Ain’t Nothin’ But a Book Thang Baby. Day 26 of My Favorite Things: Books

PJ Library (@PJLibrary Facebook) Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (@dollyslibrary Facebook)

Today I don’t want to talk about one brand or one item, I want to talk about many. Here everyone gets a give away! One that will be special for your entire family and will come to your door every month for the next five years! With that said, I want to share with you some of my favorite kid’s books.

Some of my favorite board books for babies

Understandably so, one of the most talked about topics when parents stand around the playground or at a birthday party is books. I am always looking for new books to read to my kids, series I have never heard of, or a friend’s favorite. Sharing my favorites with friends is a lot of fun too. So in honor of school starting – allow me to share my favorite books with you – by age group – so you can try some new books with your kiddies!

Some of my favorite books for age 2+

Our book collection is curated from favorites of mine and my husband’s as a child. But also from articles I’ve read, suggestions from friends, PJ Library, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, gifts from family and friends and book store recommendations. Growing up I was always a voracious reader (yeah – I won Book It. Bragging rights allowed. I remember eating my sweet pizza pie of achievement!), who thought summer reading programs were the cat’s meow. You could not stop me from making dioramas for sport. I just love to read. I want to bring my love of books into my children’s lives and make them readers too.

Some of my favorite books for age 3+

From Goodnight Moon – which we read to my daughter every night for two years at bedtime, to the “Little Miss” series we read now, books have been a huge part of my daughter’s life. In fact, we read three before bedtime (her choice) and used to read three before her nap too.

Some of my favorite books for age 4+

PJ Library and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library are both amazing. If you don’t know about them you need to look them up now and then tell your friends. Both companies send your child a FREE book every month. The catch? They want you to read it. Sounds fair, right? PJ Library sends books with Jewish themes and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library sends secular ones.  Some of the best books we have are from these organizations and I am so grateful for them. I think the thrill I get when the envelope arrives is equal to my daughter’s.

Thank you to Johannes Gutenberg for creating the printing press and allowing the mass production of books. Books – one of my favorite things!

*GIVEAWAY*

Everyone wins today – both PJ Library and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library send you free books every month!

****************************************************************************

PJ Library Heritage

PJ Library is a Jewish family engagement program implemented on a local level throughout North America. They mail free, high-quality Jewish children’s literature and music to families across the continent on a monthly basis.

PJ Library is a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, made possible through partnerships with philanthropists and local Jewish organizations. Today, families in hundreds of communities across the United States and Canada are able to explore the timeless core values of Judaism through books and music.

All families raising Jewish children are welcome to sign up.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Heritage

In 1995, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee, USA. Dolly’s vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, she wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.

Dolly’s Imagination Library became so popular that in the year 2000 she announced that she would make the program available for replication to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally. Since the initial program launch in the United States, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gone from just a few dozen books to over 60,000,000 books mailed to children in the United States, into Canada and across the proverbial pond into the United Kingdom! Currently over 1600 local communities provide the Imagination Library to over 750,000 children each and every month. Already statistics and independent reports have shown Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library drastically improves early childhood literacy for children enrolled in the program. Further studies have shown improved scores during early literacy testing.

Visit me on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter. Love me forever. #MintChipMama31DaystilBTS