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Library Books We Are Currently Reading & Loving: Top Ten {Tuesday}

Top Ten {Tuesday}

Book lists are some of my fave. I really love looking into others’ bookshelves and seeing which books they think are worth reading. We’ve found a few good books at the library lately and thought you might like to add them to your to-check-out list!

TOP TEN FUN KID AND PICTURE BOOKS

1. Mortimer’s First Garden by Karma Wilson

I have loved Karma Wilson since I picked up Bear Wants More at a used bookstore. (I thought it was a sign language book because I thought the animals were signing “more”. Go click on it and tell me if I’m right!)

This little book about Mortimer the mouse is really a parable about God planting a seed and making it grow. It’s a really lovely tale. My Asa (2.5) loved it and sat through every word! And now whenever we see a sunflower he thinks it must be Mortimer’s!

2. Let’s Make a Joyful Noise: Celebrating Psalm 100by Karma Wilson

This book is GORGEOUS. It has the most fun illustrations. Kinda modern. But retro, too. It’s really a re-telling of Psalm 100 so the illustrations are like a secondary story. I got it at the library and did NOT want to return it!

3. Animal Strike at the Zoo. It’s True! by (oh really?) Karma Wilson


Well, once I found out Karma Wilson had faith-filled books, too (see above), I began stalking the W section at the library. This isn’t a biblical book like the other ones, but it’s SO fun! The animals go on strike until a little girl comes to the zoo and they remember what they were meant to do! The illustrations are hilarious. And it’s one I can really read over and over!

4. Raggedy Ann in Cookie Land by Johnny Gruelle

A few years ago I picked up the original Raggedy Ann stories on CD at the library. They were short stories with really great moral lessons in them. I felt like they were practically Bible stories! Lydia loved them and has adored Raggedy Ann ever since. Well, I picked up Raggedy Ann in Cookie Land because it had the original full-color illustrations. And it’s a full chapter book instead of short stories. So, it’s perfect for bedtime.

Well. It is also the strangest book I’ve ever read. Kinda Wizard of Oz-ish. Raggedy Ann and Andy meet Cookie people who bake their own children and animals. They are followed by a Goblin who tries to cook them for noodle soup every single chapter. And even more weirdness that I can’t remember without looking at the book. But Lydia LOVES it. She thinks it is so funny. And because she doesn’t know that goblin could resemble something from Lord of the Rings, she takes the Raggedy Ann version and is not remotely scared by it.

Anyway, if you want some strange fanciful stories–this is the one for you! But if you’re like my husband, you’ll try to hide it under the bed so we don’t read it.

5. The Borrowers by Mary Norton

I checked this book out from the library because I knew Lydia would love it. I had it on my to-read list forever! Then, when I started reading it to her I realized, “I’ve never read this book before!” I had a distinct memory of LOVING The Borrowers! How could I not remember the book? That’s when I realized, it wasn’t a book. It as a movie. The Littles. Remember them?

Anywhoo. I do love the story.  And Lydia is totally intrigued by all their gadgets and gizmos they create from our cast-offs. But the reading is a little hard. I don’t even know some of the words because they are so old-fashioned!

6. One-Dog Canoe by Mary Casanova

This is a cute rhyming book about a girl and her dog going on a canoe trip. By themselves. But it doesn’t stay that way for long. The concept is adorable, the illustrations totally engaging and will get your kids giggling.

{fyi: My husband just pointed out that it said, “darn” which he thought was weird for a kids’ book. In case that bothers you. Which it does him, apparently.}

7. Just Plain Fancy by Patricia Polocco

I actually bought this one at the library for like 10 cents. (Or maybe it was a yard sale?) It’s the story of a little Amish girl who finds a fancy egg and raises the bird with her chickens. As her little chick grows up, she begins to show off her true colors—the many colors of a peacock and scares the poor little Amish girls who think she is TOO fancy for their plain life.

It also started an interesting conversation about the Amish, other religions and sin with Lydia. Heavy stuff for a picture book!

8. Curious George Rides a Bike by HA Rey

Asa owns one Curious George book. About pancakes. He loves pancakes. So, this one fits him nicely. Now, every time I get another Curious George book at the library, I never like it as much as the pancake book. *shrugs*

So, I finally made a point to pick up an original Curious George book (instead of the “based on” versions).  I had a vague memory of reading Curious George Rides a Bike as a kid. But after my Borrowers fiasco, I didn’t really trust my memory. However, as I read it to Asa, I remembered it! He really enjoyed this one and if it wasn’t so long, I wouldn’t mind reading it every night!

9. How To…series by Sally Lloyd Jones

There are 3 books in this series: How to Get a Job…by Me, the Boss, How to Be a Baby . . . by Me, the Big Sister, How to Get Married … by Me, the Bride. All three are hysterical. I did a full review of them on Impress Your Kids. (So, I didn’t get them at the library. But you should check yours. Because you’ll love them!)

10. The 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith

I think I mentioned this book the other week. We got the audio version and I WAS MESMERIZED! I didn’t even really want to read it because the Disney version is not one of my favorite movies. But this book was so quaint, original and had one of those secret-life-of things going on. I wanted to listen to it as much (or more) than the kids did.

It also had a distinct Jesus-thing in it that was beautiful. (I don’t know how to describe it better. But if you read it, you’ll see. It’s cool.)

Have you and your kids checked out any good books lately?

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Comments

  1. I have a houseful of voracious readers (just like their mum and dad!) and we are always looking for new ideas! A lot of these books are new to me, which means….new material! Hurray!

    I have been really surprised as an adult to visit some classic childhood reads. Through the eyes of a grown-up, they can be just. plain. weird. Like Raggedy Andy, or just about any fairy tale, or lots of Tomie de Paula.

    • So true! I started reading Five Little Peppers and How They Grew and COULD NOT GET THROUGH IT. I even started reading Little Women to Lydia and it was so hard I couldn’t read it out loud. I thought, “Did I really read this as a child?!”

      a

      • phew — I LOVED the 5 Peppers, but I haven’t picked it up since childhood.
        I bought Little Women to read to my oldest daughter, years ago, and we NEVER finished it. My younger daughter and I have been working on Little House on the Prairie, and we’re just STUCK.

        We LOVE Curious George in our house — our Favorite is the Fire House story!

  2. I love this list! We are big library fans, though I usually return everything so late that I probably could have bought the books for what I pay in late fees.

    Some of our favorite library books have been “Tico Tango,” “I Love it When You Smile,” and “Where the Sidewalk Ends.”

  4. I have also confused the Littles and the Borrowers 🙂 Too funny. I’d also recommend any books by Mem Fox, but especially Possum Magic. She’s an Australian author and we’ve been sent our books from my in-laws. It’s nice for kids to read about different animals and cultures outside of our norm, my kids are thrilled to learn about things my husband grew up with. It’s been fun!

  5. I tried reading The Borrowers to Mags about a year ago because I too had memories of “loving” them. We got through chapter 2, and she said “Mom, do we HAVE to read more.” Ya, it wasn’t a hit, and I could see why.

    She has always LOVED Curious George and we used to have TONS of them. They now live at Grandma’s house so the smaller cousins can enjoy them too.

    I’ll have to find 101 Dalmations. Mags would love it. Especially if she gets a part in the show at the local theater.

    Great list Amanda!

    • You’ll love 101 Dalmatians! It is 101 times better than the movie. (<–not sure why that surprises me.)

      {is that a pun? or just a joke? anywhoo. it made me laugh.}

  6. We currently have 30 picture books checked out. We read. A lot. 🙂 Some of my current favorites are “Farley Follows His Nose”, “Moo Who?” and “The Jellybeans” series.

  7. We have Animal Strike at the Zoo out at the moment too and it’s really cute. We also have the Mortimer Christmas book and I love it; totally didn’t realize there were others in the series! Definitely going to check those out!

  8. Aw, I did actually read The Borrowers books when I was a kid, and I had forgot all about them!

    I put How to Be a Baby on reserve at our library when you wrote about it at IYK. I think Libbie will LOOOVE it!

  9. love this list! recently i have been going through this phase of wanting to read all of the childhood classics and books of my youth that i never read in school, and i have been pleasantly surprised at how much i have enjoyed them. and i will definitely be check ing out the 101 dalmations now:)

  11. Ooh, I love children’s book lists, too! And I’ve enjoyed some of Karma Wilson’s books before… I totally didn’t realize she had specifically faith-based ones! I definitely need to check those out with my son. Thanks!

  12. Cool list. Guess I’ll be adding Karma Wilson to our future reading list. As always, thanks for hosting girl. My list today is so uncrunchy, it tastes like ice cream 🙂

  13. I loved, loved, loved the Borrowers. I remember checking them out from the library with my mom. Curious George books are always a fun read as well. I love the fact that you are taking your kiddos to the library too! It is a great resource and such a fun learning opportunity. And FREE!

  15. Loved The Littles! What a fun memory. My sister in law is moving and just gave me a box of old books yesterday – her oldest is going to college. Such treasures. Many of them were “old” when she got them; classics published in the 1960s or earlier. I just read Little Toot on the Thames by Hardie Gramatky to my 4 year old. We love all the Little Toot books.

  17. Love this list! I’ll definitely be checking some of these out. Thanks!’

    (Sidenote- I have been working on a top ten llist of books for toddlers, and almost posted today, but changed my mind. Glad I did. 🙂

  19. Love this, Amanda! We are sitting in Starbucks reading books that we just got from the library. Our library has a great summer reading incentive plan and the kids are loving it. Our focus has been on manners and knights.
    Thanks for your ideas- love it! What a great thing to instill a love for reading in our children!!!!!

  21. Thank you for posting this. I, too, love to see what others recommend as far as books. I have discovered some great books to get at the library this way! I’m going to add a few of these to our request list as soon as I’m done here. The others seem to old for my babe.
    I love Bear Wants More. I never noticed before but I think you are right about the signing thing!
    As always, thanks for hosting. This is one of my favorite things to post each week 🙂

  22. Huh, I don’t think our local library system has much in the way of books with any religious base. But we did check out “Charlie the Ranch Dog” this week, and it turns out it’s written by the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond!

    • Osceola County library was the BEST for Christian publishers! I found so many good books there. (Well, I didn’t have kids then, but I found good stuff for me!) You know how I find faith-based stuff at the library? Search by Publisher. Try Zonderkidz, Tommy Nelson, Standard Publishing, etc. Or whatever other publisher you know of and like!

  23. Those look like such fun books! I loved The Borrowers when I was young. My kiddo is older now so I don’t get to read these cute books to him anymore. I still read out loud to him though (he’s almost 12) – we’re reading Oliver Twist (unabridged) right now. Thanks for hosting Top Ten!

  24. This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.

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