I look forward to spring every year and love breaking out our favorite springtime books! Some of these favorites were from my childhood and others were ones that we were gifted or found at the library and ended up purchasing because they were favorites. Even though my kids are getting older, we treasure these books.
I also have a little list of some favorite chapter books we have read recently.
Favorite Springtime picture books:
A little baby bunny can’t figure out what “spring” is and looks all over for it, until he discovers it is all around him. This is a reprint of a vintage book, which makes me love it all the more.
Hamilton Duck’s Springtime Story
This is my favorite childhood book. The copy I have is taped and retaped. Hamilton thinks it’s spring only to fall asleep under an apple tree that is losing its petals, only to awaken to what he believes is snow. (What a nightmare!:)
The classic favorite-this is the board book, so it’s good for little ones. My kids all loved Peter Rabbit.
Janey adores this story of two little ducklings who don’t listen to Mama duck and get themselves lost. I love the soft watercolor artwork.
And my favorite springtime Golden Books:
Another childhood favorite of mine. (I loved all Garth Williams illustrations and still do.)
If we read about it, it will come! 🙂
Some favorite chapter books:
Andrew (13) is reading The Fellowship of the Ring. He was having a book crisis last week (meaning no book ideas) and I found a great list and this was on it. (I can’t say enough about this list-even the picture books are great!) Now he has a whole Lord of the Rings series to go, with a great list to reference when he finishes with all of them.
I am reading Patrick (and Janey) Little House in the Big Woods. I plan to mix it up after that is over with Huck Finn.
Patrick and I went on a dog book adventure this winter and it was great. It started last year when we read our all time favorite Where The Red Fern Grows. Then we watched the movie. (The movie is old but great.)
After that we read Old Yeller-so so good. We LOVED it almost as much as Red Fern. We watched the Old Yeller movie-old film but again good.
Next up-Shiloh. Another great one. The move is newer, which means it’s just ok, but we still enjoyed it.
For Christmas Patrick received The Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds. It is a HUGE HIT. All the kids spent a bunch of time with this book. Patrick and his BF made a huge list of dogs they wanted in order. It’s a big coffee table book and tells a little about each dog with nice photos. This is for sure a keeper and will be in our book basket in the living room forever.
Happy Reading!
I devoured the Big Red books as a child – kennels of dogs, a boy who works hard caring for the dogs – they had other books, not just about Big Red and if my memory serves me well, you would love them because of the messages (be warned – they do use the female dog name but it is totally in its original context)
Thanks so much! I'll check it out, it sounds like something we would love.
Sarah, when do you have time to read to Patrick and Janey? I'm finding it harder to find time to read long chapter books to my almost 9 and 6 years old. Currently, we're reading The Moffats series by Eleanor Estes. My son and daughter enjoy them, but we're making slow progress.
Thank you for the spring picture book recommendations. I'll try to find these at the library for my 2 year old. She loves stories!
We usually read a chapter or two (or less if it's late) right before bed. We take it slow for sure-some nights are skipped if I'm too tired or there was another activity that didn't allow us time for longer bed time. Rarely I will read book after school or other time just because.
PS-Janey is home during day so I usually read a stack to her every day.
Thank you, Sarah. That's pretty much how the reading goes at our house, too. It does not seem like a lot, but over a period of time, I guess we do end up getting through some good chapter books. I would love to read regularly in the afternoon after school, but I find it can be hectic and hard to get everyone settled at that time. My toddler also loves a good stack or two of books! 🙂
Thanks for your book posts. I just ordered 'Catwings' based on your sidebar recommendation.
🙂
Thanks for your recos – I always find something new to pick up! My daughter is making her First Communion this spring and I've been looking for special books to give her as a gift. I found this one that I think you'd like as well for Janey, Patrick – kids big and little! (And how neat is Pope Francis – I love his message and how he represents our faith). This book will be a gem we'll hold onto for many years!
https://www.amazon.com/Dear-Pope-Francis-Answers-Children/dp/0829444335
Great list! I put several on Goodreads TBR list for later! I love the big-dog breeds book- My kids love those non-fiction tomes for whatever reason- I have an old Gray's Anatomy that they adore-LOL!
Thank you so much for linking to such a wonderful resource of books! My kids and I spend lots of time in the car each day driving to and from school and we love to pass the time by listening to books on cd. I have a 7 year old, a 5 year old (she's a Sarah too!) and a 2 year old, and I want to make sure what we're listening to is appropriate for all ears, plus I like to enjoy the story too. So I'm so excited to start working our way through these lists. Sarah, I love your blog and appreciate all the thoughts and advice you've shared over the years. I've been following since my oldest was an infant and your Patrick was a toddler. I still love to browse through the archives and glean more wisdom and encouragement from you. Thanks for all the time you've put into sharing on this blog!
This is perfect. I'm building up the library for my firstborn (6mos). Do you have any favorite Easter books?
Also, I'll echo what Katie said above. I've been reading for years even before I had my first baby. I have favorite blog posts saved because I love your approach to parenting and knew I'd want to reference your maternal wisdom one day. Thank you so much for keeping this up.
HI Sarah! Those are some of my favorite reads as well for chapter books. I teach 4th grade and we have different chapter books going all year long! You would love Sign of the Beaver and Stone Fox!
we read home for a bunny many many times……good memories….