Raising Riley

In our family, reading is an important part of our daily routine! I’m so thankful that our 2 year old loves reading as much as I do (at least for the time being). She’s currently working on the “1000 books before kindergarten” challenge, which has been a fun way for us to track how much we’re actually reading every day/week/month. I don’t ever pressure her to read books with me, this is just something she’s genuinely excited to do! When I was in college studying elementary/early childhood education, I had a professor who drilled it into our heads that reading to your children and students was THE most important thing for their overall academic achievement. That has always stuck with me, and I’ve continued to prioritize reading to our daughter, exploring new books with her, and doing everything I can to keep her interested in learning through books. When we were at the Magic House in St. Louis last month, I snapped a picture of an eye-opening statistic they had posted on their wall!

Now that I’ve shared all my personal feelings about reading to children, I want to share her current favorite! I hope for this to be a recurring series where I can briefly share what we’re reading and why we like it.

My toddler’s pick: Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer

If you’re not familiar with Little Critter, it’s a sweet series that follows Little Critter through every day events, relatable stories, and holiday fun. My mother in law was kind enough to pass all my husband’s old books down to our daughter, and that’s what peaked her interest in these stories! In the photo above, you’ll see the fall storybook that is her current favorite. I thrifted this brand new at a JBF kids sale for $5! Some of her other favorites include “Just Grandma and Me”, “Just Going to the Dentist”, and “Just Go To Bed”. I’m looking forward to getting her “Just a Little Critter Collection” for Christmas, which includes 7 stories in a nice hardcover book for only $9.47 on Amazon. If you haven’t given these cute books a try, check them out with your kids!

Thanks for following along, and keep an eye out for another blog post with my current read!