Honey for a Child's Heart

This picture was taken over a year ago of my oldest reading one of our favorite books, The Collections of Beatrix Potter. He looks so little here - and he was sitting still (he's such an active, energetic boy that this doesn't happen much anymore...unless we're reading!).

I think reading has got to be one of my favorite things to do with my boys. But then again, it's one of my favorite things to do with my own free time too, so maybe that explains something. We love going to the library and discovering new authors that we can't get enough of, checking out arm fulls of books, and going to Bookmans to collect our favorites that we don't want to live without.

I'm not a big fan of my kids watching TV. After reading about the American Academe of Pediatrics strong recommendation to minimize TV viewing for children over the age of two, and no viewing at all for ages under two I've been really resistant to make it a regular part of our lives. There's so much research that shows that not only does it provide no benefit, but is actually harmful for little ones that are growing and learning at such a fast rate. All this to say, yes, we do watch 30 to 45 minute dvd's every few days that we've carefully selected. Many times I sit and watch them with my kids and it and then talk about later. TV viewing has it's time and place, just not a very big one in our home.

Sine we watch very little TV that leaves LOTS of time for reading. Something I started doing this summer was reserving books at the library through their website and sending all of them to a location that's only two minutes away from us. We still browse the shelves and see if something catches our eve, but for the most part our books are waiting for us on the reserve shelf ready to pick up. One of my very favorite resources for discovering new books, authors, and age appropriate reading is a book by Gladys Hunt called Honey for A Child's Heart. She is a fabulous writer, passionate about reading, and has had wonderful reading suggestions. I checked this book out at the library before deciding it was a must have (along with her Honey for a Woman's Heart and Honey for a Teens Heart).

How do you pick the books you read to your kids? We're always looking for new books - what are some of the childrens books your family wouldn't live without (or if you don't have kids yet, what are some books you remember from childhood that every kid should read)?