Book Recommendations for Daughter

what about the Bernsteins Bears? My daughter likede them when she was little and I'm now buying for my grandson. They touch on several different topics like strangers,new siblings, etc.

My daughter was exactly the same way! A bit before she was 4 yrs old we started chapter books. Let me tell you even the easy chapter books it is hardto find some that are age appropriate. (nothing about boys, fighting, being mean, etc) We DID find a series she LOVES. It is the Rainbow Magic series by Daisy Meadows. There are mini series within the series. For example there are 7 rainbow fairies, sport fairies, pet fairies, dance fairies, etc. The books have the same characters, except for the changing fairy, and follow the same plot, even though the theme changes so it is easy to follow and had REALLY helped my daughter develop her comprehension. We have been reading them for 6 months and are STILL finding new ones to read. Most of the libraries have at least some of the mini series if you want to try it. there is also a rainbow magic website that talks about the books and has fairy games, coloring pages, etc.
http://www.rainbowmagiconline.com/uk/index.html

I can't say enough about these books!

Hope this helps:)
-A.

Please consider "Read Aloud Bedtime Stories", copyright 2001 by Publications International, Ltd out of Lincolnwood, IL. The CEO is Louis Weber and the website is www.pubint.com.

There are 20 stories, ie. Puss in Boots, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, and Jack and the Beanstalk. Someone (I think my sister) gave my son this book when he was small and I read a story or two to him every night for about a year when he was 3 or so. We still read it off-and-on with his sister now -- they both love the stories and are now starting to read them on their own!

The Napping House by Audrey Wood (short rhyming story but silly and very cute)
The Kissing Hand author ??
Froggy series by Jonathan London
Books by Max Lucado (My favorite is "You Are Special")
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie series by Laura Numeroff

our daughter is almost 5 and has loved Berenstein Bears and Dr. Seuss

If you and your daughter explore your library together, you can get clearer about what she likes without having to spend any money. Also, the librarian will have suggestions for her age group.

There is a WORLD of great books out there. It's true that children like to read the same books over and over -- but that only works for certain books, and it has to be ones that your child loves.

And aren't you a little bored of reading only Dr. Seuss?! Reading together should be great fun for both of you, and you deserve to have great books to read to your daughter. I think you will enjoy discovering all the wonderful children's books that are out there. (And don't waste your time on the movie tie-ins or other junk books!)

I am a preschool teacher in a Twin Cities public school system (and a former kindergarten teacher), and I'm the mother of two boys who love reading and read every day for fun. (They also read above grade level.)

My first piece of advice is get to know your local libraries. Find the one you like the best, and start going there regularly. I go to ours once a week. My husband used to be the Czar of Bedtime in our house, and he constantly wanted new books to read to the kids. Once they got older and discovered comic books and graphic novels, their hunger could never be filled, so I had to keep going back to the library for more. Okay, I lied. Sometimes I go two or three times a week!

You can get online at your library's website and request books. You can do it with the books I'm going to recommend, and you can do it with books you hear about elsewhere. Then you get an email that they are in, you pick 'em up, and you're good to go. Right now I've got 66 books requested at mine!

Here are some terrific books for children your daughter's age:

Owl Babies, Martin Waddell
We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Helen Oxenbury

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Mo Willems
(read that one first, then read the other Pigeon books)
There is a Bird on Your Head!, Mo Willems
I Will Surprise My Friend, MW
My Friend is Sad, MW
...and all of the other Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems
Knuffle Bunny, Mo Willems

The Mitten, Jan Brett
The Hat, Jan Brett
Annie and the Wild Animals, Jan Brett

Farmer Duck (forgot the author)
No, David!, David Shannon
Hug, Jez Alborough
The Napping House, Don & Audrey Wood
The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats
Swimmy, Leo Lionni
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Bill Martin, Jr.
I Went Walking, Sue Williams
Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak
Olivia, Ian Falconer
Goodnight Gorilla, Peggy Rathmann

I really like the Kids' Lit blog (google kids lit -- it's the one from the Menasha Wisconsin public library); check in there regularly and you'll find out more about good new books.

Enjoy!

'

Check out Jan Brett, author, her books are fabulous and the illustrations are adorable. Another idea are the If You Give A Mouse and Cookie series, there are several and they talk about cause and effect. They're really funny and on sale at Kohl's right now for $5 each, plus stuffed animals to match, if you like that kind of thing.

We also love Sandra Boynton. Check for her online or at your book store. Another series is the Llama Llama series, which includes Llama Llama, Red Pajama and many others.

For additional ideas, just ask the clerk at your bookstore, they always know which books are the most popular with kids, or check with your librarian. Libraries often have lists of award winning children's books, and are a great help for age appropriate suggestions of quality literature!

You could try some chapter books too - my daughter has really enjoyed the Narnia books, Little House, Boxcar Children, Series of Unfortunate Events, etc. (I guess we're into series books.) Just pick something that you enjoy reading too.

Frog and Toad--Good transition books for soon to be readers

OH, there are a bazillion great books out there. My daughter's favorite was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. My son liked everything by Richard Scarry.

K.
http://K..myshaklee.com

My daughter is nearly 3 and we read all kinds of "I Can Read" books.
Fancy Nancy
Amelia Bedelia
Frog and Toad
Little Bear
Biscuit
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Danny and the Dinasour
Chester
Sammy the Seal
and we have also read every Winnie the Pooh book out there

I taught preschool for nine years and here's a list of a few favorites of my classroom children and our almost 4 year old at home:
1. any of the Curious George books
2. any of the Eric Carle books
3. any of the Winnie the Pooh books
4. Ellie (a book about a loud ant looking for a friend)
5. any of the Little Critter books
6. any of the Franklin the turtle books
7. If you give a mouse a cookie (and any other Laura Numeroff books)
8.any Robert Munsch books
9. The little Mouse, the red ripe strawberry, and the big hungry bear
10. how do dinosaurs say goodnight

There are lots more wonderful books for children this age. I agree with the other post...check at your library...that's much cheaper than going out and buying a bunch. Also ask your librarian for some suggestions-they usually have a good idea what kids like to read. That way you can try a variety of books and if you find certain ones you really like, you can always go out and purchase them later.

Our 2 1/2 year old likes the Fancy Nancy books which have great vocabulary. She also likes the Sandra Boynton books, nursery rhymes (and can recite a lot of the lesser known rhymes), the Llama, Llama books, the Click, Clack, Moo books. We have sooo many books that I can't even think of any more. I agree with others who have said to visit the library or your local bookstore. If you do a web search for "books for three year olds" you will get hundreds of ideas! As a reading teacher I will mention that you don't have to avoid rhyming books. Listening to rhymes and reading rhyming books play a big part in learning how to read.

I would go to Amazon.com and search by age group. There are endless choices.

I highly recommend Fancy Nancy books or the Skippy Jon Jones books both are a series and highly engaging:)

We belong to the disney wonderful world of reading book club. It has all the different disney stories that you are familiar with and even some that you've never heard of. We haven't received any books for a while so we must have them all. There is probably about 50 different books total. They take between 15 and 20 minutes to read and they are not rhyming. Our daughters 2½ and 1 love them. They get stuck on a certain book and we read it over and over again. We also belong to the Dr. Seuss Club which the girls like too. These are generally quicker reads and I pick one of these when we're running late for bed/naps. Hope this helps.

Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things are) with a lot of actions and singing and variety of voices; Hairly McLairy from Donaldson's Dairy and Slinky Maklinky by Lynley Dodd series from New Zealand -- just a ton of fun with lots of animals and voicings; Grandma McGarvey Paints the Shed and any others by Jenny Hessell; Let the Lynx Come In by Jonathan London; any of the "I Spy" books or "Find Waldo" books... they are VERY interactive and often the kids are quicker to find Waldo or the I Spy items that the adults. Lots of interactive fun and they never become boring.

We love the Toot and Puddle books by Holly Hobbie. She also has a new book series started about a girl named Fanny. The stories are cute and illustrations are outstanding (IMO).

Jessica

I bought my daughter a disney book that has most of the disney movie stories in it...in depth! She loves it! It's a huge book and has a ton of stories in it. I believe I got it at borders.

Definitely check out Usborne Books! This educational children's book publisher has some great options for kids of all ages. My daughter is the same age as yours, and loves the Picture Book series, with titles like The Butterfly, Snowy Day and Under the Ground.

They have a great search feature on their website, inexpensive shipping, and there is still time to get them before Christmas! http://www.ubah.com/g2687

Have fun!

T. Larsen, ASID
http://www.tlarsendesign.com

My kids LOVE the books by Mo Willems..
The Pigeon series: Don't let the Pigeon eat a Hot Dog, Don't let the Pideon Drive the Bus etc...

Also: Knuffle Bunny...also by Mo Willems.

Finally: Pig and Elephant...yes, again, by Mo Willems :-)

All those recommendations are great. We also started reading some of the classic Beatrix potter stories (Peter Rabbit) to both my son 3 1/2 and daughter 5 about 1 year ago. They love them.

Another recommendation is get a library card and check out several books to expose her to. We read about 2-3 books (depending on length) to our kids each night as part of their bedtime routine so we go through tons of books. The library helps us find new and interesting books that keep up their interest.