When it comes to TV time for my daughter, I have always been selective about what I let her watch. I was a Disney kid (still am!), and she is too now. We have branched out beyond Disney as she has grown up, but we still watch a lot of it. Lots of the shows she watches are based on some of our favorite characters from kids books. I am thrilled that there are so many TV shows based on children’s books that teach the same lessons I want her to learn, through the characters we have grown to love.
Why Teens Should Watch Hamilton
Hamilton is coming to Disney+ and I don’t know about you, but I am excited! Whether you are a Broadway fan or not, chances are you know about the show and may even know some of the songs. And now we all have a chance to see the original cast perform it together. I will definitely be watching it, and I think there are lots of reasons why teens should watch Hamilton too!
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Camping Books & Toys for Kids
We went camping in tents and cabins a lot when I was a kid. My daughter has already shown an interest in going camping, but until we do go on our own trip, these camping toys and books for kids have helped us to pretend!
Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received copies of some of these books and products in exchange for my honest review. These are marked with an *. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Children’s Books about Dancing
My daughter loves to dance. Not a day goes by that we are not dancing around the house to one song or another. I’m sure she gets it from me, since I am usually dancing while I cook, wait in line, or drive the car. To feed our love of dance and movement, I decided to gather some of our favorite children’s books about dancing. I hope your little dancers enjoy them as well!
Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received copies of these books in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Making Summer Treats with an American Girl Cookbook!
When I was a kid, I read a ton of the American Girl books. My sister and I both had our favorites (I loved Molly, she loved Samantha), and we read the books, did the crafts, and put on the plays. I love that these books introduced readers to strong young girls and the historical time periods that they lived in, and I am really excited that my daughter has started showing interest in the American Girl stories. I have also been impressed over the years with their nonfiction books and their quest for teaching young girls all about themselves and what they can do. So we were thrilled when we were given the chance to check out their new Summer Treats American Girl cookbook!
Read Aloud Mistakes You May Be Making
While reading aloud to kids, there are a few things that can make your reading time more enjoyable and more beneficial. In addition to providing your kids with loving memories, reading aloud to them also gives you a chance to exhibit the strategies that good readers use. But sometimes it is easy to fall into simple read aloud mistakes. These are easy to fix, and will help you to get more out of your reading time!
Helping Kids Deal with Separation
How do your kids deal with separation? Being apart is something that all families will have to deal with at some point. Some kids stay with a caretaker or daycare teacher while their parents are at work. Other kids may be home with a parent, but someday have to separate when they go off to school. Some children have parents who live in different homes, and have to split their time. All of these situations can be difficult for both the parents and kids to deal with. So I am happy to share some of the best children’s books about separation that have helped my daughter and I to cope when we have to be apart.
Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received copies of some of these books in exchange for my honest review. These are marked with a *. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
In My Heart*
Written by Mackenzie Porter and illustrated by Jenny Lovlie
This sweet board book follows a mother and daughter as they go about their days at work and school. As they start the day together, the mother reminds herself that they are never apart, even if they are not together. The sweet rhyming text and heartwarming illustrations show how the mother thinks about her daughter throughout the day. At the end of the day, she reassures her daughter of the same message from earlier in the book: that they are always in each other’s heads and hearts, keeping them tied together.
Related Post: Children’s Books about Parental Love
The Kissing Hand
Written by Audrey Penn and illustrated by Ruth Harper
In this sweet, sentimental story, a little raccoon named Chester is not ready to go to school. His mother tells him about a family secret called the Kissing Hand, which can help him to ease his fears. This simple action reassures him of her love, no matter where he is. And he offers the same reassurance back to her. The beautiful illustrations bring the heartwarming story to life, making this a classic for parents whose children are heading to school for the first time. My daughter and I frequently use our kissing hands when we have to be apart and it is truly helpful.
The Invisible String
Written by Patrice Karst and illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
This book was recommended to me by a children’s therapist, and it has been really helpful. In this story, when two young children get scared during a rainstorm, they run to their mother in the living room. They tell her that they are scared and they want to be close to her. She reassures them that they are always connected, even when they are apart. She explains to them that we have invisible strings tying us to those that we love and keeping us connected, even while separated. This visual for remaining connected can not only help kids with being separated from parents during the day, but can also help them when a loved one passes away. This was extremely helpful to our family when my uncle passed away, who my daughter was very close to.
Related Post: Children’s Books about Grief
New Books for Father’s Day
Father’s Day is right around the corner, so I wanted to share some new children’s books about dads and kids that are perfect for celebrating the holiday.
Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received copies of these books in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
My Daddy and Me
Written by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Jane Massey
This sweet board book uses a rhyming text and soothing illustrations to celebrate all the small everyday ways that dads show their love to their kids. Each two page spread features another father and child pairing participating in regular day to day activities, with rhyming text from the perspective of the young child. The text is soothing, and allows kids to easily connect the book to their own lives, and the illustrations feature a diverse group of fathers and children.
Related Post: 8 Children’s Books about Dads & Grandpas
Cave Dada
Written and illustrated by Brandon Reese
This hilarious picture book follows a caveman as he attempts to put his baby to bed. But his baby doesn’t want to go to bed until he has heard a story. The caveman dad tries to dissuade the little baby, but gives in at the first sign of tears. However, reading a bedtime story isn’t as easy as we think it is, especially when baby asks for the BIG book. Kids will love the mischievous baby, and parents will recognize the bedtime struggles illustrated in the story.
Three Squeezes
Written by Jason Pratt and illustrated by Chris Sheban
This sweet book follows a father and son as their relationship grows and develops over the years. The rhyming text celebrates the repeated use of three small squeezes to offer love and comfort through the ups and downs of life. The illustrations are adorable, highlighting the young boy as he grows up, and the loving relationship between father and son.
Related Post: Sentimental Children’s Books that Make Me Cry
Coding Activities for Kids with How to Code a Roller Coaster
I love that at a young age my daughter is already interested in STEM concepts including engineering and coding. So I am always looking for books that encourage her to dive deeper into STEM topics. So I was thrilled when we had the chance to check out the follow up to How to Code a Sandcastle, and pair it with coding activities for kids!
Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
How to Code a Roller Coaster was written by Josh Funk and illustrated by Sara Palacios. Join Pearl, the code loving little girl, and her robot buddy Pascal as they head to the amusement park for the day. They cannot wait to ride the big roller coaster, but decide that the line is too long to wait in right now. So they head out to enjoy the rest of the park, and use code to keep track of their coins and help them decide when to go back to the roller coaster.
The text is easy for kids to understand and introduces lots of coding concepts in a situation that makes sense to kids. The illustrations are bright and colorful, and kids will love the adorable Pearl and Pascal.
Create Your Own Roller Coaster
This fun story inspired my daughter to create her own roller coaster. She is a recent fan of roller coasters, so she was super excited to put her mind to use building her own. We used LEGO blocks and a stamp pad to create our roller coaster plans on a long sheet of paper. She had a lot of fun adding hills and flips with different colors of ink and sizes of blocks.
Have kids come up with a plan for their own themed roller coaster and put pen (or crayons) to paper to bring their creation to life. Inspire them to think outside the box and add different twists, turns, flips, or other surprises to their path. You could even take this one step further and use blocks or a roller coaster building kit to bring their creation to life.
Related Post: How to Code a Sandcastle: Making Coding Fun
Coding a Coaster Game
This coding game for kids uses a die and piece of paper to teach kids about coding. Code tells a computer what to do next, and this game helps them to see that in action. Each side of the die represents a different “code”, and every time the child rolls the die, they will take a different action based on the “code” that comes up.
First I gave my daughter a sheet of grid paper and encouraged her to pick a starting block along the left hand side. Next I had her roll the die and move her crayon the direction that the die told her too. As she continued to roll, her crayon moved along the page. I encouraged her to keep rolling and moving around the board until she made it to the other side.
- forward
- left
- right
- up
- down
- flip
Fair Games
In the book, Pascal and Pearl play a Bullseye game to try to win prizes. We decided to create our own simple game to play on a rainy day. We drew a large bullseye on a piece of paper and stuck it to the wall. Next, we created little balls out of masking tape and marked a spot on the ground a few feet back. We took turns throwing our balls at the target to see who could get the closest. This is a really easy boredom buster that you can create with things you have on hand. You could change this up by making a larger target or adding point values too.
Related Post: The Best STEM Books and Activities for Kids Who Love STEM
Children’s Books about Refugees & Immigration
There is a lot in the news about immigration and refugees, and these can be difficult topics to explain to kids. This list of children’s books about refugees and immigration, are a great way to introduce these concepts to young ones, and inspire them to open their hearts and minds to new friends and new opportunities.
Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received copies of these books in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Refuge
Written by Sandra le Guen and illustrated by Stephanie Nicolet
This beautiful book was originally published in France, and was translated by Daniel Hahn. The story follows a young girl named Jeannette who tells her parents about a new girl in school. The new girl speaks a different language, so the two of them communicate through their hands and their artwork. Eventually, Jeannette learns that her name is Iliana. She also learns about the journey that Iliana’s family has taken to get there. Throughout the story, the girls share a love of the sky, and Iliana shares how the sky and the stars helped her during their journey, and how it connects them today. This inspiring story is a great way to teach kids to open their hearts to new friendships and learn from those who are different from them.
From Far Away
Written by Robert Munsch and Saoussan Askar and illustrated by Rebecca Green
When Saoussan Askar was a young girl in elementary school, she wrote a letter to Robert Munsch about her life as an immigrant. Together, they created this book which was first published in 1995. The story shares some of the things that Saoussan faced leaving her native Lebanon and moving to a new country. From not understanding the language and traditions to feeling lonely and out of place, Saoussan faces the same trials that many immigrant children face. This is a great way to introduce young children to the hurdles that immigrant children face, and how they can help. The back of the book includes an update on the young author and the life she has lived since first publishing this book.
Related Post: Bilingual Books for Kids
The Dress and the Girl
Written by Camille Andros and illustrated by Julie Morstad
This book follows the journey of a young girl and the dress that her mother made for her. She wore it every day while they did the same things around home, but they both longed for an extraordinary adventure. When the little girl’s family immigrates to America from Greece, the dress goes with her, but it gets left in a trunk once they arrive. The trunk with the dress travels around the world, visiting many countries and many people. Eventually it finds itself in a shop window, where the same woman and her own daughter find the dress and take it home. The mother is immediately reminded of all the memories that she had with the dress, connecting her to the life she had before. This story is a comforting tale of connection and passing things from generation to generation.
Migrations: Open Hearts Open Borders
Edited by the International Centre for the Picture Book in Society
This compilation of bright and colorful postcards features a selection of artwork sent from children’s book illustrators all over the world to an exhibition entitled Migrations. This project aimed to show support for migrants all over the world who face difficult circumstances trying to find a safer place to live. The images throughout the book are paired with messages of support and solidarity, and are separated into different sections: Departures, Long Journeys, Arrivals, and Hope for the Future. The back of the book includes information about each of the illustrators featured in the book.
Lilah Tov Good Night
Written by Ben Gundersheimer (Mr. G) and illustrated by Noar Lee Naggan
This beautifully illustrated tale follows a family as they leave their home for a new one. As they travel, the young girl says “Lilah Tov” to all of the creatures and sights that they see along the way. The soothing rhyming text and beautiful illustrations remind the reader of the beauty in the world, no matter where you live. As the family settles into a new home, the gentle story lulls little readers to sleep as well.
Related Post: Starting Early: How I Taught My One Year Old To Speak 4 Languages
