We all get that sad scholastic catalog in our kids’ cubbies at preschool. Or have diligently collected the books from the inside of Cheerios boxes(which are actually sort of awesome, Boss Baby anyone?). But the collection of chewed and mauled and generally abused books on our kids’ shelves can’t really be called a Collection.
The idea of building a “library” can sound sort of elitist and stupid. It implies that there are right books and wrong books, that the value judgment isn’t even of their quality per say, but of their perceived quality. But that is us bringing lots of adult bias to something truly important for our kids. While technically, yes, any book is better than no book. Let’s be honest, some books are better than others.
Reading to our children is the greatest thing we can do to help them develop in every way: verbally, cognitively, emotional, spiritually. For reals. But the more richly written, the more deeply explored a character, the more thoughtful the language (this doesn’t mean elaborate, but considered), the more our children will connect to the story and to all the lessons, both overt and subconscious, within that story.
Exposing our kids to books written for a slightly older audience will challenge them in ways they might love. They will ask us questions and they will take what they can from a story and leave the rest. And this isn’t about pushing them to learn to read themselves, but to appreciate and reveal in the magic of story and imagination.
When choosing books for your child’s library seek out those with a true story (a plot with a beginning, middle and end), strong characters, and dynamic illustrations. As your child enters preschool try to find books with a paragraph of text per illustration, so that your child spends time both really exploring the illustration and sinking into the story and developing her own images in her imagination.
I’ve listed some of my favorites. While I divide them up by age, my goal with my girl’s library is that any book can still be riveting at any age. I have a penchant for classics. It seems that you just can’t go wrong with them.
For the under three set:
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
In The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak (I’ve got to put him twice since he was a Brooklynite and a genius.)
The Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na (this is for the babies, but the drawings are amazing)
A Sick Day for Amis Mcgee by Phillip E. Stead
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
Any Toot and Puddle (though the original and You Are My Sunshine surpass the others) by Holly Hobbie
For Three to Five:
Any Eloise book (though Eloise and Eloise at Christmastime are my favorites) by Kay Thompson
Stuart Little by E. B. White
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem
Five to Seven:
The Little House series Laura Ingalls Wilder (we all need a primer on frontier living, you for the apocalypse)
The Wizard of Oz Series L. Frank Baum
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The B.F.G. (Just go on a Roald Dahl bender, I won’t bother to list them all)
Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
Nine and up:
At this point they are quite capable of picking their own books and you might just have to follow suit. But for me, at this point, it begins and ends with The Chronicles of Narnia.