Like her parents, Katie loves to read. Or, I should say that she loves to spend time flipping the pages through her books and having people read to her, especially when she’s sitting in their lap. Some days, she’ll sit and enjoy three or four books at a time while other days she loves flipping the pages before we can get the words out of our mouth. Regardless of her mood or the day, we always read at least a few books together. In fact, each night, as part of our bedtime routine, I read two or three books to Katie while rocking her. These peaceful moments are often my favorite part of the day.

I thought it would be fun to share some of Katie’s favorite books now that she is 14 months old. Some of these have been favorites since the very beginning and others are new additions.

 

Katie’s Favorite Books at 14 Months Old

• Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes: Bo and I both love reading this book to Katie as part of the bedtime routine. The gentle rhyme seems to calm her and I love counting kissing her nose at the very end. The story is a wonderful one, helping teach children that the world is filled with all different children who still have things in common.
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar:  Somehow Katie didn’t own this book until two weeks ago. While walking through a Walmart store in Arkansas during a work trip, a number of co-workers asked me about Katie’s favorite books when we passed the book aisle. When they realized Katie didn’t own this book, they changed that immediately. It’s such a fun story and the bright colors and holes in the books keep Katie entertained. This weekend she dragged the book over to me no less than five times, hoping to hear about the very hungry caterpillar who ate too much.
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?
• The Going to Bed Book: We have a number of Sandra Boyton’s bright, vibrant, lyrical books, but this one is my favorite. I read it to Katie every single night before bed. Unlike some “bedtime books” , I like that it is short and an easy-to-read even in a dimly lit room. Katie now enjoys turning the pages once I finish reading them and knows that it is a bed time book. Earlier today Bo lifted it out during reading time and she pushed it away, replacing it with another book.
• Sniff, Munch & Lick Books: I bought these after seeing no less than five local moms rave about them on their Instagram or Facebook feeds. Katie loves the movement in this book as it is filled with moving animals, flaps and textures. Unfortunately, many of the heads are now taped in the book after Katie ripped them off but, she still enjoys flipping and reading the book with me even though not every animal’s beak, tail or mouth moves anymore.
• Pat the Bunny: Personally, this book makes me laugh as it is such a classic and very retro. But, whether due to the multiple textures, flaps or fun holes, Katie has gravitated towards this book since she was very young. Ours has been hugged, gnawed, flipped and loved on a daily basis over the past few months.
• Where’s Spot: We’ve replaced this book twice due to Katie aggressively ripping off the flaps but regardless, it’s still a favorite.
• First 100 Words: We’ve had this book since Katie was born and originally, she seemed attracted to the bright, small, thick pages. These days we read the book slowly, trying to draw her focus to at least one of the items on each page. Some days, she just wants to quickly turn the pages and other days we almost have her repeating the words – sort of.
• Elmo at the Zoo: Katie loves turning the pages in this book and the fun animals allow us to practice different animal sounds with her as we read the book. She pulls this off the shelf at least once a day, in hopes that we’ll read it to her and include all the fun Sesame Street and animal sound effects.

 

 

Pictures courtesy of Alexis Damen photography.