March 2020 Top Ten Books

Hey friends! I've decided to share our top ten books that we have been reading each month. Now, this may mean that I repeat a book, because well... I have a toddler and his likes and dislikes are like the wind. Sometimes, it is soft and gentle and stays consistent for awhile and other times it blows super hard and changes course every second. Anyone feel me?

So without further ado, let me introduce you to the books we have been reading lately.

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Book #1 - The Little Red Caboose

This is an older book. I remember my mom reading it to us. I picked it up and it has quickly become a favorite of Joe's. Mostly because it is about a train, but I'm hoping that one day he picks up on the moral of the story. 

Through the entire book, the caboose is angry and complains about always being last and that no one notices him. He is a little bitter because the engine and all the other cars gain the attraction of all the people that they pass. Eventually the day comes that the caboose saves the day by keeping the train from sliding back down a steep hill. Then he is a hero and even though the engine and other cars get some of the attention, the kids and people save their best waves for the little red caboose.

Book #2 - The Cool Bean

Ok, I'm going to be honest. I love all of the books we have in this series so far and all three of them are on my list for this month. The Cool Bean is all about a bean that had a group of friends that seemingly went their own way as they grew. He kind of goes on about how he isn't that cool and all these unfortunate things happen to him. He begins to just accept that no matter what he does with his physical appearance he will never be a "cool bean". Then one day it all changes. Something unfortunate happens to star character of the book and while all the other beans laugh at him, one of the cool beans comes over to help him clean up. From there he realizes it isn't his appearance that makes him cool, but how he treats other.

Book #3 - The Bad Seed

This book is one of the books in the series that I just referenced. In The Bad Seed, we follow a sunflower seed that considers himself a naughty seed. In his words, he's a "baaaaaaaaddd seed". He tells about how he had a family that lived on a sunflower and they were happy, but then one day the sunflower droops and they all fall. He is picked and added to a bag of sunflower seeds that is sold to a consumer at a baseball game. He thinks he is a goner, but at the last second the guy spits him out instead of consuming him. He becomes bitter and leads a life of being bad. But then one day he decides that he doesn't want to be bad anymore and so he takes steps to start being better. He isn't perfect by any means by the end of the story, but he emphasizes that he is trying. I sincerely enjoy this book as one of my favorites.

Book #4 - The Good Egg

And the third book we have in this series is The Good Egg. The Good Egg is all about this egg that leaves his home and friends because the other eleven are so naughty. He tries to control them and their actions but one day he wakes up with a crack in his shell. With this he leaves and goes on a journey to rest and relax. He eventually moves back home because he misses his friends and when he gets there he has learned to have fun with them and to relax a little. I think this book is more for me than my little guy lol. I sometimes try to control too much.

Book #5 - The Day The Crayons Quit

So this is another series that Joe and I love. We now own three books in the series. I'm going to highlight two of them in this blog post. The third book is just a short thematic book that I bought for Valentine. 

The Day the Crayons Quit is so cute. If you want to laugh while you read to your kids, then you definitely want to read this book. It is filled with such wit and charm. Each of the colors in Duncan's crayon box writes him a letter listing their grief's or as in the instance of the green crayons their happiness with Duncan and his choices of how he uses them. The crayons also ask him to settle a dispute between the orange and yellow crayon. This is definitely another one of my favorite books to read. Mostly because I appreciate the humor and somewhat sarcasm presented by some of the crayons.

Book #6 - The Day The Crayons Came Home

This books is similar to The Day The Crayons Quit, but you encounter some other colors as well as some of the same ones. Each of these crayons has been lost, damaged, run away, etc. The book holds the same wit and humor as the other book and is super entertaining to read.

Book #7 - The Berenstain Bears Show Some Respect

I bought this book because we have had some run ins with my little guy being a little disrespectful to us. Mostly he will shush us when he doesn't like what he hears. So I thought a nice little book on respecting people was in order.

In this book, The Berenstain Bear family (including grandma and grandpa) decide to go for a walk to find a picnic place to eat together.  During the walk, the two younger bears show disrespect to the adults and then even mama and papa disrespect grandma and grandpa. In the end, grandpa sets them all straight and they all sit down at the perfect place for lunch and enjoy each other's company.

Book #8 - The Wonderful Things You Will Be

One of my passions for my son is to read him books that encourage and empower him with the knowledge that he can do and be whatever he wants to do. I back all of this with talking to him about how we want to be walking in God's will and that powered by that we can do anything we set our hands to. I want him to dream big. I don't want to set boundaries on who and what he can be. 

So this book is one of them that I read. This books walks you along some of the possibilities of what they can be when the kids grow up. Will they tell stories, sing songs, take care of animals, etc. The main moral is that they really can do whatever they set their heart and passions to.

Book #9 - What Do You Do With An Idea?

If you are an entrepreneurial parent (even if you aren't but want your kids to have this type of spirit), then I encourage you to pick up this book for your little people. If I had to pick my number one favorite book, this book is it. The story starts out with a little boy who has an idea. At first it is small and seems insignificant, but it starts to grow. As it grows he doesn't really know what to do with it. People around him make fun of the idea and he almost gets rid of it. But then he decides to keep it and helps the idea to grow. It flourishes and it begins to evolve. The final words of the book say this, "And then, I realized what you do with an idea... You change the world".

And this is my nightly prayer over my little guy friends. That his life will be used to change the world all for the glory of God.

Book #10 - Tomorrow I'll Be Brave

This is literally our newest book in our arsenal. I picked it up at a trip to Costco. Drat Costco. They always get me. I purpose in my heart to only buy what is on our list and then I walk past the book section. But I digress.

This book is so sweet and is simplistic in it's message. I'll also note that the artwork is beautiful in my opinion. It goes through and lists all the things that they want to try to be the next day. Brave, adventurous, strong, curious, smart, creative, etc. Then at the very end it encourages kids that even though that maybe they do not get to be all of those in one day, but at least they tried. It is such a cute book and has quickly climbed to one of my favorite reads because of its message. (and it's a quick read lol)