Books Luke (7) & Sam (2) Like

I love sharing book recommendations and with the number that I've been reading to my boys, especially lately (although it's the same books over and over right now with the library closed), I always have recs to share.  I also love doing these posts quarterly as a way to look back at what they were both into at the time.  Especially with Sam, when he loves a book he wants it read to him 5 times a day, minimum.  Quarantine isn't changing his reading habits much other than demanding (loudly) that Luke sit on my other side and not right next to him.  =)

{5} Books Luke Likes (7)
1) Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams
Luke LOVES this book.  I had had it on my list of chapter books to read to him when he came home from school last fall and said his teacher was reading it to him.  I was a little bummed but he was more than enthusiastic for me to read it to him again this winter.  We watched the 2006 movie for family movie night, even though he had watched it at school, and he was delighted all over again.  And it is so excellently written.  I really enjoyed it too.

2) Corduroy by Don Freeman
I don't know if I had read this to Luke before or if it had just been so long that he didn't remember it but we read this recently and he LOVED it.  We started checking out more about Corduroy from the library and then realized only a couple of those are worthwhile BUT this original, fantastic.  Classic for a reason.


3) Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
There is a set of 3 picture books about Mirette and her high wire adventures.  We've read a couple other books about high wire exploits and so Luke was a little familiar with them and he really liked these three about Mirette too.  All these books make high wire walking seem easy...and I'm sure it's not.


4) The Galaxy Needs You by Caitlin Kennedy, illustrated by Eda Kaban
Don't tell Luke but he's getting this book for his upcoming birthday.  We read a decent amount of Star Wars books and this was one of my favorite of all I've read.  Of course it helps if you (or your kids) are at least somewhat familiar with the Star Wars stories but even minor fans should get something out of the "the galaxy needs you and your exact gifts/talents" message. 

5) Turtle and Tortoise are Not Friends by Mike Reiss, illustrated by Ashley Spries
Luke was around while I was working on this post because...quarantine so I asked what books he really liked recently and this was his answer.  If I knew he liked it so much I would have kept it longer from the library!  It is one I featured over on Instagram but it is a lovely little story.  We've read a lot of turtle based picture books lately which is not normal.  And they've all been good!


{5} Books Sam Likes (2)
1) Z is for Zoo and E is for Easter by Greg Paprocki 
I've read these two books to Sam before his afternoon nap pretty much every single day of the quarantine so far.  He got them both for his birthday from Grandparents and Godmother and they were instant favorites.  He's picking up words SO FAST now and he's so excited when he knows the item listed on almost every page.  Our library only has a few in this alphabet series and I really wish they had more so I could read them without having to buy them!

2) Love: from Sesame Street by Sesame Workshop
This is definitely Sam's other favorite book right now and we've, strangely, had two almost identical versions from the library with different covers.  It's a really simple picture book but, again, even Sam has a lot of the words memorized.  He wants it read almost every day when we sit to read a big stack of picture books.

3) Little Blue Truck Springtime by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry
We own almost all the Little Blue Truck books, giving this one to Sam for his birthday.  None match the excellence of the first two but when we got this and it was still cold, the thought of spring was very enticing.  I am writing this with few flowers blooming but the windows open so spring is coming!  We read this one a lot too.

4) The Little Ice Cream Truck by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Bob Kolar
There are 4 books in this "Little {blank} Truck" series and this is the one we've read the most since it is home from the library with us during quarantine (our library system has even asked that we not return any books until their staff is back in the building).  So, we read it a lot.  I don't know that I've bought anything from an ice cream truck ever in my life (although when I was a professional accountant, a payroll company that wanted us to recommend them sent an ice cream truck to our office and said we could pick anything we wanted.  It was awesome, highly recommend the gesture).  These books are simple but cute.

5) Peek-a-Boo Penguin by Parragon Books
I returned this book at the beginning of March, since it felt "wintery" but I read it a lot of times before I got it out of the house!  Sam was really taken with the cut-outs and the penguins and birds and fish.  It's just adorable to hear him point them out!

Have your kids been enjoying any picture books lately?  Any you've been forced to reread 100 times since the quarantine started?