Buy it: Ready Set Grow!
Ready Set Grow! – This is a wonderful book for kids who love to dig and play in the garden. It features many easy and fun gardening projects that are perfect for children. The pictures are colorful and the instructions are easy for children and parents to follow. Some of the projects include making a fairy ring of flowers, making a flower-covered tepee, how to grow treats for pets, how to grow a pizza garden and how to plant strawberries in an old pair of rain boots. Each page features easy step-by-step instructions, photos, an estimate of how long it will take to complete and a list of everything you will need. My 5-year-old daughter can’t wait for spring so we can start working on bringing these ideas to life in our own backyard.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
Buy it: First Big Book of Animals
National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Animals (By Catherine D. Hughes) – This book will give young children an up close look at animals in the wild and will teach them funny and interesting facts about each one. This National Geographic Little Kids book features page after page of amazing, high quality, colorful photos of giraffes, lions, dolphins, turtles, monkeys, frogs, butterflies and many more. When I first gave it to my 5-year-old daughter, she and I spent an hour looking at the pictures and reading some of the animal facts and we didn’t even finish the whole book! There are quick facts listed about each animal, such as where they live, what they eat, how big they are, etc. But some of the other information had my daughter completely engrossed. For example, the book said that a giraffe’s tongue is about 18 inches long and could stretch almost all the way across the open book. Or when a baby koala is born, it’s the size of a jellybean.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
Buy it: Stella: Queen of the Snow
Stella: Queen of the Snow (By Marie Louise Gay) – Stella and her little brother Sam are excited to head outside and enjoy the first snowfall. But Sam has never seen snow before and has lots of questions. He asks Stella if they can eat snowflakes, where do snowmen sleep, what do snowmen eat and why is fog coming out of their mouths. Stella fields all his questions with sweet, childlike answers. She tells him that polar bears eat snowflakes for breakfast, snowmen sleep in snowbanks and eat snow peas and their words freeze on cold days, which makes a fog come out of their mouths. An adorable story about the joy and wonder of children on a snowy winter day.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
Buy it: Fancy Nancy – Explorer Extraordinaire!
Fancy Nancy – Explorer Extraordinaire! (By Jane O’Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser) – Fancy Nancy and her friend Bree are going exploring in their backyards. They share their rules and checklists for being an explorer extraordinaire. The girls observe bugs, look at wildflowers, watch birds and collect leaves. There are great photographs and several interesting facts that are perfect for children. How do you tell a butterfly from a moth? How big is a hummingbird? How do flies walk on the ceiling? Fancy Nancy and Bree explain it all. The book also includes nature jokes, instructions on how to make a pine cone birdfeeder and a recipe for extra-fancy lemonade. A perfect book for Fancy Nancy fans and nature lovers.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
Buy it: The Tiny Seed
The Tiny Seed (By Eric Carle) – Children may know that seeds can grow into flowers and plants, but this book explains the long journey of the seed beforehand. The story begins with several seeds being carried on the wind. But some seeds fall where they cannot grow. Other seeds are eaten by birds and mice. In the spring, the seeds that have survived grow into plants, but some don’t last because of weeds, running children or being picked. But one tiny seed manages to survive and it grows into a giant flower. And in the autumn, the wind blows hard and the flower’s seeds are blown off to start new plants. This book really helped my 5-year-old daughter understand how seeds grow into plants and then the plants release more seeds to make new plants.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
Buy it: Baby Bear Discovers the World
Baby Bear Discovers the World (By Marion Dane Bauer) – A baby bear kisses his mother good-bye and sets off on an adventure to discover the world around him. This book contains absolutely amazing photographs of a real baby bear walking through the forest and encountering other animals. Each animals asks the baby bear where his mother is, pointing out that he’s too small to be out on his own. But the baby bear continues on his adventure, finding food, splashing in rivers and crossing a meadow. It’s not until baby bear encounters some bees, a skunk and a noisy farm that he decides he’s ready to find his mother. Baby bear tells his mother everything he discovered about the world and that next time he wants her to come along.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
Buy it: Reach for the Sky
Reach for the Sky and other little lessons for a happier world (By Allison Stoutland) – This is a wonderful book that teaches young children about all the little life lessons that we learn from nature. The book explains that bees teach us that cooperating gets the job done and clouds teach us that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. With great illustrations, the Reach for the Sky points out that lessons we can learn from snowflakes, pigs, turtles, dogs, cats, owls and even snowmen. This book would make a great new baby gift that would be cherished for many years.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
Buy it: Everybody Needs a Rock
Everybody Needs a Rock (By Byrd Baylor) – In this book, a little girl explains that everyone needs a rock for a friend and she has 10 rules for picking a good one. According to her, you need to get down low and look the rocks in the eye. You need to find one that feels good in your hand and in your pocket. Smell the rock, feel the rock, look at it in the bathtub and choose it all by yourself. My daughter, age 5, loves this simple message that everyone sees beauty in nature differently and you should go in search of what is beautiful to you. And you can even find it in a rock.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
Buy it: If You Find a Rock
If You Find a Rock (By Peggy Christian) – This is a wonderful book about all the different rocks that children can find as they go out and explore. My five-year-old daughter loved this book immediately and is now always on the lookout for each kind of rock mentioned in the book. The book features wonderful photographs of children finding and enjoying each kind of rock, from skipping rocks to chalk rocks to climbing rocks and splashing rocks. The book encourages children to explore and find the simple joys in nature – like sitting on a moss-covered rock or pushing over a rock to see what’s hiding underneath. And the book also talks about memory rocks, which just remind you of someplace or someone important. Since getting the book, my daughter has found a memory rock almost everywhere we go.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
Buy it: Fireflies!
Fireflies! (By Julie Brinckloe) – This is a sweet story about the simple pleasure of chasing fireflies on a summer night. A little boy is eating dinner when he sees something flicker out in the yard. He grabs a jar and runs outside to join his friends. They all run barefoot in the grass trying to catch the fireflies in their jars. The boy is thrilled as catches the fireflies and takes his glowing jar back home. But as he lays in bed, he watches as the light in the jar dims and the fireflies fall to the bottom. The boy struggles with the realization that the fireflies would be better off if they were flying free. He goes to the window, opens the jar and lets his fireflies fly away into the night. A great way to teach children about appreciating and respecting nature.
The book recommendations included on this website are books that my daughter Ally, now age 5, and I have read and enjoyed together. I recommend the books that stand out to me as excellent children’s books for writing, illustrations, originality, story and characters. Ally and I hope you enjoy them too!
