Finnlings' Favorite Books (some of them :-)

In the spirit of Back to School, I wanted to share a list of some of the Finnlings’ favorite books. This is by no means comprehensive! We do not own all of these books, but have discovered many of them at our library this summer. My children and I enjoy books with fun stories and/or rhymes, and I personally look for beautiful illustrations that add to the story rather than take away from it. You will notice that I have both 'car' books and 'princess' books--and both of my big kids love both types! Forgive me for not hyperlinking each book to Amazon—that would have taken way too much time:-)

**Note: I hope to add short notes to each book as I have time over the next few days, like my own "annotated bibliography", so check back if you are curious!**

Roxaboxen –Alice McLerran ---Story of children who make up their own town with a mayor, houses, and stores. My kids played Roxaboxen for days after reading this!

Truckery Rhymes –Jon Scieszka ---Part of the "Trucktown" series, these are classic nursery rhymes reset to truck themes. Kids and adults love them!

The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash – Trinka Hakes Noble ---Fun story about a school field trip gone awry

Barn Dance – Bill Martin, Jr & John Archambault ---The skinny kid catches the scarecrow coming to life and leading the barn animals in a barn dance.

Sunflower House – Eve Bunting ---A home in our neighborhood has sunflowers in their yard, which my kids love. This story about a boy who plants a sunflower house resonated with my children, who know want sunflowers for our yard.

Blueberries for Sal –Robert McCloskey ---Classic story of Little Sal who eats more blueberries than she picks

One Morning in Maine –Robert McCloskey ---Or, as my kids call is "Little Sal grows up!" Sal is older and loses her first tooth.

Make Way for Ducklings – Robert McCloskey ---Another classic by McCloskey; set in Boston around the ducks :-)

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom –Bill Martin, Jr & John Archambault ---Bright colors and letters and fun rhyme make this a classic

Tip Tip Dig Dig – Emma Garcia ---Construction equipment comes together to build a playground. Baxter loves this book "with a digger we can Dig Dig Dig!"

Otto the Boy Who Loved Cars –Kara LaReau ---My son seems to be drawn like a magnet to books about cars (like my daughter finds books about princesses). This one is about a boy so obsessed with cars that he turns into one. The play on words is great (his name is Otto, his friends are Mini, Kia and Chevy, his teacher is Mrs. Dodge).

Pinkalicious—Victoria Kahn ---One of Georgia's favorites, this story is about a little girl who eats so many pink cupcakes that she turns pink!

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin – Lloyd Moss ---A personal favorite of mine for the illustrations and the rhyming introduction to musical instruments.

Olivia –Ian Falconer ---Olivia the pig is very good at wearing people out. Sometimes she even wears herself out!

Tea For Ruby –Sarah Ferguson ---Ruby gets an invitation to tea with the queen, and has to review her manners before going to tea. The illustrations are by Robin Glasser, who illustrates Fancy Nancy and You Can't Take a Balloon to the Metropolitan Museum--they are elaborate and fun.

The Nutcracker – Susan Jeffers ---Two years ago, we saw excerpts from the Nutcracker and this book was read. Georgia was enthralled and we had to buy the book. It is a favorite year round!

If You Give a Pig a Party & If You Give a Cat a Cupcake – Laura Numeroff

Clifford the Big Red Dog—Norman Birdwell

There’s Wocket in My Pocket – Dr. Seuss

Fancy Nancy –Jane O’Connor

Toot & Puddle – Holly Hobbie

The Napping House – Audrey Wood

The Dress I’ll Wear to the Party –Shirley Neitzel

How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? – Jane Yolen & Mark Teague

Bella & Stella Come Home – Anika Denise & Christopher Denise

1 2 3 A Child’s First Counting Book –Alison Jay (Counting book using fairy tales—beautifully illustrated!)

Mother Goose – Mary Engelbreit

T is for Tar Heel: A North Carolina Alphabet – Carol Crane

What are some of your favorite children's books?