Story time is the best time of the day. Whether we're snuggled up on the couch or cozy in our pjs before bed, reading stories with my little ones is one of my favorite things to do. Everyone has a favorite book they remember from their childhood, and every day, parents and kids are discovering new classics of their own. There are many fabulous children's books out there, some of which everyone knows about and others we would have never discovered had my son not simply pulled a random book off a library shelf. I created this blog to share some of these wonderful stories with you. Think of it as a year's worth of the best children's books around, since no day should be without a great story. In the end, I hope we'll all have discovered at least a few new titles that will have made their way onto our list of family favorites. Enjoy!







Monday, October 10, 2011

Day 115: Big Red Barn

This was one of the first books my mom gave to my son after he was born.  The way I saw it, any book picked out by someone who had raised three kids over twenty years and read hundreds of children's stories along the way just had to be good.  It took a while for this story to become one of my son's favorites, but as he neared his first birthday, he fell in love with it!  Thank goodness it comes in board book form, as it wouldn't have lasted two days otherwise.  This is definitely my favorite of Margaret Wise Brown's books, and I only recently made the connection that illustrator Felicia Bond is the same artist for the "If You Give a Mouse" series. Big Red Barn is a perfect story for toddlers, telling the story of the animals' day on the farm in gentle, rolling verse with cute, charming illustrations.  "By the big red barn in the great green field, there was a pink pig who was learning to squeal.  There was a great big horse and a very little horse.  And on every barn is a weathervane, of course... a golden flying horse."  My son used to ask me to read it to him over and over in the car as he turned the pages, and he just loved all the sounds the animals made on the farm.  I think there must have been at least a two-month period in which he wanted to read this several times a day.  (My daughter is just now starting to love this book, as well.)  My two favorite pages show the animals playing together in the field, then later seeking the warm shelter of their barn to settle in and sleep for the night.  It's a wonderful bedtime story, and although I think the meter could be a little better at times, it is soothing and perfect for lulling little ones to sleep. 

2 comments:

Doggieville the book said...

Do you do reviews of children's books for authors?

Lauren said...

I've actually been thinking about doing this and setting up a page on my blog that would give more information. Feel free to email me at 365gcb@gmail.com if you're interested in the meantime. Thank you!

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