The Open Book

The most important thing about building a home library for your kids is to keep them in mind. It’s one thing to have all the most popular books on hand, but if your children are not interested in those books, then your efforts are wasted. 

I like to find a variety of genres and levels of books to foster their curiosity. Having some easier books is a good way to engage them quickly, while harder books give them something to aim for. Having an assortment of genres opens the door to curiosity. Non-fiction books can teach them about the world around them, while fiction can cultivate their imaginations. 

Like I mentioned before, however, find the books they’re interested in first and start from there. If they’re into dinosaur books, get them some non-fiction books (Children’s Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs by Clare Hibbert) to learn more about them and some fun fiction ones (How Do Dinosaurs… series by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague) for the story aspect of it. 

I won’t be able to put in all my favorites for each age group and every category but I’ll note a few of my favorites. For more suggestions, you can comment on what you’d like to hear more about and/or visit my Facebook or Instagram pages, where I share my favourite books and a little description of them.

Some of my favourite non-fiction books are:

• The “I Wonder Why” series by various authors, published by Kingfisher
• The “What if you had…” series by Sandra Markle, published by scholastic
• The “National Geographic Kids Readers” series by various authors, published by National Geographic Partners, LLC

Some of my favourite fiction books are:

• “Billy And The Mini Monsters” series by Zanna Davidson
• All books by Anita Bijsterbosch, she has so many that are great! Colors, counting, growing up, dressing up, potty, the list goes on.
• “An Elephant and Piggie Book” series by Mo Willems

Oh man! It’s so hard to just pick a few! Please let me know a more specific field to choose from so I can share more with you guys!

– J