Our favourite books to read

With it being National Book Week this week, I thought I’d share some of our favourite books to read, with you. Noah has quite a variety of books in his ever expanding library, but there are a few books that are his go-to every time he chooses a book to either read to himself, or have one of us read to him. In an attempt to include Noah, I thought I’d sit him down in front of his books, ask him to have a look through them all, and choose 5 of his favourite books to read.

Now, in my mind I pictured him sitting beautifully in front of his books, looking at me, listening intently as I explained what I needed him to do. Then he would lovingly go through each book, and carefully choose his 5 favourites. Reality was very different to the expectation! You’d think I’d have known this, being his mom and all, but alas! He wasn’t really interested in sitting nicely and posing for a photo in front of his books. He was making silly noises and saying silly words while I tried to explain what I wanted him to do. And when it came to picking his books, well, let’s just say, he didn’t look lovingly at each book, he quickly searched for and grabbed the ones he wanted, with not much thought to looking through them properly. Ah, the joys of busy little boys!

Anyway, here are the 5 books that Noah chose, in no particular order:

1.) Jeremy – Thomas and Friends

in December we bought a set of 17 Thomas and Friends story books from a mom on our local Facebook Moms Group. Noah has loved reading them from the day we got them. And Jeremy is definitely one of his favourites from the set. This story is about how Thomas is a bit jealous of Jeremy, because Jeremy can fly, while Thomas has to stop at signals. But one day, Thomas needs help to save the Sodor family picnic, and Jeremy was very happy to help! Such a sweet story!

2.) Planes

Ah, Dusty Crophopper, my good friend! Noah has both Planes DVD’s. He has Planes bedding and even t-shirts. He even has a Dusty scatter cushion and a Dusty teddy bear, never mind two actual toy Dusty planes. He is a fan, to say the least. And 9 times out of 10, he will take this book off the shelf, and sit and read it to himself. He received this book when he was a member of the Disney Book Club, and it is probably one of the best books they could have sent him!

3.) Thomas and the Station Cat

Thomas is a firm favourite here too! Cue the clothing and toy trains. Oh so very many toy trains and their tracks! My mom gave Noah this book. Thomas is on a mission to find the station cat, and looks all over Sodor to try to find her, only to see that she was hiding in a cupboard after having given birth to a litter of kittens! Another sweet little story.

4.) Cars 2

I have lost count when trying to remember how many Lightning McQueens there are in our home. We have a rather large one, a couple of Lego ones, and then a few smaller ones in red, there is a Fabulous Lightning McQueen and a Dinoco Blue Lightning McQueen, and even smaller ones than that. Never mind the t-shirts, pj’s, slippers and jerseys! But my Noah loves reading about the adventures of Lightning and Mater, and I’m pretty sure Cars 2 is his favourite in the Cars franchise!

5.) The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg

*Disclaimer – if Noah had not chosen this book, I would have!                                                     This is my favourite Christmas story, after the story of Jesus’ birth of course! It’s about a little boy who doubts that Santa exists, and on Christmas Eve he goes on a magical train ride to the North Pole, where he meets Santa, and receives a special gift from him. It’s the most magical story, and gets me in the mood for Christmas every time I read it! 

And here are my 5 favourite books that I read to Noah regularly:

1.) A Kiss Goodnight & Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Now I know these are two seperate books, but they are the same type of books, and I really don’t have a favourite – I love them both. I alternate between them each night, as they are filled with little rhymes about bedtime and dreaming sweet dreams, and goodnight kisses. I love reading them!

2.) I Wished For You – An Adoption Story, by Marianne Richmond

We have a few books about adoption, and I think this one is a favourite for both Jason and I, mainly because the Mommy Bear tells the Baby Bear she adopted that he is her wish come true. We LOVE that line, and often tell Noah how he is our wish come true. It is the most beautiful story, and they share the story of adoption so well! 

3.) I’d Know You Anywhere , by Nancy Tillman

Now this is probably my most favourite book to read to Noah. I had tears in my eyes the first time I read it. Basically, it’s a story of a mom telling her child how she wold recognise them if they were different animals (pretend). So, if they wanted to be a rhino, she’d recognise them by their smile, or if they were a pig, she’d recognise them because of their cute chin. The storyteller goes through a whole range of different animals, and shares how the mom will know it is her child, and then it ends with my most favourite line of all, “Because, child of mine, I’d know you anywhere.” I get chills just thinking of reading this book to Noah again!

4.) I Don’t Have Your Eyes, by Carrie A. Kitze

This is another story about adoption. It’s written beautifully, sharing how a child may not have the same physical features as their parents, but they do have other traits that resemble their mom and dad. It really is a beautiful story!

5.) My Amazing Dad, by Ross Collins

I bought this book for Jason and Noah to read, for obvious reasons! And Jason often chooses it to read 🙂 Basically, a little crocodile doesn’t think his dad is cool or has a cool job. And when he hears all the cool things his friends’ dads do, he feels even worse. Then Mommy Crocodile takes him to see what his dad does, and the little crocodile can’t believe just how amazing his dad actually is! Another lovely story!

And these are just some of the books we enjoy reading. We’ve read them all a good few times, and still love them just as much!

Do your children have any favourite story books that you have read over and over again?