Five Books for Children We Can Read Again & Again (& Again)

Rinse. Repeat.

Between bedtime rituals and storytime requests from our toddler, children’s books are constantly being read aloud in our home. We know, it’s terrific, but moo-ba-la-la-la’ing and hopping on pop can get awfully tedious. Once a child becomes attached to a book, you better plan on reading said book, oh, about a zillion times.

Which is why we’re pretty particular about the books that end up on our kids’ bookshelves. If we’re going to read a book overandoverandover, it better be clever, sweet, and have a cadence that’s pleasant to read aloud. Here are Priss & Vinegar’s top five absolute favorite children’s books right now:

1. “The Circus Ship” by Chris Van Dusen. Our Van Dusen collection began with “Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee” and now includes the entire Mr. Magee series as well as our current favorite, “The Circus Ship.” The rhythmic quality of Van Dusen’s writing is a joy to read and the “I-Spy”-style finale of “The Circus Ship” is an entertaining challenge for the whole family.
2. “Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg” by Lori Mortensen. Call us dorky, but we LOVE doing voices when reading to our kids. The tale of Cowpoke Clyde and his slapstick efforts to “warsh” his dog, well, they really let us work our western accent. Yee.Haw.
3. “Little Blue Truck” by Alice Schertle. Blue’s cheerful, get-along spirit never fails to makes us smile, not only because it’s a lovely message for children but also because it reminds us of our dear friend, Bria, who gave us this book. It’s always her voice we hear when we read it aloud to our children.
4. “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” by Dr. Seuss. We don’t care how many times you’ve read this book; at least one page will resonate for you on any given day of your life. When our daughter asks to read it again immediately after having finished it, we never refuse.
5. “Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You” by Nancy Tillman. Unlike the creepy stalker mommy in “The Runaway Bunny”, the mother in this book isn’t going to hunt her child to the ends of the Earth every time he tries to leave her. Rather, she gently urges him to go on great adventures and dream big because her love will always be there, quietly supporting him in the background. We’ve only finished reading this book aloud once because we can’t get more than five pages into it without crying. “Wherever You Are” perfectly captures the very wishes we have for our own children. {Sniffle.}