David has been reading The Hobbit aloud to the kids. (Despite the incredibly violent movie adaptations, the book is written for children.) Our daughter is LOVING the story and now all imaginative play involves hobbits, wizards, and dwarves. Daddy is in heaven!
David and I knew our five year old daughter was a voracious reader, but before this past month neither of us had any idea just how many books she read and finished on her own.
In June we (as a family) decided to keep track. Each time our daughter finished a chapter book, we added the title to her book list.
Last month she read: Half Magic | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Knight’s Castle | Kirsten, Kirsten Learns a Lesson, Kirsten’s Surprise, Happy Birthday Kirsten, Kit Learns a Lesson, Kit’s Surprise, Happy Birthday Kit, Kit Saves the Day (American Girl books) | Bicycle Mystery, Bus Station Mystery, Mystery Behind the Wall, Mystery in the Sand (Boxcar Children books) | Some Good News, Wedding Flowers (Cobble Street Cousins books) | Ivy and Bean
That’s a total of 18 chapter books in 30 days. This tally doesn’t include books we read to her or books she read to her brother.
(To put things in perspective, I read three books last month. Clearly mama needs to carve out more time for her own independent reading.)
I hope our daughter always makes the time to read.
And may she pursue all her interests with equal enthusiasm, dedication, and passion!
Let me preface this by saying that while I have read many, many parenting books, there are so many other parenting books out there that I haven’t read yet. In fact I have a very bad habit of taking out “phenomenal” parenting books from the library (on friends recommendations), flipping through, and then having to return them before I get a chance to read them. Sometimes I renew them not once but twice and I still can’t find the time to tackle them.
STORY OF MY LIFE. So many interests, so little time.
The books below are the best of the ones I have read all the way through AND loved. These are the books that not just shaped our parenting style, but best describe it.
We think these four books are must-reads for all parents of young children:
1. How To Raise An Amazing Child the Montessori Way
2. Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting
3. NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
4. Positive Discipline for Preschoolers: For Their Early Years–Raising Children Who are Responsible, Respectful, and Resourceful
Don’t have time to read a whole book, but want some awesome parenting advice right now? This awesome article is worth reading RIGHT NOW.
Please join in the discussion. What parenting books do you love? I’m excited to check out your recommendations.
This is what happens in a family of readers.
We have piles of books and magazines everywhere. Our bookshelves are stacked three rows of books deep.
We love to read ourselves to sleep and almost always stay up too late each night devouring our books:
We read absolutely everywhere:
Here’s what we’re reading right now.
Our daughter is plowing through the Boxcar Children Mysteries series
The little guy is looking at “Can You See What I See?” (from the used book store), a gift from his big sister. For the most part, he just watches us when we read to him. When you’re eleven weeks old, pictures are blase. Moving mouths, on the other hand, are incredibly fascinating.
I just finished rereading the Twelve Houses series by Sharon Shinn
David reads many new books, lucky guy! His most recent read is the latest book in Robin Hobb’s Rain Wilds Chronicles series, Blood of Dragons
We love our fantasy books. They make for the best escapism.
What are you enjoying reading right now?
While I joke that reading Calvin and Hobbes is the best way to prepare for parenthood, I consider three books must reads for all expectant moms.
(When you’re pregnant or a new mom the last thing you want to do is Google issues; there is so much crap advice online. Instead I recommend you stick with informative, non-alarmist books written by experts. These are the books for you.)
1. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
2. Having a Baby, Naturally
3. The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two
The above books are so comprehensive that I’ve tossed all our other pregnancy books and consult these regularly. (You don’t even need to read them all the way through; just read the chapters that interest you and then keep a copy handy for when problems arise.)
In fact, this week I’ve already reread parts relating to drinking alcohol while breastfeeding (one glass of wine with dinner is fine on occasion once your milk is established) and the frequency of poops in newborns (skipping a day or two or seven evidently is entirely normal in newborns older than six weeks).
Ah, parenting can be so glamorous.
Stay tuned for several AWESOME parenting books to read. I found a couple that are WAY better than all the rest. I’m excited to share them with you soon.
Whoops! Evidently I wrote this exact same post five years ago. These must really be the best books out there. HA!
