Children's Books, Friday Favorites - Children's Books

Jam and Bread and Peanut Butter: Friday Favorites, Ed. 11

Welcome to Friday Favorites! Each week (when I have the mental capacity and a free minute!) the blog features what my children have been enjoying most in the realm of children’s books. Some are old, some are new, all are worth a read!

We are in a lunchtime rut of grand canyon proportions. My kids always ask for a Bread and Jam for Francespeanut butter and jelly sandwich and I pretty much always give it to them. It’s easy, it’s on hand, it’s not completely terrible for them, and my oldest can make it herself.  This situation has only deepened with every reading of one of our favorite books, Bread and Jam for FrancesMan, we love this book.  Frances is a picky eater extraordinaire to start out the book. She sings delightful songs about jam: “Jam on biscuit, jam on toast, jam is the the thing that I like most!” But by the end she says, “Aren’t you worried that maybe I will get sick and all my teeth will fall out from eating so much bread and jam?” Sadly, Ella has quoted this almost verbatim in the past few weeks to me. Despite our love of Bread and Jam for Frances, our bread and jam habit needs to end. So what do you eat for lunch? Gives us some ideas! Or else all our teeth might fall out.

Other books we’re loving this week:

Bink and Gollie books, by Kate Dicamillo and Alison McGhee – We aren’t obsessed with these books. We’re almost obsessed. We only just discovered them a few weeks ago on our beach vacation and already I quote them more than Disney movies (which is a lot).  My favorite is Bink and Gollie but the kids like Bink and Gollie: Best Friends Forever best. They’re just fun stories about two quirky girls who live in some alternative universe where they live in tree houses and cook for themselves at age 9-ish. I don’t have a problem with unrealistic stories when to comes to kids books, but some reviewers on Goodreads.com don’t like these books because they’re too “unbelievable.” To which I say, “you have my pity.”

The Elves and The Shoemaker by Jim LaMarche is a beautifully illustrated retelling of the class fairy tale. It’s also not too wordy or creepy for little ones. This book is going on my Gorgeous Picture Books pinterest board.

That’s all for this week! Check out all the Friday Favorites archives here.

31 Days, Children's Books

My Favorite Children’s Books

Today is the halfway point in the 31 Days of Picture Books Series. I think it’s high time to share my absolute most favorite picture books from my early memories.

25940451. Nora’s Castle — Satomi Ichikawa — I always dreamed of finding my own castle, and this book fueled my imagination.

2.  Keep the Lights Burning, Abby —  Peter Roop — I wanted to be a heroine like Abby!

3. Bread and Jam for Frances — Lillian Hoban — Even as a little child, when I was supposed to be relating to Frances as a peer, I thought she was so cute.

4. The Twelve Dancing Princesses — I can’t find my childhood version anywhere! But I oohed and ahhed and declared “that one’s mine” over the Princess’s dresses every time I read it.

Christina Katerina & the Box5. Christina Katerina and the Box — Patricia Lee Gauch — Give your kids a big box and childhood ecstasy is born.

This is a genre I love and I am finding (and remembering!) favorites all the time with my children, but those five are the ones I remember loving most as a little girl. Each of them had something that captured my imagination or inspired me in some way. Even Frances inspired me, because I wanted to be able to make up little ditties like her.

I’d love to know which books you still treasure from your childhood.