SJ's favorite book so far

Well, I did say it would be while between updates.  SJ (my daughter's nick name) is an active little girl.  We're coming up on her first birthday and she rarely slows down for reading right now.  However tonight she cuddled up next to me and we read 6 little Sesame Street board books before she was off again.  This got me to thinking about the books we've shared this year and my impressions of her reading interests.

Yes, I realize she's not even a year old yet, but it's still easy to see which books she prefers over others. For example, her least favorite book so far has been I'll Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Shelia McGraw.  She won't let me finish it.  By the time I reach the boy's teenage years she tries to close the book. 

She's fascinated by her First Words: Let's Get Talking book, though there's no real story there to follow. I think she just likes all the colorful pictures and different tabs that are so fun to gnaw on.

The Peter Rabbit Touch and Feel book she got for Easter didn't last very long.  Though she liked the textures found throughout the book, it wasn't sturdy enough to stand up to her curiosity. 

But the one that she comes back to time and time again is a silly little book that I love reading with her as she giggles through a good portion of it.  Five Little Monkeys jumping on the bed by Eileen Christelow is SJ's go-to book.  When she's ready for a story that's the one that gets pulled out of the pile.  Naturally, I'll be getting other books out of the Five Little Monkeys series for her.

With her birthday coming up, I have a list of books I'm considering picking up to share with her. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle will be our next purchase and hopefully another favorite.

2014 - Reboot

I didn't intentionally stop keeping up with this blog, but switching jobs made it infinitely more difficult to make it a priority.  Two months ago I had a daughter and one of the things I started thinking about was how to insure she loves reading as much as I do.  One way I'm going to try and do this is making sure books are prevalent in her life.  We've already started this - her book collection is small, but my goodness will it grow. 

I'm also taking this opportunity to read some of the classic children's books I never quite got around to when I was growing up.  For Christmas she received the classic picture books Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown & Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney as well as the chapter books The Story of King Arthur & His Knights by Howard Pyle and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.  I'm looking forward to sharing these books with Hiccup (our online nickname for her) but we're starting our reading journey with The Chronicles of Narnia.  I'm trying to get into the habit of reading a chapter a night with her - and while I realize she's not able to follow the story right now, she's hearing the language and it's designated Momma/Daughter time right before bed.   Hopefully she'll enjoy it as much as I already do.

So my plan for this blog is going to alter a bit and become more of a record of the books my daughter and I share.  I can't promise frequent updates, as one 15-16 page chapter a day won't get us through books very quickly.  But I will put up a review of each book we read together, even if it's a small sort of thing.

Be well and have a wonderful 2014.