My son absolutely loves story time. There are very few things more adorable right now than my little boy climbing down off my lap after we’ve finished the first bedtime story and toddling over to the book shelf to bring me or his dad another book to read to him.
Here are our current favorites (in no particular order)
1. How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Birthday?
We bought this book for his first birthday as part of the theme. We have started a birthday tradition of purchasing a book that matches the theme and having the guests sign their names and leave a short message. So now when we read him the book, we also often read him the messages too. This makes it extra special.It’s no secret that my husband and I are pretty big geeks, so one of the biggest things we love about this book is that next to each illustration of a dinosaur, it puts the actual name of the dinosaur. Not just your standard dinos either, they have ones like cephalosaurus and ceratosaurus ….. Pretty cool, huh?
2. Love You Forever
This was the very first book we bought for our son. We started reading it to him before he was born. I have to admit, I still get just a little teary-eyed every time I read it. There is no standard tune notated in the book to the little lullaby the mother sings to her son, so I made up my own. You can listen here:
Here’s a link to an interview with the author where he shares the melody he sings when reading the book:
3. Farmyard Beat
Nine times out of ten, all I have to do is start the “Cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep, cheep” rhythm before even opening the book and my son just grins. This is a fun one to read- it has several great animal sounds, rhymes, and has a really good rhythm.
4. The Pony Who Couldn’t Say Neigh
This was one of the first books my son’s great-grandparents sent to him. According to my husband’s grandparents, this was his favorite book as child. It has quickly become my son’s favorite as well. I love this book because it has such a fantastic message of being proud of who you are even if you’re a little different from everyone else.
5. The Very 
Hungry Caterpillar
This is a pretty popular Eric Carle book. My son is really drawn to the brightly-colored illustrations. I love it because it’s great for language development with naming all the different foods as well as the counting.
What are some of your favorite books to read to your children?