MommaReads

Does your little one hear noises in the night? Then they will be able to relate to poor Little Mouse who can’t sleep because of the wind, a branch tapping on the window, an owl hooting in the distance and a drippy faucet. If you have a little one like this, then you will be able to appreciate poor Big Mouse who is getting zero sleep trying to reassure Little Mouse that everything is okay. In the end, just like in your own life maybe, after all of that reassuring Little Mouse still ends up in Big Mouse’ bed.

Little Fox has gotten too big for the den he lives in with his daddy, so they are on a search for a new place to live. Mrs. Finch and Squirrel live way up in the trees and although it would be neat to live in the trees, foxes don’t live in trees. They discover a mouse’s house, but Little Fox is too big and noisy to live in a little hole like a mouse. The stream where the fish live is too cold and wet for Little Fox, but it is fun to splash in. Mole’s hole is too dark and and rabbit’s hole is too crowded. Little Fox and his daddy dig and dig and dig all afternoon to make a den that is just right for them.

The life of a pirate’s child…you get to walk the plank whenever you want, you learn the letter X from looking at all those treasure maps, you get to use a telescope to look for land, you get to have belching contests and you always get a little sack of gold whenever the other pirates on board find treasure. The best thing about being a pirate’s child, however, is when your pirate papa puts you to bed each night.

Stella’s dad is trying to get her to get ready for bed, but she has bigger and better plans. She does eventually get ready for bed, but not before she takes a little detour through the solar system in her chicken rocket, bounces around in some craters and finds some alien bugs on a distant planet. Maybe she will take her dad with her next time if she can get him to stay up late enough.

Dimity Duck toddles out of bed, brushes her feathers and is ready to start her day. We follow her as she swims in the pond for her breakfast, as she spends the day playing with her friend Frumity Frog and then as she ends her playtime with Frumity and heads off to bed with a big snore. Such a sweet read and it rhymes…you know I am a sucker for books that have a good rhyme.

A simple story of a bear and his dad on a trek through the woods…playing in the leaves, eating berries, watching the sun going down. This story is simple and sweet and the illustrations are magnificent.

Amanda is afraid of the dark at night so her dad takes her outside to see all of the things that are outside when it’s dark that aren’t scary, like fireflies and stars, but when they go back inside there are no stars or fireflies. So the next day Amanda and her mom and dad create a sea of stars to put on her bedroom ceiling. It turns out that Amanda’s dad it being deployed and they both agree that the North Star is going to be “their star” and every time they look at it they will think of each other. Bring on the tissues!!! This is a truly touching story of the relationship between a father and daughter.

An adorable story of what might happen IF a little girl and her daddy were to switch roles. Instead of cleaning the house and doing the dishes he would get to watch TV. Instead of eating oatmeal for breakfast she would eat an ice cream sundae. They both think that being the other might have some pretty great benefits, but in the end they decide that it’s best to be “me”. Oh, and it rhymes, I am always a sucker for a cute story that rhymes, too.

A sweet book that includes many of the bedtime rituals that your family might go through every night as your little one(s) get ready for bed…one more kiss, one more hug, one more drink, one more snuggle…it is the perfect bedtime book.

In this tale, an Inuit girl asks her mother a lot of “what if” questions to see if there is anything she could do that would make her mother stop loving her. What if she threw water on the candle and made it go out…what is she put salmon in her mama’s parka…what if she put an ermine in her mama’s mukluks…what if she dropped the ptarmigan eggs…what if she turned into a mean polar bear with sharp teeth…no matter what she says her mother reassures her that the love she has for her is unconditional. Not only is this a sweet story of the love a mother has for her daughter, the book also has beautiful illustrations.