Bedtime Stories

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”–Emilie Buchwald

Ever since I was a child, I have always had a love of books, especially children's literature.  I remember being little and we always had tons of books.  My parents would read to us at night and we would often go to the bookstore to get new books.  As I got older, I continued to love reading, especially the Baby Sitter's Club series.  I remember how excited I was my first year at Texas A&M when I got to take a children's literature class as a freshman education major.  As I got into my upper level classes, my advisor and professor, Dr. Boettcher, continued my love of books through the classes she taught.  As I became a teacher, my favorite time of the day was interactive read aloud.  I loved getting to share good literature with my students, have discussions about the characters and stretch their thinking as readers.  My goal as a teacher was always to create a love of reading in my students.  Now that I am out of the classroom as an assistant principal, some of my favorite times are when I get to go into a classroom and read to the students. 

The Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University, shared an article on Facebook last week that made my teacher and reader heart so happy.  It was titled "50 Books Every Parent Should Read to Their Child".  I could go on and on about my love for Teacher's College and my trip to their summer Reading Institute, but I will save that for another day.

Here are some of the books on the list that I remember loving as a kid:

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                               

 

There were also a handful of books on the Top 50 list that I loved to use in my classroom:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I left the classroom 3 years ago, I couldn't part with any of my books.  I can't wait until Madison is a little older and she can have my classroom books in her playroom.  For now...she has a good little collection of board books going. 

 

 

Check out the list and see if any you notice any of your favorite childhood books.  I loved getting to look at the list and remember some books I had forgotten about.