Favorite Children's Books

Studies have shown that reading to children has multiple benefits. According the The Guardian, reading to children improves their memory, promotes language development, and helps motor skills, because they learn to turn the pages of a book. Additionally, studies have proven that reading to children helps them develop socially and emotionally, and reading to children "is a period of shared attention and emotion between parent and child," which "reinforces reading as a pleasurable activity."

As a kid, I remember my parents reading stories to me almost every night before I went to sleep, and now I'm pursuing a writing career. Here are some of favorite picture books from when I was a child:

Children's Book #1: Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

This picture book is short and has wonderful illustrations. My friends grew up with this book and love it, and in my college town, there is a pizza place with a mural of all the characters from Where the Wile Things Are. And of course, it has been made into a movie, so parents can take their children to see the movie after reading the book to them and make it a family night.

Children's Book #2: The Monster at the End of This Book, by Jon Stone (author) and Michael Mollin (illustrator)

This book stars Grover from Sesame Street, and I remember as a kid, this book always made me laugh. Even now it makes me laugh. The other day, I went through some old books at my parent's house and came across this book, and I remembered how much I enjoyed it. It also helps that Sesame Street was my favorite show as a pre-schooler.

Children's Book #3: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle

In addition to the colorful illustrations that I know caught my eye as a child, I really enjoyed this book because of all the different fruits mentioned. One of my favorite things to eat as a child was fruit, any kind, and I really appreciated that this book included so many different types of fruit.

Children's Book #4: Are You My Mother? By Dr. Seuss (P.D. Eastman)

Although I loved pretty much every Dr. Seuss book, I liked this one the best because I found it humorous. I remember thinking the little bird was so silly, not knowing who his mother was, and I liked the ending because it was sweet.

Reference:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/may/13/schools.uk4