I used to look fondly back on my younger years and think, “wow, I used to memorize a lot of songs, but can’t seem to keep new lyrics in my head any more. Are those days behind me?”
Then I had a child and started reading lots of picture books over and over. As it turns out: no, I am still very capable of memorizing things, I just have to repeat them about five billion times to get them to stick.
But seriously, reading out loud together is so great. I get to play around with fun voices and do little call-and-responses and soak up so much amazing art in the name of Family Bonding Time. So I thought it’d be fun to pull together a list of some of the books we’ve pulled off the shelf most often over the past year! The kid currently loves vehicles, so there’s a lot of those, but hey. We like what we like.
In no particular order:
I picked this one up before Robin was born, and I love that it’s provided him with so many different experiences across his two years of life (gahh). It was the only long book that could really keep his attention when he was little; then he started being able to point different animals out; now he can find Sleepy’s hiding spots and I just think that’s great. It’s a really fun book with lots of delightful little details and continuity.
“Horn went beep, engine purred! Friendliest sounds you ever heard!” The refrain will bang around my head until the end of time. We have a few of these books now and he loves every single one, because they are about a little blue truck. I cannot overstate how thankful I am that the verse has a nice, bouncy, repeatable rhythm to it.
I like to do my best Ash Ketchum impression when reading as Little Blue Truck. You go, Little Blue.
This book is a treat for me personally. It’s sweet, silly, and gorgeous, with some really fun visual humor that feels like a springboard for future comics reading, just saying. I love how Tabor plays with the physical act of book-reading in a way that supports Mel’s journey. The craft in this!!
(And also Robin likes it a lot. Win-win.)
This is such a funny, offbeat, wonderfully illustrated book. I love that it’s about someone who just really needs some Me Time to get stuff done. A mood for the people.
We’re at an age right now where I get to be a little more interactive when reading, which is super fun! Grandma’s refrain, “LEAVE ME ALONE!,” is lettered really big and bold throughout the book, so I can point at the balloon and go “what does she say?” and get a little “leave…me… alone!!” in reply. Cute!!! This definitely won’t backfire.
A deeply affecting piece of art that makes me think about my place in the universe and how lovely it is that we’re all here together. Robin’s favorite part is the endpapers, which feature a number of colorful cars; each readthrough involves 70% Endpaper Appreciation and 30% Reading The Actual Book.
Did I mention Robin likes vehicles? The vibe of this book is very Little Engine That Could for the winter crowd. Now whenever we walk down a hill he’ll go “long way down,” just like Walt.
His fondness for this book has been steadfast! It’s a brief overview of influential Black American women from a variety of disciplines. Robin likes pointing out things like the space shuttle, airplane, and ballet shoes.
We checked this book out from the library and I knew that I’d want to add it to our shelf immediately. It’s very much my jam – a tender and slightly lonely story that involves a magical moon bunny, a sleepless night, and the most gorgeous, starry spread.
As for myself, I’ve been loving Skip and Loafer and Grace Needs Space!!
Sign up below to receive updates from Gale about books, tour dates, and works-in-progress! No spam, only the occasional inbox treat.
