16 fall books to read with your toddler

I think we all know how amazing fall is...the blogosphere is just filled with posts dedicated to just how great and cozy the season is. As far back as I can remember I've loved the anticipation that comes with ushering in each new season and getting excited for all the special activities that come along with it. I want to encourage that same magical excitement in my kids, and aside from decorating, one of the best ways to do so is to read seasonal themed books. 

Riggs loves to read, so this is an easy one for us. We have way too many books, so we usually check out most of the seasonal books from the library. Of course we do own a few of our very favorites, but I make it a habit to put away all seasonal books once the season has passed so they're extra special each year when we pull them out. 

I thought I'd share our top sixteen favorite books about autumn and all the fun things to do during this amazing season. I'm not really including any halloween-specific books in this list, because a lot of them are still a little scary for Riggs. We do have the Little Critter halloween book but that's really it. Some of the books I've included do mention halloween briefly, and I prefer that to books just about witches and gouls, ect. 

our fall favorites: 16 books to read with your toddler this autumn

 1. Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell: this is a short little story that describes a visit to a local farm to pick out apples and a pumpkin. It also covers carving a jack-o-lantern and dressing up for halloween. 

 2. Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur: An acrostic poem for each letter tracks the passage from end of summer to winter. This book has beautiful illustrations and is a good way to incorporate poetry into your child's literary 'diet'.

 3. Bear Has a Story to Tell by Phillip C. Stead: This is a sweet story about animals getting ready for winter. I'm a sucker for beautiful illustrations and this one is full of them!

 4. By the Light of the Harvest Moon by Harriet Ziefert: After the last harvest is over a magical fall wind stirs up the leaves and the leaf people arrive to celebrate under the light of the harvest moon. 

 5. Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills: Riggs is obsessed with Duck and Goose so this was a must for us. It's another cute Duck and Goose story, this time about searching for a pumpkin. 

 6. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson: This is a sweet story about Fletcher, who learns that it's ok for the leaves to fall and for winter to come. 

 7. From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer: I love these "let's read and find out science" books and this is another great one, following the life cycle of a pumpkin. 

 8. Hello, Harvest Moon by Ralph Fletcher: Another story about what happens under the light of the harvest moon. Riggs loves any story about the moon so this is one of his favorites. 

 9. Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson: We have this in the board book version and it's a sweet little story about Mouse learning about fall. 

10. Owl Babies by Martin Waddell: Owls, who doesn't love owls? These baby owls are waiting for their mama to come home from hunting for them.  

11. The Busy Little Squirrrel by Nancy Tafuri: Squirrel is getting ready for winter and doesn't have time to play with his friends. This is a cute one and especially good for us because we have our own busy little squirrel that Riggs loves to watch out in our little forrest. 

 12. The Fall Festival by Mercer Mayer: No booklist of ours would be complete without a Little Critter book. Riggs just loves Little Critter and I love the simple way they're all written and the cute illustrations.

 13. Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White: This is a great story about learning to make the best out of what life gives you. And it's about pumpkins, which we are a little obsessed with right now.

 14. We Gather Together by Wendy Pfeffer: I love this book, it's a great way to introduce a variety of cultural traditions relating to harvest time to even the youngest kids. 

15. We're Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger: Sound familiar? It should. If you love 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' you'll love this one. Riggs loves books like this that are easy for him to memorize and 'read' to himself.  

16. Woody, Hazel and Little Pip by Elsa Beskow: I love this book. Two of the cutest little acorn children you ever read have quite the adventure after they are blown away by a brisk autumn wind. This might be a little too much for younger toddler, but Riggs loves this one and listens intently to the entire story.

9 bedtime books: Riggs' current favorites

Riggs loves to read books and if it were up to him he'd probably read at least 20 every night before bed. But his mean mama has a rule of two books, and they have to be from the 'bedtime book' shelf. He's not really supposed to read his bedtime books during the day - and by 'not really supposed to' I mostly mean if he wants to look at them it's ok but I won't read them to him during the day. The purpose of this is to keep these books special and interesting for at bedtime, and to make sure the books we're reading before bed help him wind down and think about going to sleep.

Anytime I find a good bedtime book I add it to our little collection, but I admit I'm pretty picky. Llama Llama barely made the list, because it's a little bit rousing for him, but he loves it so much I try to always read it to him first and choose a calmer choice for the second (and last) book. I know there are a goodnight-truck-type books out there but for Riggs they just aren't a good choice. He'd get so excited about the trucks/construction equipment/trains that he wouldn't settle down into the quiet mood I like him to be in while we read bedtime books.

Riggs' Favorite Bedtime Books 2014

one | I Would Tuck You In - We picked this one up at Costco and love it so much. The illustrations are beautiful and there are little facts about the animal featured on the bottom of each page.

two | Time For Bed - Another Costco find actually, when I was pregnant with Riggs. I read this book to him every night when he was a little baby before bed, so it definitely has special meaning for me. He really like it too, and it was through reading this book that Riggs learned a lot of his animals at an early age.

three | Llama Llama Red Pajama - This book came in the mail through our Imagination Library subscription. Like I mentioned earlier I was a little bit skeptical and read through the whole thing myself before introducing it to Riggs. He really loves it and has never tried to imitate Baby Llama (stalling bedtime by asking for water) which is something I was a little worried about when I first read it.

four | Goodnight Moon - I don't think I really need to say anything about this one, except that every child should own it. It's such a classic and it fostered a love for the moon in Riggs that both Steve and I love so much. Plus I love books that have lots of little detail in the pages, like the little mouse that moves around from page to page, Riggs loves to find him and point him out to whoever is reading it to him.

five | Guess How Much I Love You - The illustrations in this book are probably my favorite thing about it, they are so dreamy and magical. I love the message too, and Riggs is obsessed with bunnies so any book with bunnies is a favorite of his.

six | Sweet Dreams Lullaby - This is another beautifully illustrated book and I particularly like it because it's written as a true lullaby, in rhyming verse. Again the main character is a bunny so Riggs really likes that too.

seven | All of Baby Nose to Toes - This was another book we received in the mail through the Imagination Library program and we both love to read it. Riggs names every character as someone from our family which I just love. And it never technically mentions bedtime but the baby takes a bath, gets dressed for bed, gets loved on by family then snuggles sleepily on it's mamas shoulder with a blanket on the last page. Riggs always says "goodnight baby" so I think he figures the baby is going to bed too. We do read this during the day before nap, but it's the only one from this list that we 'break the rule' for.

eight | Love You Forever - Oh my goodness, this book. I can barely read it to Riggs without tearing up, and I'm sure he thought I was crazy when I have broken down with a wobbly voice and a few tears a few times. It is just so sweet and really touches a chord inside me, because one of the biggest things that scared me about having a boy was 'losing' him as he grows up. I think every family should have this book on their shelves, it's just too sweet to miss.

nine | Under the Silvery Moon - I found this one recently at a used book store in Anchorage (Title Wave) and it is by far my new favorite. It's just a beautifully written and illustrated book and I could read it every single night. Riggs loves it too and picks it as one of his books at least every other night it seems.

Another favorite bedtime books is called Tiger's Bedtime, and it was mine when I was little. I would have added it to the list but I couldn't find it for sale online (or even a picture of it). I love reading it to Riggs because it brings back so many memories from my own childhood. What are some good bedtime books that I'm missing here? I'm always looking for more to add to our little shelf :)

24 Children's Book to Read in December

Last year as I was scrolling through Pinterest one night before bed, I found an idea that I just loved and couldn't wait to add to our yearly Christmas traditions. I knew it wouldn't work too well right away, since Riggs was under a year and wasn't really too interested in opening presents yet. 

This year I'm so excited to begin this new tradition, and I hope Riggs will enjoy it as much as I think he will! I've been collecting books to use for this project and have quite a nice pile going already. I try to get books out and put them away according to the season, for example if the book is about winter, we keep it in a box until it's actually winter. There are many books that don't really fit into the seasonal criteria, and we keep those out year round (Goodnight Moon, Nobunny's Perfect, etc). 

I think a Christmas Book Countdown is a perfect way to introduce new Christmas books every year, and to increase excitement for them and for the time of year. Also I would have loved opening a present every day, even if it was a book I had already read last year. Some of the books I've collected (and still have from when I was little) are too wordy for Riggs' attention span, so they'll have to wait for later years. I've included 24 books in this list that we'll be reading this year, books that are perfect for toddlers from about 1.5 to 3.

1. My First Christmas by Tommie Depaola - This book is a great introduction into the Christmas season with simple illustrations and words that are easy for a little one to understand and follow.

2. The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree by Stan Berenstain - I love the Berenstein bear books so much, and this one is a classic. I loved it when I was a kid and I know Riggs will love it too. 

3. A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Collen Monroe - This is a beautifully illustrated and written story about a tree that hopes to get picked every year. We decorate our tree right after Thanksgiving so I wanted to include a few books about the Christmas tree early on in the month.

4. Christmas in the Manger by Nola Buck - This is a great introduction to the real meaning behind Christmas for toddlers. 

5. The Littlest Elf by Brandi Dougherty - I saw this book for the first time this year and added it to our collection. The story and illustrations are very cute and I think little kids like to hear about other kids(/elves lol) being too little to do certain things just like them.

6. The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia M. Scarry - This was probably my sisters and I's very favorite Christmas book when we were growing up. I have so many memories of reading it and I'm pretty sure we wore out the scratch and sniff patches with in a year or two.

7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess - Everybody loves this book and I want to read it to Riggs a few times before watching the old version of the movie with him.

8. A Christmas Goodnight by Nola Buck - This is a sweet story in which the character says goodnight to each of the pieces of the Nativity. It's nice to have a bedtime themed book to include in our normal bedtime routine. 

9. Merry Christmas, Little Critter by Mercer Mayer - Riggs LOVES the Little Critter books so this was a must. I actually got a copy at Target that included stickers too.

10. Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren - This is a beautifully illustrated story by the same author who wrote the Tomten books, which we already love. 

11. Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell - Another Nativity story that's sweet and simple.

12. The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jan Brett - Jan Brett was (and still is) my favorite author of Children's books and her Christmas books are all so good. 

13. Christmas in the Country by Cynthia Rylant - This book includes many old fashioned Christmas traditions that are fun to read about, and it's by the same author of another book we already love, When I was Young in the Mountains. 

14. Christmas in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - I love all books by Wilder and this is just another that I hope Riggs will love too.

15. If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff - I actually read If You Give a Moose a Muffin first, when I was little, but I've grown too love this book too. It's a playful story and I think Riggs will like it, although I don't think he'll fully understand what 'going to the movies' means yet, since he's never been.

16. Duck and Goose It's Time for Christmas by Tad Hills - Duck and Goose are Riggs' favorite, so I've been planning on getting this book nearly all year. I'm sure he's going to love it!

17. Merry Christmas, Curious George by H.A. Ray - Everybody loves Curious George (especially Riggs) so I thought this was a great one to include on the list. I think it would work for all ages too, it's such a classic!

18. Little Critter's The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore/Mercer Mayer - I bought pretty much every Little Critter Christmas book I found, since Riggs loves them so much. The illustrations are so cute and full of personality and detail. Riggs loves to look for mouse and 'itsy-bitsy' in all the books.

19. Santa's Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki - I love this book! Santa goes for a walk in the woods to get in shape for Christmas deliveries, but ends up falling asleep. When he wakes up, he tells the animals a story about the true meaning of Christmas. 

20. Santa Claus is Coming to Town by J. Fred Koots (Steven Kellogg) - This is a classic and a must for every Christmas book collection!

21. The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer - This book isn't really about Christmas, but I wanted to include all sorts of books and this one was perfect to read on Winter Solstice. It's a little old for Riggs but he usually likes books about the seasons.

22. The Christmas Owl by Angela Muse - A sweet book about an injured Barred owl. Any child who loves owls will love this book!

23. The Night Tree by Eve Bunting - This book is so beautiful, I just love it! I think we might go decorate a tree in the yard for the animals after reading the book this year.

24. The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore/Jan Brett - I love this version of the classic Christmas Poem and figured Riggs would enjoy hearing it more than once. 

So there you have it, our Christmas Countdown picks for 2013. Please share any of your favorite Christmas books for kids that I haven't included in the list!

weekending

Despite the cold temperatures, we had a wonderful weekend. Saturday Steve had to work, but Riggs and I went over to Sarah and David's to visit and to take some family pictures for them. Riggs and Lyla were so incredibly cute together, I just loved seeing them interacting so well!

Sunday daddy was home, but I was pretty sick so we stayed home from church and had a very lazy day. Steve was amazing and helped with Riggs most of the day, despite being sick himself. I felt miserable, but it warmed my heart and brought a (weak) smile to my face to look over and see the two of them snuggling it up.

It had 'warmed up' to about 10 above in the afternoon, so Steve took Riggs out for some skiing in the yard. I made sure to have some warm sugar cookies waiting for when they came inside. I made them in shapes to go along with one of Riggs' favorite books right now, The Tomten and the Fox. It's a beautiful, quiet story about what happens on the farm while we humans are fast asleep.

Riggs loved the cookie shapes, especially the little tiny 'Tomten's' I made just for him. He played with the fox and the little Tomten for a bit before eating them, so cute!

We woke up this morning to really cold temps. It was 15 below zero when I went out at 9am to feed the chickens. Brrrrrrr. I went right back inside to make them some warm oatmeal - I think they earned it for having to hang out in such cold temps all day and night! Those are some tough chickens!

Reading with Riggs :: Summer Reading Program Week 5

The library took the week of the 4th off from the summer reading program, so we're on week five this week. It's still going really well, and like I mentioned before, my favorite part I think is watching Riggs make seemingly flash decisions about which books he likes and which he doesn't like.

This week we went to the library via bicycle and buggy. It was really nice and I think we'll be making more trips this way in the future. The weather was nice when we left the house, then it rained half-way to Palmer, then was nice, then was raining again (lightly) when we got out of the library. Such Alaskan weather...

 one of our new favorites: On the Night You Were Born

and of course he found the Curious George books.

He also had about five minutes of fun from sitting down on that step

and then standing up, and then sitting down, and kicking his feet: 

 at home we've been reading a few of our own books, like Go, Dog. Go!

there's also been a lot of reading of the pocket dictionary

Riggs new favorite book to carry around and 'read':

Week five - 10 books
1. Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman
2. Country Babies Wear Plaid by Michelle Sinclair Colman
3. Peek a Who? by Nina Laden
4. Can You Count? by Gyo Fujikawa
5. Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
6. Sense and Sensibility (babylit) by Jennifer Adams
7. On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
8. King Arthur's Very Great Grandson by Kenneth Kraegel
9. Just Helping my Dad by Mercer Mayer
10. Maybelle, Bunny of the North by Keith Patterson

Reading with Riggs :: Summer Reading Program Week 4

We finished our fourth week of the Summer Reading Program through the Palmer Public Library. I love our little routine of going to the Library first thing when they open each week on Monday. Riggs really loves it there and it's a great place for him to interact with other kids too. This week we were able to go to Baby Lapsit since we had the week off from Ladies Bible Study while VBS is going at church. It was fun but I can tell Riggs is ready for the older group now. It's crazy to think how much he's changed since his first time at Baby Lapsit at the Loussac Library in Anchorage.

One thing I've learned during these four weeks of reading new books to Riggs (that we don't have at home) is that he decides almost right away if he likes a book. He'll sit through almost any book being read to him once, but after that if he doesn't like it he'll close the book when you open it and try to read it. And you'll know the books he loves because he'll bring them to you multiple times a day to have them read to him. We keep his library books separate from the rest of the books, and each week there will be one or two from the pile of about five that he likes and wants to have read again to him. This week he liked Going on a Bear Hunt and I am a Bunny (which was funny because they were my favorites too). 

The Summer Reading Program has two different ways to receive stickers and prizes for the younger kids this year. You either need to read ten books (or have them read aloud) or you can check off activities from the list provided in the packet (or both). We try to do some of the activities each week, although some are just a little too advanced for Riggs to do. This week, we made an ABC book, which Riggs had fun coloring. I liked being able to make each page and draw pictures of things that I know Riggs would get excited about. His favorite page of all was "g", because I drew a picture of Goose from Duck and Goose - Goose Needs a Hug (his favorite book of all time). I am a horrible 'artist' but I tried really hard to make the pictures at least recognizable...ha. I actually really enjoyed making it and it brought back good memories from childhood - I loved to draw and trace things.  

Also Riggs received his second book from Imagination Library this week. We received one at our old house but then we moved and never got any more even though we had our mail forwarded. I kept forgetting to look into it and then about two months ago they finally sent us an email saying that the Post Office wouldn't forward the books and that since we moved we need to reregister with the Palmer program. I'm glad we're signed up again and that Riggs will be getting some more good books to read. His second book was the Little Engine that Could, and he is mesmerized by the pictures. He loves that book! 

Week Four - 12 books
1. Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton
2. Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes by Annie Kubler
3. Winnie-The-Pooh's Colors by A.A. Milne
4. Curious George's ABCs by E.L. Rey
5. The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
6. I am a Bunny by Richard Scary
7. It's a Little Book by Lane Smith
8. We're Going on a Bearhunt by Michael Rosen
9. In the Garden with Van Gogh by Julie Merberg
10. Ten Tiny Tickles by Karen Katz
11. My First Songs by Tommy dePaola
12. Curious George Are You Curious? by E. L. Rey

Reading with Riggs :: Summer Reading Program Week 3

He was so happy to find a Duck and Goose book at the Library
He 'read' it and looked at all the pictures for a good five minutes

We finished Week Three of the summer reading program and I'm still so glad we decided to do it. I've been loving reading Riggs all these new books that we don't have at home (as well as some of our own books too). We read nearly all of the books that we check out from the library everyday since they're new and Riggy likes to look at the pictures.

It seems like he is a perfect age for reading so many books too, as he is getting even more and more into really looking at the pictures and pointing to what I'm reading about. I just love it! 

holding his stuffed otter while reading Otter on His Own

we love this book!
All the Seasons of the Year

Week Three - 11 books

1. Otter on His Own by Doe Boyle
2. Bear and Ball by Cliff Wright
3. When I'm Big by Sam McBratney
4. Dracula (Baby Lit) by Jennifer Adams
5. Last Song by James Guthrie
6. All the Seasons of the Year by Deborah Lee Rose
7. Tickle Monster by Josie Bisset
8. Baby Beluga by Raffi
9. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
10. Time for Bed by Mem Fox
11. Hello Bugs! by Sriti Prasadam