Books Books Books

Lately I have been loving my job. For a few months I was working on some pretty boring stuff... writing lots of spelling tests and vocabulary practice stuff... but lately I have had the opportunity to read several amazing books and then modify the text and make comprehension activities to go along with the text. Naptime has been a lot of fun! Here are a few of my favorites. If you have free reading time and are looking for some quick reads, these could be entertaining and educational at the same time.

Charlotte's Webb has always been one of my favorite books.
It's such a great book to read aloud to kids too!

William Bentley is a fascinating guy and a great photographer. This book inspired me to be creative and work hard on things that are challenging.


The Most Beautiful Place in the World made me want to go visit Guatemala. The imagery in the book was fabulous. The story is definitely inspiring as well.


By the Great Horn Spoon is a fun fictional story about the California gold rush. Sid Fleischman is a great author and I think now I'm going to try and read some more of his books.


In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson had a beautiful message. It reminded me that everyone can make a difference in the world. The main character, Shirley Temple Wong, was darling and portrayed the struggles of a little girl who moved to America from China in the 1940s.


Journey to Ellis Island is a great book to read if you want to learn about Ellis Island and immigration to America in a simple way. It made me sad that in all of my years living in NJ, I don't think I ever went to Ellis Island.


Louis Braille was an incredible person. It was amazing to read the challenges he went through to help blind people be able to read.


Ruby Bridges was an amazing little girl. I was so impressed with her courage. Every day as she walked to school she prayed for the people who hated her and were mean to her family. She is a champion for rights for all people. I love her foundation's slogan, "racism is a grown-up disease and we must stop using our children to spread it."


My new goal is to work harder at finding good books to read to Andrew. I tend to be really picky with the books I choose. I can't get books from the library because they will never be returned (just ask BYU, it took me several years to get my diploma due to library fines :)).

If you have any suggestions of favorite books for 1-4 year olds, please pass them along! I love books that are funny for kids and adults. These are my two favorites that are great to read aloud and for some reason I think they are hysterical too. I would definitely recommend buying them!