My daughter, who is away working at camp this summer, said to me the other day, “Oh I am so glad for your blog, I am able to keep up on what you guys do!” It got me to thinking…….I know I like the idea of having family favorite recipes, different events and some of our life documented on the internet so that my children will be able to always look up something if they want to. But I realized there is a lot that I have not put on here yet that I want to document so that I can remember it for my future. Over the next few weeks, I will try and post things that I want to keep for reference so that in my “older” age I don’t forget about them:)
Today’s post will be some of my favorite baby/toddler books and videos that I have enjoyed over the course of having ten babies myself.
We have gone through numerous books and videos over the years and they have tons of great ones out there….but I want to document what have been my favorites to use with little ones.
Having so many little ones, I didn’t have time to sift through book lists and find the best ones out there, we just used what worked. Over the years I have replaced these copies of books numerous times because we have used them so much. As my children get older and have babies of their own I would love to be able to give my grandchildren a collection of books/videos that I had used with their mom and dads as a gift for a shower or something.
One of my all time favorite books was found through a friend of mine from college. She recommended buying it as she enjoyed it with all of her children. We have bought this book for Christmas for every baby for as long as I can remember.
This is a great interactive book. You say Hi to Paul and Judy. You feel Daddy’s scratchy face, you put your finger through Mommy’s ring, and so much more. I know that they have other books in the series, and I had bought them at one time, but this has been the “keeper.”
I received this book when my first child was born and I have read it with all of my babies over and over again. It has good pictures and a rhyme like story. About being resourceful with the things that you have.
Barney’s Favorite Mother Goose Rhymes
I am not big on Mother Goose Rhymes as I think some of them are such nonsense:) But, I have owned this book since my first child was born and I have read it with all of my babies over and over again. We usually did the page with they rhyme and then the next page would have you do something like Barney did. Usually by the time we finished the story the child would be very sleepy and fall asleep as the last rhymes are Twinkle Twinkle and the I love you song.
Another favorite Barney book. It is interactive and tells you to “touch your head, etc.” We loved reading this over and over and following the actions.
I have bought this with almost every toddler I think. It is paperback and has not stood the test of time, but it is very simple and basic story with farm animals.
I bought this book at a Cracker Barrel when my first daughter was being potty trained. I still sing the song to this day….”Bye bye diapers, bye bye smell, bye bye tapes and pins as well………” A favorite potty training book. I believe they have one with Kermit for boys.
This was another book that I had received with my first daughter and have kept reading it over and over with all of my children. They love the story as it is mostly pictures and no words. They have a few more in the series and are definitely worth reading.
This is another great, simple book for toddlers. The reason I think I liked this book was because it has a picture of a momma nursing her baby. It doesn’t show anything but I could relate it to my little one while reading. We have this book still on our shelf. Great vibrant coloring and pictures.
Richard Scary’s Best Book Ever
This book is great because it has a lot of scenes of daily life. My children enjoyed me going through the book and telling what was going on with each picture. A favorite since the beginning:)
Okay, who has NOT heard of this book?!?!? It is the most heartfelt story to read. If you are pregnant or going through emotional highs and lows, this book will put a tear in your eye. Such a good story. My children can recite the tag line of the story…..I love you forever, I like you for always…as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be…..
Five Little Monkey’s Jumping on the Bed
This story was turned into….Five little Maryon’s jumping on the bed by our daughter Lauren. My children crack up and love to reenact this story while we read it. A classic.
We found this at a garage sale one day and my children have loved it ever since. Whenever I see it while browsing through a Goodwill, I will grab it. It has ribbons which make a rainbow in the story. It is good to learn colors with.
This book has made it to the list just over the last few years. My toddlers loved this book and we have gotten all of the other books in the series as well. This is our favorite and I will read this to my grandchildren one day as well.
Another great board book with lots of pictures to talk about. My toddlers loved the “sneaky gorilla.”
This was added years later to my “list.” A good story that I will continue with over the years.
As far as videos go…….I don’t think babies need tv time at all. But I remember when I had many little ones and I would have a fussy baby, the only thing that would work playing over and over was Baby Einstein.
Our favorites and ones that we wore out the video cassettes were….
Baby Mozart
Baby Beethoven
Baby Einstein Neighborhood Animals
These I could play over and over again—-I kid you not. I would be gated in a bedroom with newborn, toddler, and preschooler and we could just keep this going in the background and it kept everyone happy.
Then I discovered a Christian series of the same type of videos and we played these over and over again.
This series is exactly like Baby Einstein but has a Christian message. I will buy myself a copy of these when I have grandchildren as well as my children. I would hugely recommend them.
We had gotten the Baby Faith before this series and they were okay. Played a nice calming music selection with some different videos and I liked them as well, but when these came along, I would choose these as first place for babies.
These were the three that I owned. I would have loved to get more but my babies grew up. I would be able to put this on and have my little ones mesmerized with the tv screen. A definite must have for babies or toddlers!
I hope that some of these have given you some ideas for any little ones in your life. I know some of them are going to be hard to find, but hopefully over the years I will be able to build a small library for all of my grandchildren out of these books.
Have a wonderful day today. Get out in that sunshine, smile, and be happy for something in your day!! Be blessed!
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