Tag Archives: books

5 Summer Reading Picks

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If you’re looking for some books to read this summer, these 5 Summer Reading Picks are a great start.

Each book was picked by a mermaid-loving four year old!

With school out, it’s important to keep kids reading and learning. Switching up books and ‘shelfies’ can help keep them interested and excited to read!

Mila has accumulated a TON of books in her four years. She has a few favorite picks — but it can get redundant reading them 1000 times. To help keep things fresh, I love to show her themed books and have her pick out her top picks.

I laid out ‘summer’ books that included zoos, weather, and other ocean animals. Of course, she was instantly drawn to the mermaid ones!

Here’s all of Mila’s picks:

The Little Mermaid

This was my book when I was a kid, but Mila is in love with it!

It’s the classic tale with beautiful images. Since Mila knows the story, she likes to pretend to ‘read’ to me. I love seeing what letters and words she is beginning to recognize too. If your kiddo loves “The Littler Mermaid” the movie, you’ll love the book too.

You can find the original book or the the Little Golden Book one.

How to Catch a Mermaid

This is one of Mila’s favorite series! She loves the story and trying to figure out how the characters are going to catch the mermaid next. I love the rhyming and how it gets her brain thinking. Mila always finds new things in the pictures too. The last time she read it, she pointed out a big fish I had never saw!

This series has how to catch a unicorn, leprechaun, and the Easter Bunny too! It’s a series I’ll always recommend for any occasion you need.

If you’re interested in this book or series, check them out!

That’s Not My Mermaid

The “That’s Not My” series has been a staple in our home since Mila was a baby. They let kids feel different textures and understand what the words mean. Plus, there’s a hiding mouse that kids love to seek too.

Mila absolutely loves the mermaid one in the series. It’s one she has by her bed all summer long. She loves reading this one to me and showing me she remembers all the words.

Get “That’s Not My Mermaid” here.

The Rainbow Fish

Last year, “The Rainbow Fish” was Mill’s favorite summer book. It’s a great story about sharing and being mindful of others. We made the cutest paper craft (pictured above) and Mila recognizes thee cover image any where she sees it.

The bright colors are so perfect and I love this classic tale. This will be one boo I always have on hand.

You can purchase “The Rainbow Fish” through this link.

Stuck in the Middle of Knowhere

Mila got this book earlier this year when Our Generation Dolls gifted us a few dolls and accessories. She saw the book and we’ve been reading it in chunks since! It’s a fun story of Coral and her passion for surfing.

The doll that came with this book is adorable too. Mila is constantly playing with her and her friends. I’d totally recommend them to anyone looking for a good doll!

Reading is such an important way to learn and imagine. It makes me so proud Mila can pick out her favorites and enjoy our time reading together. We’ll never get this time back, so we’re making every second count!

We can’t wait to show you more summer activities and fun that we’ll be having this year! Stay tuned.

What are some summer inspired books you’d recommend? We’d love to read them.

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Pinky Got Out! Children’s Book Review

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Happy National Pink Day!

Did you ever know there was such a thing? Me neither! Yet, if you peered into our house, you’d think we’d know all things pink.

To celebrate all things pink, Mila and I read and interacted with our latest Little Bookish Wardrobe box. Inside was the book Pinky Got Out! by Michael Portis and illustrated by Lori Richmond.

You may be wondering, what’s in the box? (Not meant to be read in Brad Pitt’s voice from Seven.)

In the box was the book, that beautiful PINK outfit, and a little craft. Mila wasn’t that into the craft this month. It was a mask and I think she doesn’t like the feeling on her face. Maybe when she gets older we’ll revisit.

But, she LOVED the glorious pink skirt, hair piece, and leotard.

I have to admit… it does look pretty cute.

Back to the good stuff though.

Little Bookish Wardrobe always picks out engaging books. This book was just so much fun for Mila to interact with.

It’s set in a zoo with a flamingo named Pinky that likes to get in a little trouble. A group of students are on a field trip and quickly take notice in the flamingo’s antics.

Throughout the book, the class see and learns about different animals, which is very educational to the reader too.

I didn’t know some of the facts in there!

The best part, even though it’s educational and you’re learning about animals, it’s fun for children to find Pinky. He escapes to every animal enclosure and always looks like he’s having fun.

Mila’s favorite part of this story is finding Pinky and laughing at his silly whereabouts.

The illustrations in this children’s book are amazing. I love the way Pinky looks. Even though the pictures are simple, they’re very impactful and help make this book fun for adults and children.

It’s a great way for kids to stay focused, recall what they’re looking for, and laugh along the way. I also like how there’s so many opportunities for learning extensions.

You can also quiz your child about the different animal names, what sounds they make, or the information from the story.

This would be a perfect book to read before the zoo or really anytime at all!

We hope that you have an amazing National Pink Day and check out Little Bookish Wardrobe. It’s a great way to get new books and additions for your child to fall in love with stories.

Do you do anything special for holidays like National Pink Day? If not, what’s your favorite pink thing?

Or you can check out this amazing pink Strawberry Fluff by Mom Buns and Mayhem. It looks so yummy and only has two ingredients. Plus, you all know my strawberry obsession lately!

7 Spring Books Your Toddler Will Love

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With spring books comes beautiful illustrations that toddlers love. It’s also a perfect time to teach little ones about all the new things that happen in spring.

I can’t even explain the importance of reading to toddlers. That’s how they expand their vocabulary and learn about everything around them. Plus, it’s great time to bond with your little one too.

Here are seven spring books Mila and I are loving.

The Honeybee by Kristen Hall Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

This is the latest book I’ve purchased for Mila. The covers illustration is beautiful and it carries on throughout the book too. I love how Mila is learning without even realizing it. Plus, it lets her know how important bees are to our world!

Also an Animal
by Lynn Parrish Sutton and Melissa Babcock Saylor

“Also an Animal” is a beautiful book about spring babies and the love between mothers and their babies. The book is so informative. I didn’t even know the name of some of the babies. Mila loves mama and baby pairs, so this book is perfect for that.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit
by Beatrix Potter

This classic book is perfect for spring and Easter too! Mila loves all the pictures and I enjoy sharing stories that I read when I was a child too. It’s a perfect book to make an Easter Eve tradition with too!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Everyone knows this classic song! This book version has beautiful illustrations that helps a toddler visualize what’s going on. At the end, it lets you know the hand motions to use too.

I also enjoy this book to explain to Mila that spiders aren’t scary. It seems to help!

Love You More
by Hannah Green

One of my favorite Aldi finds, “Love You More” is a beautiful book about family with bright colors. It lets young kids know that no matter what, they are loved. Mila loves pointing out the colors and we count the flowers on the page too.

If you can find this treasure online, let me know so I can link!

Play With Me
by Marie Hall Ets

Another classic story, “Play With Me” is perfect for teaching patience and gentleness to little ones. If you have a toddler, you know those two aren’t their strong points. It was a great teaching moment for Mila. Plus, I personally love the illustrations in this book. They’re not as bright, but they’re still beautiful.

Bunny Roo, I Love You
by Melissa Marr
Illustrated by Teagan White

I was originally gifted this book and Mila and I fell in love. This is a beautiful story about mothers of all creatures love of their children. Again, the illustrations are beautiful and Mila loved the babies in it.

All of these books are staples in our home. Let me know in the comments what are your favorite spring time books?

Read Across America Day: 3 Books that Cultivate Compassion

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Today is National Read Across America Day. What better way to celebrate with your child than a new book and activity?

As I was picking out books for the day, Mila’s Little Bookish Wardrobe box came in. I thought it fit perfectly in the NEA’s theme this month: cultivating compassion.

The Unbudgeable Curmudgeon by Matthew Burgess is a book all about feelings and helping someone out who’s in a bad mood. We all get in bad moods, but this book helps cultivate compassion by thinking what will help your child’s sibling, parent, or friend in a nice way.

Mila loved the images in the book and it was a great way to talk about emotions. It also opened us up to talking about what makes her mad. Honestly, hearing her talk about being angry was a learning moment.

When we normalize feelings and having different ones, we can learn so much about our kids and selves.

In the box, we always received a red wig (that Mila is wearing in the first picture), a rainbow sweater, and a slippers activity. Every thing in the box goes right along with the story. It’s always fun to explore.

This months activity was drawing on slippers. In the book, they paint to feel better and the Curmudgeon has big, furry feet. They sort of look like slippers.

So, Mila drew her different colored lines on the slippers. She’s so proud of them.

I think it might be a good learning tool for when she’s mad or having big emotions. It might be something she wears if she’s feeling overwhelmed. It’ll let me know there’s something going on if she can’t express it.

Two other books that we have that cultivate diversity that I think you guys would love are these.

Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer

I absolutely love this book. It talks about a wide range of diverse families. There’s families of all backgrounds and sexualities. For us, it talks about single parenthood too. All in a compassionate way!

The Sloth Who Slowed Us Down by Margaret Wild

Another great story that promoted compassion is this little story. It’s literally about the title. It’s such a cute story that talks about family time and slowing down for each other.

No matter what you read today or anytime with your child, you’re giving them a gift they’ll always be thankful for.

Even if you put them in a red wig.

Check out these other bloggers who are celebrating Read Across America Day too!

Friday Favs: Imagination Library

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For future Friday’s, sorry for that f alliteration, I want to do something a little different. From here on out, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite picks.

These can include books, shows, podcasts, kids things, or whatever else I think of. Obviously, I’m going to try and make sure it’s useful for other people too. I’m not that self-obsessed.

This week, I’m going to talk about one of my favorite programs: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

I’ll give you the run down of the program.

Dolly Parton created the Imagination Library because she wanted to make sure no child was illiterate. It’s a program where kids are gifted a book a month.

The Imagination Library is available to children who live in certain areas. If you’re local to me, your child definitely qualifies. To my non-local friends, you can check to see if you qualify here! It’s definitely worth seeing.

Mila has been receiving books for almost a year, maybe. They’re cute books and she enjoys getting mail.

We read all the time, so it’s nice to get fresh books. Plus, they’re always educational. For example, last month, it was a story about hibernation.

This months was perfect for the stage Mila is in now. It’s called, Goodnight, Numbers by Danica McKellar.

If you couldn’t guess from the title, this book is about numbers and counting. Mila had the toughest time saying four and five while counting. It was so frustrating.

But, when she read this book, she counted to ten like a pro!

The drawings are made to keep the kids interested in counting the entire time. Each page correlates with a number. The pictures have random things with the same amount on the page. So, it’s like a little scavenger hunt!

This really helped Mila. She pointed most of them out. The pattern of counting the same number a few times made her more confident too.

Another cute part of the story is it follows bedtime routines. So, when you’re reading it before bed, they know what might happen next.

More importantly, there’s diverse characters. Different types of families and races are centered around one number. I thought this was a great way to continue talking to Mila diversity AND how every family looks different.

This inclusive and educational book was such a hit. If you’re interested in the book, you can find it here on Amazon.

We love Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and I hope you will too. Make sure to check if your family is eligible for these books. They’re such a great source and way to excite your little one to read.

Thanks for checking out this Friday Fav! Let me know if you are apart of Imagination Library in the comments.