If there is anything we as a family collect, it is books. We are all interested in words on pages (even in the age of tablets and e-readers). For me, there is just something so soothing about a row of books, neatly lined up on a shelf. The potential for entertainment in just one book shelf seems almost limitless. The idea of opening a book and being transported to a new place, a new world, a new mindset is just so appealing!
Thankfully, we have passed this love of words on pages to our kids. Our girls love books! We are slowly working our way into a large collection of picture books for our kids. I got to thinking about our collection and realized there are definite patterns: favorite authors, favorite subjects, and well-loved classics we just could not do without. I thought it would be fun to share with you what I consider to be collections of books worthy of “collect them ALL” status.
Sandra Boynton
We HEART Sandra Boynton so much! I don’t think there is a single one of her books we have not read hundreds of times! They are just such simple FUN! We love these books as some of the very earliest reads for our girls. Many of them have been memorized. Some of them have been destroyed because of use. I could go on… They are worthy of a prominent spot on the lowest shelf for your babies and toddlers. For my tips on how to read Sandra Boynton books with your little ones, check out this post.
To get started on your collection, you will want to pick up her Greatest Hits, volumes 1 and 2
Dr. Seuss
If any author is worthy of collect them ALL status, it is Theodore Geisel (AKA Dr. Seuss). We were generously gifted a subscription to the Dr. Seuss club and kept it for over a year. Each month we received 3 (sometimes 4) books to add to our collection. Most of the books are Dr. Seuss books, but also included are Berenstain Bears books and some other select books from other authors affiliated with the Dr. Seuss name. All of these books are treasured in our home. In fact we have a whole book table devoted to these colorful-spined books. I highly recommend joining the club to get your collection started.
Highlights Hello magazine
This sweet monthly magazine for babies, Hello! is such a wonderful resource to have on hand for years to come. We had a subscription for a long time when the girls were little and we still have all of them! They are very durable (even wipeable) so they last a long time even in the hands (and mouths) of babies. I love the sweet stories and rhymes included in the pages. And each issue has a seek and find type game to teach babies and toddlers early matching. I think we are going to start a new subscription for our little man soon!
Read Aloud Bible stories
This collection of Bible story books is SO FUN! We discovered them through my pastor’s wife when she was sharing it with our girls at our Bible study childcare. The stories in Read Aloud Bible Stories are so simple and exciting for little ears and eyes. The illustrations are really neat, too! One of my favorite things about them is they never have a picture of Jesus, so kids can continue to imagine Him (as they learn about Him) instead of having a picture of Him (which may or may not be accurate) already in their minds.
Our oldest loves these books so much and is now able to read them very easily, so they are a great beginning reader collection for family devotions. There are currently 5 volumes in this collection.
Here is G reading one of the stories:
Little Miss and Little Mister books
This is a relatively new collection for us, so we are still working on collecting them all. These are so cute and so much fun. Our girls love the names of all the little misses and misters. And I love this collection of books teaches our girls about various character traits in a really fun way. Our introduction to the collection was Little Miss Chatterbox, so FUN! Currently, I cannot find a collection with all the misters and misses, but you can purchase two starter sets to get the collection going: Marvelous Mr. Men and the Loveable Little Misses.
If you Give… books
Who doesn’t love Laura Numeroff’s collection of If you Give… books? They are just so fun to show kids cause and effect in a LONG drawn out way. And the gentle repetition makes for such a fun read aloud book. We love If you Give a Cat a Cupcake the most. I think the girls like it because of cupcakes and sprinkles. I like it best because the cat cleans up after himself…now that is a cat I would let in my house! Get your collection going with this set of If you Give…books
BOB books
For early readers, BOB books are really fun! I got the first couple of collections of them a while back for the girls and they still love to read these. The characters (each one a shape) are simply drawn and are apparently very memorable for little kids. I still can’t get all the characters’ names straight, but the girls seem to know each and every one. In fact, W talked often last Halloween of wanting to dress up as those characters. These books come in collections of 20 books with a book of reward stickers in a sturdy box.
BabyLit books
These are just so clever and cute they simply must be collected. One could be accused of just judging a book by its cover as the reason for adding these to your kid’s book collection, but inside they do not disappoint. These are such cute board books for little eyes and hands. And so many of the classics are here, from Bronte to Shakespeare and in between, your kid will be more literature-savvy than most high school graduates before they are in kindergarten. Right now, I cannot find a collection of all the BabyLit books available, but you can buy them individually until you collect them all. Here’s one of my favorites:
I love these collections of books so much! They fill our bookshelves for our kids. Whats more, they fill my kids with a love for reading at such a young age I hope they will carry with them forever!
Do you have a children’s book series or author you think is worthy of “collect them all status”? I would love to hear about your favorites in the comments!
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Great article. And the precious video!!! Oh my goodness! LOVE!!!
When Mo was little, we collected ALL of a lot of books. All of Eloise for sure. When she was a little older, she loved Junie B. Jones.
Love this list! We’ve been collecting the Serendipity books, Alice in Bibleland, Max Lucado, and Karma Wilson bear books.
Oh FUN! I will have to check out your suggestions!