Read Aloud Thursday :: Family Book History

It's time for another Read Aloud Thursday at Hope is the Word! And since we have not yet finished reading The Strictest School in the Worldwe will go ahead and talk about some of our favorite picture books.

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned these picture books before, at one time or another. Personally, I'm a fan of owning pictures for the children to have constant access to and to share amongst themselves as they age. The same picture books that Bookworm1 loved and adored, Bookworm3 is now enjoying. That gives the books family history and I like that.

I remember when Bookworm2 arrived, he apparently had never seen a book in his life and -I confess it - I was freaked out thinking he wouldn't like to read. Now I can laugh at that unreasonable fear. If you surround children with books and they are either constantly being read to or are hearing books read to others (or watching you read them yourself!) they cannot help but develop a love for the written word. That said, although Bookworm3 spent the first few months rejecting my book advances, I did not allow myself to fret. I knew she'd come around. Recently she has taken to snuggling up on my lap with a book in hand, asking for me to read her a "booky." These are her favorites (more or less), at present:

I was standing in the grocery store checkout lane with Bookworm1 (who was himself a baby at the time) and noticed Bathtime in Baby's World in a bin of books marked down to ridiculous prices. I picked it up and it turned into his favorite read. (I've talked about this one before.) Then Bookworm2 joined the family and this was the first book he learned to love. Now both of the older bookworms have this one memorized so they can "read" it to their little sister. This is still a good one to quote when you want to get their attention for any particular reason. I think it's too bad that this book is no longer in print. No matter how used this book ever looks, I anticipate keeping it forever in my Mommy Treasure Box.

I think I picked up our board book copy of We're Going on a Bear Hunt at Goodwill for $0.99 when Bookworm2 was younger. Both of the boys really got into this one and Daddy is cool enough to have turned Bear Hunt into a game. The boys go on a bear hunt to find the "bear" who then roars and chases them all around the room. You can imagine that this is great fun.

Baby girl likes the book because there is a "DOGGIE!" on each and every page. Each and every page. (That's because Oxenbury was a genius.) As we turn each page, she launches her pointer finger at the dog and holds her breath until I'm done reading that spread and am ready to turn the page. Once I indicate it's time to turn the page she yells out, "DOGGIE!" just as loudly and enthusiastically as she can. This never gets old.

Then remember this one? I reviewed it earlier this year.

Love My Shoes is still enjoyed. Over and over again.

She's grown up just a bit since that last post. She still likes shoes though . . . especially the sparkly sort!

Books don't have to be considered classics to be well-loved and treasured within the family. Sometimes the ones that are popular just because they are loved by the people you love are the best!

So, that's what we're reading this week. What about you?