Raising Riley

I’m a firm believer that you can have too many toys in your house, but that there’s no such thing as too many books! In this blog post I’m going to talk about where I find quality books for our almost 3-year-old, how we store and rotate books, some of her current favorites, and books I have my eye on next.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, we place a lot of importance on reading in our house. It isn’t ever forced, but we do always allow time for it and encourage it. We like to expose her to a great variety of books, and just recently we’ve added a few non-fiction books into the rotation. I think at this age, exposure is key! Finding topics they’re interested in comes from trial and error, and it’s amazing to see how quickly their brains latch onto new ideas.

Where I’m buying books:

1. Abebooks.com
2. Goodwill & various local thrift stores
3. Semi-annual baby/kid sales- Just Between Friends- jbfsale.com
4. Facebook Marketplace & mom groups
5. Amazon (if it’s a book that I really want us to have and can’t find anywhere else)

Storing Books/Organization

Right now we have books for our daughter organized in several areas around our house. We have a small bookshelf in our living room with seasonal titles, a big IKEA bookshelf in her bedroom with many books that she can access during her “quiet time” (or just anytime she wants to go in there and read), a beautiful tall bookshelf in her playroom that my in laws gifted us, seasonal/holiday books organized and labeled in individual storage bags, probably about 100 “baby” board books in our storage area in the basement, and about 100 older level books in our storage area as well from my teaching days. So I think it’s safe to say we have a book “problem”- but remember, there’s no such thing!!!

Of course, the day will come whenever she’s outgrown certain books and we’ll know we’re done having babies, and then I will happily be donating hundreds of books so other kids can enjoy them! Like many things in life, this stage is temporary. We’re lucky to have lots of storage in our new house where we can keep so many wonderful books. In our first house we had very little storage and this is what I would recommend if you’re in that position:

1. Borrow from the library! They get exposed to so many new books, at most libraries you can borrow a large amount at a time, and it doesn’t have to stay in your house long-term!
2. Trade with other moms
3. Check goodwill/other resale shops for developmentally appropriate books- you can donate the ones your child has moved on from & replace with “new” ones.

My Toddler’s Current Favorites

• Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

• The Little Rabbit (and all others in this series) by Nicola Killen

• Treehouse Town by Gideon Sterer

• Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman

• Fred and Ted Go Camping by Peter Eastman

• Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer

• Pete the Cat books by Kimberly & James Dean

On My List

• Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall

• My Nana’s Garden by Dawn Casey

• Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner

• Waiting by Kevin Henkes

• The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem

• Bear Can’t Sleep and Bear Feels Sick by Karma Wilson/Jane Chapman

• Mushroom Lullaby by Kenneth Kraegel

• Grow Happy by Jon & Sage Lasser

• Smithsonian Animal Book

• Over and Over by M.H Clark

• Pete the Cat’s Not So Groovy Day and Pete the Cat Screams for Ice Cream! by Kimberly and James Dean

• If You Go Down to the Woods Today by Rachel Piercey

I’d love to hear what books I should add to our list! Tell me your favorites in the comments below. Happy reading!