July Kid Lit

We read so many books this month! I participated in our local bookstore's reading program, which challenged me to read more books that we already own. I was previously reading the same books over and over, so reading more of our books has been a fun experience, especially as Elliot is growing older and paying a tiny bit more attention and interest. 

Bedtime & Naptime Books

Pat the Bunny: Sleepy Bunny: A soft, cloth book with a hanging plush bunny that the child or adult reader can move from page to page as Pat the Bunny gets ready for bed. I haven't read the original Pat the Bunny book yet, but now I am curious because I really enjoy this adorable infant book. 

The Going to Bed Book: Sandra Boynton has such a fun, silly collection of books with this bedtime book as my favorite. Animals are getting ready for bed, one hilarious step at a time. 

I adore these four bedtime books. The darling rhymes and sweet expressions of love in I Love You Through and Through, How Do I Love You? and You're My Little Sweet Pea are soothing and perfect for snuggling before bed. Goodnight Gorilla is a bit more appropriate for toddlers since it is extra fun when they can follow the sneaky gorilla unlocking the gates of the zoo animals, but Elliot still seemed to enjoy the nearly word-less book.

Christian Books

Let There Be Light: An Opposite Primer: A vibrantly illustrated board book in the Baby Believer collection. Each page has a verse about creation coupled with opposites that correspond to that verse. For now, Elliot and I are reading the opposites only, but as he grows and his concentration lengthens, I will start reading the Bible verses as well.

Jesus Hears Me: A sweet, rhyming prayer about how Jesus listens to us, including when we are happy and sad, when things go well and when they don't go as planned. I also love that the illustrations include children of various ethnicities. 

I love Sally Lloyd-Jones' The Jesus Storybook Bible and really, just about anything she publishes. Loved rephrases The Lord's Prayer in a child-friendly way and Found looks at Psalm 23. The illustrations are darling and so bright and joyful.  From Eden to Bethlehem is part of the Baby Believer series. Each page of the board book focuses on an animal mentioned in the Bible and a short verse that mentions that animal. 

Playtime and Meal Time Books
 My sister bought copies of some of her favorite board books and read these two classics to Elliot a few times while we were visiting in Oregon earlier this month. Little Blue Truck is all about friends helping one another out, while Dr. Seuss's ABC is a  primer on the alphabet with Dr. Seuss's infamous inventive rhymes.

Sesame Street's Cookie: This was our lunch-time read for a few weeks. Cookie Monster obviously loves cookies, but in this book, he also gives fruit and veggies a try too. A silly book, especially when I try to read it in Cookie Monster's voice and end up in a coughing fit afterwards.

Bookstore Babies; I found this adorable baby bibliophile board book at the Boerne Bookshop  (say that ten times, haha) during a day trip with my mother-in-law. It mentions all kinds of activities babies can do in bookstores. I love that the last page has interactive activities and questions to engage creativity and learning. 

We're Going on a Bear Hunt is a fun classic about a family's adventurous trek through a river, a snowstorm, forest, and other challenging terrain to finally get to the cave of the beast ... but then they realize they're a bit more scared than they realized. 

Moo! Moo!  Elliot loves lifting the flaps to find the hidden animals.

These four books are all fun! Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes was a little long and will be more appropriate when his attention span is longer, but the cute rhymes about different body parts was fun to read while I touch his body parts mentioned on each page. The Very Cranky Bear is a good reminder that everyone is special and has a role to play in friendship, even if they're a seemingly plain sheep. The Wide-Mouthed Frog is a short and fun pop-up book that Elliot has been loving (but wanting to destroy since he tries to pull at the pop-up parts, haha). Gallop! is a scanimation book that is so fun and creative. As we move the page, it looks like the horse, cat, dog, bird, and other animals are moving. 

Birds: As soon as he wakes up, Elliot loves to go outside on our porch and search for birds and listening to their morning birdsong, so I have been checking out bird books from the library. He enjoyed this one more than illustrated books I checked out last month. He loved watching the pet parakeets in their cage at my parents' house in Oregon last month, so he especially enjoyed the pages with parakeets.

 I LOVE the Baby Lit board books. I have a growing collecting (including Wuthering Heights, Pride & Prejudice, Emma, Little Women, and Sense & Sensibility). These are the two boy books I own from the collection, so I have enjoyed reading them to Elliot. Moby Dick is an ocean primer, with short quotes from the book accompanied by a large-print word and matching illustration, such as captain, anchor, seagulls, and whale. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a camping primer with a similar layout and words such as lantern, friends, raft, and river.

 Blue Hat, Green Hat is a silly Sandra Boynton book that helps toddlers with colors and clothing items, but has a funny twist since there is a turkey who keeps wearing the clothing incorrectly. 

Books About Traveling 

I love traveling, so I have enjoyed collecting books about different cities I have either liven in or visited.  Hello Texas is an adorable journey through Texas as the babies say hello to roadrunners, NASA spaceships, the River Walk, the Alamo, sandpipers at the beach, and other Texan landmarks. Portland ABC is part of the Larry Gets Lost series. These books focus on different cities (I have the Texas, Seattle, and multiple Portland books).

Good Night San Antonio is a fun introduction to San Antonio, with illustrations of various tourist spots, such as the Alamo, the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, and the River Walk. It'll be fun to explore these locations as the weather cools in the fall and bring along the book.

I love the All Aboard books! These three are fun to read together. The short pages with bright illustrations were great for breakfast and lunch when we had opportunities to read. Each of the books mention tourist hotspots that I loved seeing when I visited each of these cities. I am looking forward to when I can show Elliot my photographs of a lot of these places to accompany each page. 

Gracie's Garden  is an incredibly darling book written by Lara Casey, who is my go-to person for anything gardening and goal-setting-related. Her book Cultivate was such an impactful book for me. She used the metaphor  of gardening to talk about setting goals. Brilliant!  In this sweet children's book that stars her own three children, they talk about seeds and how God makes them grow,  and how we can have patience and faith. It was silly at times with adorable conversations between the three siblings. It had a great message, beautiful illustrations, and creative storytelling. It was a bit long for Elliot right now, but I will definitely be reading it to him again as he grows a bit older. It will be especially fun to read when I do some gardening with him and we can hold seeds in our hands. 

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Lifeway in exchange for an honest review.