Our evening routine looks something like this. Chris bathes the kids while I clean up downstairs (and let’s be honest, I might scroll through Instagram for two minutes without any interruptions. Hallelujah!) Then we each take a kid to get ready for bed. After teeth have been brushed, hair combed, and jammies put on–the kids and I head into Nash’s room to read a few board books before bed. After we’re done, Arden turns on Nash’s white noise, turns off the light, and leaves me to sing to him for a minute before putting him in bed. I love this routine and always look forward to those few minutes of the day where we’re all squeezed in the same chair, and everyone is happy about it. However, Nash definitely has a book length limit. We’ve got a rotation of about 20 board books that he’ll sit still for–which is great, but I feel like Arden has been missing out on the “bigger kid” books. So lately I’ve asked her to pick out a couple during nap/rest time that just the two of us can read together. And wow, I’ve missed these books!
I thought it’d be fun to put together a list of some of our favorites. A few were gifts, and others I purchased after seeing them recommended somewhere just like this.
1. The Wonderful Things You Will Be – This was a gift from Arden’s grandma (she always picks great books), and I think I love the illustrations almost as much as I love the message of the book. It just makes you happy…and sometimes a little teary.
2. Dragons Love Tacos – My sweet friend Emily gave this to Arden when we lived in Houston–and it’s been one of our favorites ever since. The voice is hilarious and really fun to read.
3. Robo-Sauce – This one is from the same authors at Dragons Love Tacos, and equally as entertaining. Only this one has a special surprise: the book itself turns into a robot 😉
4. Uni the Unicorn – I’m pretty sure Arden would love any book about a unicorn, but this one is especially sweet because it’s about a unicorn who believes little girls are real.
5. Gaston – This was a birthday gift to Arden from my friend Ali. Because…French Bulldogs! The illustrations are so cute and it has a great message too.
6. Stuck – I’m not going to lie, this book frustrates me a little bit. I mean, there’s no way a tree could hold a cruise ship! But it makes Arden laugh so hard, which is what matters most.
7. The Odd One Out – This is the coolest search-and-find book I’ve ever seen. Each page has a pattern of a different animal, and the kids have to find the one that’s not like the rest. I love watching Arden’s little mind at work as she searches for the odd one out.
I’d love to hear what your favorite big kid books are…especially with my little book worm’s birthday coming up next month.
Happy reading!
I just ordered and received, “The Wonderful Things You Will Be”. It’s so sweet! Would make a great gift idea for baby showers.
I don’t know any of these! Will look them up! Thanks!
We have a TON of books, but we don’t have any of these! Thanks for the recommendations!
How fun! I love hearing about new books. Here are a few of our faves…
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
There’s a Lion in My Cornflakes by Michelle Robinson
Desert Rose and Her Highfalutin Hog by Alison Jackson
The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen (anything by him is good)
Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, On the Farm & At the Port by Britta Teckentrup
I Had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn
The Jolly Postman by Allan Ahlberg
For Just One Day: Laura Leuck
I love this list! I just posted about our favorite books too and we always need more. I have looked at the Robo-Sauce book since Christmas and still haven’t gotten it. I also like the Dragon Loves Tacos and it’s funny that you mention it’s from the same author. I guess I need to get them finally!
We have exactly zero of these!! And, off to Amazon I go, because there’s no such thing as too many books!
I think Liam would love The Odd One Out! And I must admit, I just donated our copy of Robo-sauce because I HATE reading it! Have you started any chapter books with Arden? That is what Liam loves now!
My favorite to read to Claire is “Happy Birthday, Madame Chapeau”. I love the illustrations and while it’s a rhyming book, the rhythm is fun to me compared to Dr. Seuss rhyming (which is not my fav).
Oh, and I haven’t read any that you shared, so I will be checking those out!
Books #1 and #2 are favorites here too! We actually have Taco night in honor of the dragons 😉
We love the Day the Crayons Quit and the Day the Crayons Came Back!
These are great picks! I’ve heard of a few but haven’t heard of some so I’m off to check them out!
We do the same exact routine 😉 Thanks for the book recommendations. You are the third person to talk about Dragons Love Tacos so I will for sure need to check it out for my boys.
We love all these! The only one we don’t have/haven’t borrowed from library is Robosauce, will def add to our list!
We really need a library trip to get a new pile of books. I’m totally over all the ones we have. Uni is really cute and Gaston too. We’ve had those from the library before. One of our recent faves was…The Curious Garden.