curling up by the fire with something known and something a mystery is what we all want. Book series are also like t.v. episodes instead of a movie. 2-year olds have short attention spans and need short books. They also know what they like. Our daughter loves animals and sounds so the following book series have been a hit for us.  1.) Biscuit Books      Our daughter was gifted a few Biscuit books from one of her Grandma's last Christmas when she was a year and a half. Now, we have read over 20 Biscuit books! She even got a Biscuit stuffed animal for her two-year old birthday. Whenever we go on trips we make sure to bring along a Bi...

  Hush, Little Baby  A folk song with Pictures by Marla Frazee; illustrations copyright 1999.  This book brings you into the folk song's origins of the Appalachian mountain area in West Virginia.  There is just something so captivating about this book! We've had it checked out from the library for two months and our daughter still wants it read and sung to her. She loves looking at the details in the illustration and screaming like the baby, blowing out the candle, signing "broke" for the looking glass, or signing "happy" for the baby and the end of the book. She likes looking at books with babies and puppies and this book has both. The peddler has a mandolin which is a nice connection with her dad. I had never thought about what storyline the folk song might have. In this rendition, an older sister is jealous of her younger baby and wakes the baby and then asks her Papa to buy her items from a peddler to make the baby stop crying. Each item seems to make th...

  What a cute book! Does A Cow Say Boo?  is written by Judy Hindley and illustrated by Brita Granstrom. The pictures are adorable and multicultural children are represented. I love the word choices of "Oh, no!" and "hullabaloo!" and of course the play on peek-a-"boo!" This book is perfect for 2-year-olds. 

Five Potty Training Books      Learning the social expectations of where to pee and poop, or any life change, can be explained in a book. Diapers are not forever. Everyone poops. We can sing a song about the big girls sitting on the potty. We can read about the proper place to go, such as "[s]hould you go in your diaper?" Before too long our babies can become big kid pros like the Super Pooper and the Whizz Kid. Here our top 5 children's books for the potty training season.  Diapers Are Not Forever  by Elizabeth Verdick, illustrated by Marieka Heinlen This informative book includes straight forward language on what to do and why, "Because...diapers are not forever." Our daughter liked the artwork of the dog and the cat, and on the last page the dog says, "Good for you!" Everyone Poops  by Taro Gomi This is a classic; it is humorous and our daughter loved it! As you would expect from the title, it is a book explaining that "all living things eat, s...

10 Bedtime Books We've Been Reading  Reading books helps create a routine before bedtime: hearing the comfort of a parent's voice with the lull of rhythmic reading, cuddling close to a slower heart-beat all reminds their bodies that it is time to fall asleep. I like having approximately 4-10 books near the child's bed that they can choose from. We typically read three different books plus our last book, which is our prayer book: Good Night, God.  We then sing our goodnight song "Jesus Loves Me" and turn off the light. Any book can become a bedtime book; however, books about sleeping, prayer or love can lend to better bedtime book choices. These are our favorite books for this age range, starting with the ones we first read that our daughter still loves, to the newest ones she most recently enjoys. 1. Good Night, God  by Ginger Swift, illustrated by Daniela Sosa. Cottage Door Press published 2018. Ages Newborn to 5 We were gifted this book twice, by two different f...