noah's summer reading list

Here's a little something you might not know about me, when I was a little girl, I grew up in a very magical place. My mother was a children's librarian and somehow she had made arrangements with her boss that I would be allowed to go to work with her. I grew up in a library. The Rosemount Library in Ottawa's Mechanicsville to be exact.

My mom had and still has a deep love for children's books. I remember going to her storytime at the library and being in awe and in love with her just as all the other children were. She was captivating and told a story like no other person could. I was amazed by my mother's story telling and asked her at every chance I could for her to read me a book.

I knew when I was pregnant with Noah that I wanted books to be a very important part of his childhood. At his baby shower a good friend of mine (also a children's librarian) gave me a huge cloth bag full of her favourite board books (such a great gift in my mind) to start out Noah's collection. And when Noah was just a few weeks old I caught my mom reading to him one of his books, and I remember her saying, "look Jo, he's actually following along", and he was. It was so special for me and that's where his love for books started.

Fast forward to now. Noah is a busy little boy with so much to do and so many places to be. It's hard to slow him down, but I know that when he needs a bit of quiet time, nothing helps him better to calm down than to have me read him a book.

Lately I've been wanting to update Noah's book collection a bit as his understanding of more complex stories is starting to advance. I was surprised to learn that "Where the Wild Things Are" wasn't too old for him and that he is actually enjoying more complex plots. I wanted to add a few more classics and some new books to his list and decided to open up the discussion with a few friends to get their recommendations. Many people suggested Eric Carle (who

we love) and Sandra Boynton. A few others made some lesser known suggestions and so here is our updated reading list of books that I have ordered and of books that are already on heavy rotation at our place.

:: Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

:: Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

:: Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

:: Brown Bear Brown Bear by Bill Martin and Eric Carle

:: From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

:: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

:: Big Red Barn by Margaret Brown

:: Read Me a Book by Barbara Reid

And how about you? Do you have any recommendations of good children's story books? Any favourites? I'm particularly looking for books that would be appropriate for the 2-4 year old crowd. Also books that are short but with a simple storyline.

xox