In another post I asked about books for a boy, but when I started going through the bookshelves I realized my daughter has outgrown many of her books! What are some good books with story lines for a 3.5 year old girl (either gender neutral or girly)?
Skippyjon Jones! by Judy Shachner It's about a Siamese cat that wants to be a chihuahua. Hilarious! Or anything by Judy Sierra: What time is it Mr Crocodile?
Other than that we spend a lot of time at the library picking up stories. By 4 they really like the novelty of new stories a lot and don't require you to read the same one for months on end (thankfully!!)
what about the I Spy books? and my son loves the Llama Llama books. i don't know where you'd get them, if they have them in stores, my grandma works at a gradeschool and got them through scholastic. hope this helps!
My daughter turned 4 in January. Here are her recent favorites:
Bread and Jam for Frances
A Birthday for Frances
StellaLuna
A collection of Disney princess stories "Happily Ever After Stories"
Read and Share Bible
Toot and Puddles books
My First Little House Books (Laura Ingalls Wilder stories modified for younger kids)
High Five magazine
Curious George books
My son (5) and daughter almost 3 both love the Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer and the Berenstein Bear books! Oh, there is also a series called Walter the Farting Dog - HILARIOUS and sweet at the same time!
I forgot Pinkaliscious, and Purpleiscious (spelling??) very girly!
we love the fancy nancy books.....and i found them cheaper at overstock
I totally agree about the Pinkalicious and Purpalicious books(they have a newish one too called Golidilicious,haven't read that one yet though) . My 4 Y/O daughter LOVES that series. She also loves the Froggy books. Very silly and fun-definitely gender neutral. Another fun gender neutral series would be the "If you give a Mouse a Cookie" series.
Here is a link to a GREAT blog /website written by a former Kindergarten teacher who is now a stay at home mom to a 3.5 year old. She reviews children's books and provides great learning activites too. It really helps guide me when I am at the library or book store.
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/
Good luck!!
Both of our children (a boy and a girl, in that order) LOVED the Frog and Toad books. I think there are only 4, but each one has several short stories in them. The kids are way past that age now (8 and 11) but they STILL love the books, and so do I.
Frog and Toad Are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, Frog and Toad All Year, and Days With Frog and Toad. All by Arnold Lobel.
They are CLASSICS!
If she's a girly girl, she will love Pinkalicious. We've read that book to our 3 1/2 year old daughter so many times, she can recite the whole thing by memory! It's about a girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink.
I do not have a specific answer, but most of our books have been tried from the library before being bought.
It's a nice way to discover books, as well as authors or series that our kids like and then look for them in stores.
Also, it exposes the children to a vast array of styles and it gets easier to know what they like/dislike in story line, illustrations... and make the selection.
Someone mentioned StellaLuna. My son discovered it from the website http://www.storylineonline.net/ (actors reading books) and loved it. Another way to try before buying.
Go by her reading level/ability.
Your local library should have a list of recommended books per age.
Or go to the Scholastic website, http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/booksandreading.jsp and it will give you suggestions.
Or, www.barnesandnoble.com and you can search for book (and the reviews) by age of the child.
Good luck,
Susan
Hi C.,
Both my kids love the Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer. They are short but so funny. Dr. Suess books or the PD Eastman series such as Are you My Mother are also ones that keep them interested.
My daughter loved George and Martha, Angelina Ballerina and Pinkelicious too. Another favorite of hers was When I was Little by Jamie Lee Curtis.
We too have utilized the local library before purchasing. It's the best way to go.
Oh and also Mouse Soup by Arnold Loeble (not sure on the spelling). This one is a chapter book but with short stories for the chapters. My sixth grader will sometimes still read this just for fun which is amazing because unfortunately reading is just not his thing anymore.
Happy Book Hunting.
C.
I like and look for any and all "Golden Books" do you remember those? Very cute, short and my kids love them...so did I as a kid:)
Everything already mentioned is great! Angelina Ballerina is another cute series for girls that age. We always loved the Richard Scarry books - gender neutral and lots of fun. I also liked the George and Martha books by James Marshall (he has LOTS of great books)
Through Discovery Toys, I have two books that are very girly and very cute! She'd love them both.
Dear Tooth Fairy - it has cute letters in envelopes to pull out and read, plus other surprises hidden inside: http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/esuite/control/product?P...
My First Fairy Tales - really nice illustrations, two-page spreads of several different fairy tales. I don't have a link specifically to this one, but you can see it on page 25 of this PDF: http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/uploads/fckeditor/dt/Fil... If you want it, I'd have to order it for you. The Tooth Fairy book you can buy directly or have me place the order
My daughter loves the Alfie series by Shirley Hughes and Biscuit. Any books about characters on tv are usually high interest as well (ie. Dora, Diego, etc.)
I find the Whinnie the Pooh books to be all time classics that will span quite a few years from about 2 or 3 all the way up to 8 or 9. Heck, I even still love them.
My 4 year old loves books by Arnold Lobel, Janell Cannon, Mem Fox, Cynthia Rylant (Henry and Mudge and Annie and Snowball books are fantastic), Kevin Henkes, Clifford books, we like Anansi and the Moss-covered rock. Some of our other favorites are: Where the WIld Things Are, Kitten's First Full Moon, the classics, Corduroy, Blueberries for Sal, Make Way for Ducklings, Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom, Birthday Monsters (Sandra Boynton), Brown Bear Brown Bear, Over in the Meadow, All the Places to Love, Gussie and Gertie... so many more.
Don't get rid of the books shes "outgrown!" These books are perfect for her to read to you. She will learn sight words and concepts about print from reading and rereading familiar stories. Sandra Boynton's books and Bill Martin Jr.'s books are perfect for this.
Both my girls enjoyed Madeline. Angelina Ballerina is good.
"If you Give a Mouse a Cookie" and the similar books like "If you Give a Moose a Muffin?"
I just asked my now 14 year old what her favorite books were when she was little and she said "Little Bear" and "Madeline".
