Books to read with Toddlers

I realize it has been way too long since I last posted. I can blame it on being busy, or being lazy, or dreading all things technology-related and the woes that befall me whenever I attempt the majority of Internet-land.  Mainly, I don't blog during the day, and once the kids are in bed, I'm usually wiped, and curl up with a good book, an even better glass of wine, and promptly fall asleep.

I will eventually getting around to blogging on these past few months.

But, since we are in the full swing of summertime, I've been trying to take advantage of my kiddos being home to fill their little minds more with books than with TV or movies.

I found this perfect website on books to read aloud to your toddlers.  The podcast rocked my world.  5 minutes, just read 5 minutes a day to your toddlers when you have their attention.  Those 5 minutes quickly add up, and I've found my kids bringing me books to read throughout the day.

I also struggled with reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, but felt I had to read those asap to my kids before they grew up.  I'm still in the process of collecting these amazing books, but I have started with easier reads that interest all of us.  Please note, reading books with a 4.5 year old is much easier than my 2.5 year old.  But I still try, and I have found mealtimes can be a nice time to read, as well as at bedtime.  And, if I am too tired to read-aloud, or need to unload the dishwasher/clean up the dishes all over my countertops/throw in a load of a laundry, I have found our library has a great online resource of various authors reading various books, and that has been great to let these authors read short snippets to my kids at mealtime.  (My kids, I mean JACKSON, usually last about 10-15 minutes in listening at this stage.  Ellie is very hit-or-miss in her attention span.)

Without further ado, here are some books we've had success in reading, and books that I've enjoyed as well:

(note, I have found it to sometimes be helpful to let my kids see the movie as well, as it further enhances the book reading experience and can prompt Jackson's memory as to what he has seen and what we're reading)

Margaret Wise Brown, the author of Goodnight Moon, as written some other wonderful books, and we've enjoyed the various ones we've seen at the library

This is the beginning of our intro to reading chapter books, and while I still love reading Dr. Seuss, The Giving Tree, Max Lucado children's books, Llama Llama books, Where the Wild Things Are, and all the other children's books we read, I am slowly venturing into trying to read longer to the kiddos (when I'm not too tired!).

Hope y'all are enjoying your summer, and Happy Reading!