Read a New Book Month

I am a sucker for children's books.  If you ask my husband, he'll tell you it's kind of an addiction.  I love buying them, thumbing through them at bookstores, giving them as gifts, and reading children's books to anyone who will listen (preferably a child, because reading them to adults gets a little awkward).  So I am super excited that December is 'Read a New Book Month.'  To celebrate, we will be reading a new book (not new new, but new to our class) for Large Group.  Check out this post to find out what book we will be exploring. Here are some ways to celebrate this month:

• check out a new book from the library, either for you or your child
• add a new book to your Christmas wish list 
• surprise your child with a new book in their stocking this year
• look up story readings online of books you have never read:
• Storyline Online
• Barnes & Noble Online Storytime
• A Story Before Bed
• YouTube
• Storynory
• check out some of these wonderful lists for new books this year:
• Amazon's Best Books of 2013 (ages 3-5)
• Amazon's Best Books of 2013 (ages baby-2)
• Amazon's Best Books of 2013 (ages 6-8)
• Publisher's Weekly Best Pictures Books of 2013
• Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) 2013 Notable Children's Books
• The New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books Awards for 2013
• Barnes & Nobles: Best Books of 2013... So Far
• Amazon's 2013 Best Books of the Year: The Top 100 in Print

As I was looking through these lists, there were some that I have already fallen in love with and several that I will add to my shopping list.  Some of my favorites this year have come from the BabyLit books.  They are written by Jennifer Adams who lives right here in Salt Lake City.  They are adorable board books taken from classic novels, with fun, creative illustrations that teach concepts related to counting, weather, fashion, opposites, colors, and sounds.  My favorite (although I seriously love them all) is Pride and Prejudice (which is my all time favorite book, so I am a little biased):

But check out the BabyLit website because there are some fun ones, including Romeo & Juliet, Moby-Dick, Alice in Wonderland, & A Christmas Carol, to name a few.  

Okay, another great one that came out this year is The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.  It is hilarious, and wonderful for talking about colors!

One that I have not read yet is Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great by Bob Shea.  It looks like a fun one, so it may be one of the "new books" for my daughter this month.

I also love reading classics, and I have always wanted to read Alice in Wonderland, so my new book of the month is going to be Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. 

We'll see if I can squeeze it in with work, holiday madness, and my (almost) 1-year-old's birthday party.

Anyway, I hope you will take some time to check out some of the books talked about on the above lists, or just spend an afternoon at the library with your little one to find a new book to read during bedtime.  We have all heard it, but books are truly wonderful for children's overall development, especially in the areas of speech and language!! ;)