Top 6 Children’s books | Mooresville Family Photographer

As a mother of three we have been reading to our kids every night for what seems like forever! I don't know about everyone else, but I am not one of those moms that loves to read the same book about a Brown Bear, Going on a Bear Hunt or even saying Goodnight to the Moon over and over and over again!  We have a very consistent ritual in our home that everyone gets to pick out one book at bed time and either mr. fix-it or I will read to the girls while we are all squeezed into one of the girls beds (dont worry they sleep on a full, but its still tight). I love when the books that I read to my children (even though one thinks she can read to me by narrating the photos) to have meaning and a message to them. So I have created a list of my top children’s books we have in our home. These truly are some of my favorite books to read to the kids and will be hard to let go of one day! Most of these have come from our local Barns and Noble in Huntersville, NC or Amazon but I am sure any book store would carry these or be able to get them for you. 

1. My First Bible Stories - I LOVE LOVE LOVE books that have more than one story in them. We travel often and it is so nice that I only have to pack one book and I know that we will be ok for a few naps and night time readings. So back to the book, these bible stories have some great bight colorful pages that take up the entire page and the text is laying over the images so there are lots of things to look at and keep little eyes occupied. Also, the stories are maybe 4-6 pages long so it actually goes into enough details so you can have a conversation later about what lesson we learned
 

2. The Day the Crayons Quit - Ok, seriously this book and the third one on this list might be the two funniest books on my kids bookshelf! I actually think that this author, Drew Daywalt decided he was tired of reading kids books so he decided to write one that the parents could enjoy too! In this book, each crayon gets to tell it’s story to Duncan (the little boy who owns the crayons) about why it deserves a vacation, all of which are very cleaver and very funny. This book has also gotten some great awards: Amazon’s 2013 Best Picture Book of the Year, A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2013, Goodreads’ 2013 Best Picture Book of the Year , Winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award
 

3. The Day the Crayons Came Home - This is the second book to what we call the “crayon books” by Drew Daywalt. In the “Day the Crayons Quit” all the crayons left because they were tired and needed a break from Duncan. In this story, all the crayons need to be rescued. Yellow and Orange crayon have stopped fighting over who gets to be the sun because they were left in the sun, melted together and found out how hot the sun can be, Tan crayon (or burnt sienna) doesn't know what color it is because it has been eaten by the dog and is more carpet fuzz than crayon. These two books will have everyone in the family laughing! 
 

4. On the Night You Were Born - I got this book when my oldest was born and it has a special place in my heart. Nancy Tillman has some amazing stories and beautiful artwork, I could actually title this list “Top 15 Children's books” because it would be every one of her books on it, maybe another blog post..… Her stories all have a consistent message about the love a parent has for their child. This book talks about how on the night you were born the geese were honking your name, the polar bears danced until dawn and the sound of the wind whispers your name. It truly speaks to how special each of us are in this world. 
 

5. Wherever You Are My love will find you - This is also a Nancy Tillman book (I own all of her children books but these two are my top favs). This book talks about how the love of a parent will always be with you and you are never alone no matter what you do because my love will always be with you. In our home we have taken the message in this book and talk about how God’s love follows us around and is with us not matter what we do or where we go, he is always with us! 
 

6. I See Me Books - My Very Own Name - We received this book as a gift when my oldest turned two from her great grandparents. And now each of our other two kids got their name books on their second birthday too. The main reason I loved this book is it helped my daughter learn the letters that make up her name and the correct order to spell her name before she went to preschool. Each page builds on the previous letter until the name is spelled (ex: the name Cooper, page 1 would be a C with an animal that starts with the letter C, the second page would have Co and the animal on that page would start with the letter O and so on…) We would read this book over and over again and she would have to tell me each letter and because of how the book is written she got lots of practice because each page started her name over from the beginning. It makes for a great gift for a 2-4 year old! 

We give our children books for any and all celebrations so please comment below with your favorite books so others can add to their collection as well! 

 

 

 

Katy Short is a family photographer but does any and all things from engagements, to weddings, to newborns and family portraits with young and grown kids. She loves God, her Mr. Fix-it husband, three daughters, anything with chocolate. She is grew up in southern Louisiana but loves that she gets to call Mooresville, NC home and she secretly hopes to be able to move back so her daughter’s can experience all the unique things that make Louisiana special.