I don’t know what your house is like, but our house is mighty opinionated (especially the ladies in it, who happen to outnumber our lone male 3 to 1). If there’s something we can debate each other on, we will. And very often we all have different opinions.
When it comes to books though, we can all agree on one thing: our favorites are constantly changing. Sometimes it changes by the week or the month (we’ve had impossibly long stretches of reading the same exact book every single night—I’m talking to you Won’t You Be My Kissaroo? and you too Fancy Nancy). Sometimes it changes by the day.
Right now our favorites all happen to be what I consider classics (which means there is nary a Dora or Barbie or Disney Princess in sight—thank the friggin lord), so I thought I’d feature each of our current favorites and see if you guys love them too.
The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen could not possibly be any more my style. It’s about a downtrodden little fish who thinks his pouty lips mean he has no other choice in life but to “spread the dreary-wearies all over the place”—that is until he meets a new lady fish who turns his perspective on its head. I love this book’s message and I love it’s rhyming, rhythmic, repetitive language (which is also full of alliteration). My girls love it too—you can tell by the way they shout the words along with me when we read it.
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf has owned my husband’s heart for a while. I remember him being borderline horrified when he found out way back when Samantha was a tiny babe that I had never read it. It’s the story of a young bull named Ferdinand who likes to sit quietly under a cork tree and smell flowers while all the other bulls run around butting heads all day. They all want to fight in the bull fights in Madrid, while Ferdinand could care less. But when men come to choose a bull to bring to Madrid, a chance encounter with a bumblebee results in them choosing Ferdinand. Still, Ferdinand proves he’s not like the other bulls. Uninterested in fighting and showing off, Ferdinand was much happier under his peaceful little cork tree.
Samantha’s love of The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin makes me so. freakin. happy. I devoured these books about a group of friends who started their own business in middle school (talk about girl bosses!) when I was her age. I felt like I was a piece of their circle of friends and I can tell that Samantha does too. She reads them as quickly and lovingly as I did—and she even has me reading a couple of chapters of them to her each night.
I love that my almost four year old loves The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak. Usually, we kind of assume that pictures are absolutely necessary to keep the attention of the preschool set. But this book proves that’s not always true. A silly, engaging story can capture their attention just as much as pretty pictures. Ellie’s favorite page is one that talks about a hippo named Boo-Boo Butt—and she always knows where that page is because the letters are big and red. Just seeing them makes her break out into a fit of giggles.
OK, now it’s your turn! What are your current favorite (or old favorite) kids books?
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Hi! I'm Jen, a freelance writer and girl mom who loves reading the newest children’s books as much as I love a good psychological thriller. I believe fiercely in the power of kindness, empathy, and really good quality chocolate. When I'm not knee-deep in glittery crafts and girl talk, you can probably find me sprawled out on my couch in the middle of a Netflix marathon with dark chocolate smeared on my face. The struggle is real. 
You truly just brought me back with The Babysitter’s Club books and totally read the one you showed above and pretty much owned all in the series back when I was a young girl. Thanks for the walk down memory lane 🙂