Friday Favorites - Board books

Favorite Board Books

I thought it would be nice to do Friday Favorites this month as a way to get some ideas out there and hopefully start a conversation about favorite kid's books.  When I pulled out my iPhone to capture a photo of some of our favorite board books, I realized it was much harder than I thought to narrow down some of our most-read books.  These are probably our top five, but part a lot of me wanted to make a top ten!  I have such wonderful memories of Little Beansprout when I see these books.  These are all books that he still has on his bookshelves and he will often open them up when he's reading on his own.  I'm sure that they have all contributed to his love of reading and they are books that we also really enjoyed reading with him.


Moo, Baa, La La La, from Sandra Boynton. is a book we had in the car and must have read at least three or four times every car ride!  So many of her books are popular with children and parents, and this just happened to be the one that stuck for us -- I'm pretty sure I can still recite the whole book without the slightest prompt.  This is the first book that Beansprout would read along with me; I would start a page, he would recite the next, and we'd switch off until we reached the end where we had to be quiet.

My best friend told me about Hug, from Jez Alborough, as it was one her son's favorites.  I'm lucky she read it first, because I was prepared for my little guy to be upset about Bobo not finding a hug from his mommy.  Matt made a great game with this book -- he would have Beansprout yell just like Bobo, "HUUUUUG!" which Beansprout absolutely loved!  I think this is the first book he started reading on his own - he would stand at his table and flip through whispering the story to himself.  It's an almost-wordless picture book, which makes it really easy to keep reading over and over again, as you can change up how it's read and notice different things every time.

I knew about the Bear Snores On, by Jane Wilson from my good friend Megan!  She and I had worked together on incorporating children's literature into our classes and this was one of her favorites.  I was thrilled when I found the series of three at Costco in board book form!  The other two are just as fun for Beansprout: Bear Wants More and Bear's New Friend.  Again, these are books that we have read again and again and again and again!  The rhythm of the language is fantastic and all the characters are full of personality.

Little Blue Truck, Alice Schertle, is a book we immediately knew Beansprout would adore.  We bought it at a time when he was really into all things TRUCK.  That being said, he hasn't tired of it the way he has other truck books because it makes wonderful use of onomatopoeia, and the illustrations are lovely.  I can't forget to mention that there is also big, inconsiderate dump truck, who requires a burly, grumpy voice, which I think is a big hit with Beansprout.  In the end it offers a nice little message about being friendly and kind to others.

It's no surprise to see Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? from Bill Martin and Eric Carle, on a top-five list, but it has definitely been one of Beansprout's favorites as far as first exploring animals goes. They have the repetition down just right, and I love its companion books for learning all things animals.  Who knew that a peacock yelps!?!

What are some of your favorite books for children?  Do you consult top lists when you purchase books?