I on the other hand...I like to read, but am pretty bad at it. I'm a slow reader, and usually too worn out by the end of the day to read much before dozing off. So I find my children's collection of books much more my style - short, easy, fun and very hard to fall asleep to!
And, beginning tomorrow, I am officially on my "staycation!" I'm quite excited about it. Last night I made a list of the things I want to do this coming week and a half away from the "world." A lot of them are things that need to be done around the house; funny how practicality always seems to seep its way into even the most fun and relaxing of theories. But I made sure that some of them were fun too. And quite a few of them found their inspiration from vacations when I was a kid. "Pray before we start" (we'd never start our car trip without everyone in the car saying out loud their prayers for the journey, culminating in the whole family singing "Amen" from "Lillies of the Field" with Sydney Poitier!). "Make cookies" (you can't take a vacation without lots of car snacks and over-eating yumminess, right?) And "Read lots" (we always had a family book that we'd read together on our long drives, on top of whatever individual books we'd bring to read...though even back then I think I usually fell asleep when I'd try to read).
So in honor of my upcoming staycation goal, my children's love of books, and the collection that has helped me become a "reader" again, I have decided to share a few that are my personal favorites. Here are my TOP TEN books from our current collection:
1. Kisses for Daddy. This is the book the kids gave to Mike for Fathers Day last year, and it proved a winner! The illustrations are absolutely wonderful, with lots of subtle treats, that add to the over-all silliness yet sweetness of this story about a grumpy little bear who won't let his Daddy give him a kiss goodnight, so his Daddy works it out of him throughout their bedtime routine. As anyone who knows me knows, I like bedtime with my littles ones, I often have a grumpy little bear (or two), and I am a huge fan of routine - so it's the perfect book! 
2. A Mother for Choco. This one made me cry (a couple of times). It is a beautiful little tale of a strange looking bird on the hunt for someone to be his mother. But no one looks quite like him, and he's not having much luck...until... I won't spoil it completely for you (though I will say, adoption rules!), but it's beautiful and cute, and I like it a lot! 
3. Red Wagon. The main character in this book is named Lucy, so I like it for that reason. But I also love the fun way it invites imagination, pretend play and adventure out of the simplest of objects and tasks. I always like joining Lucy and her pals as they enjoy her brand new red wagon on the way to market! 
4. I Love You Through and Through. This is just a simple, cute little poem. But it's fun to read because I get to poke my kids in different spots ("I love your top side, and your bottom side...your ears, and your nose, your fingers and your toes"), and make faces ("I love your sad side, and your mad side; your happy side and your sad side). Plus, the cover is better than a board book; it's almost a vinyl of some kind so little-miss-chews-a-lot hasn't managed to bite a corner off of this one yet! (yet...) 
5. Me with You. This was Mike's Father's Day gift from the kids this year. I like poems, and rhymes, and this one is a beautiful example of both. It's a fun walk-through of some of the ways that "you [adult] are you" and "I [kid] am me," but how the best version is "me with you." It's just sweet, with fun realities like grumpiness, alone-time and mudiness too. 
6.Eres Tu Mi Mama? Mike gave me this book for Mothers Day (to supplement the English version he gave me my first Mothers Day, when I was expecting with Esperanza). Even though Adrian doesn't like the Spanish version much, he still laughs when we get to the "PRONK" (or in English, the "SNORT"). And he still giggles and says "Nooo!" after each "Eres tu mi mama?" question. And that makes me smile. Plus, having two versions of the book means less fights between my little ones, so that always makes for a good book! :) 
7. Goodnight Gorilla. This one just makes me laugh. My kids didn't like it much when they were younger, but Adrian is finally getting old enough to catch on to what is going on (since the story line is told simply through the pictures). Not only do I think it's a cute book, and like the fact that the story is told through just the pictures, but I really like that I've been able to see my son's brain develop through this book (among other things). And for my final three favorite books, I asked my three favorite people. Here are Mike, Adrian and Lilly's favorites:
9. Adrian's pick: Llama, Llama Mad at Mamma.
When I asked Adrian which book was his favorite, he eyed the book shelf for a while, his fingers resting on a few here and there, before settling on this one, at which time he said, "Mamma, come see, I love this one; I really really love this book." I knew he liked it, I just didn't know how serious it was! (Though I maybe should have guessed, considering two nights ago he slept with this book in his bed all night like one of his soft friends) He's not alone, this is a bedtime favorite all around! Almost every night one or both kids
asks for it (and the many ways in which they try to pronounce llama, llama
is half the fun for me)! They laugh, they yell "That's enough!" in the right
spot, and they page through it again even after we've finished
reading it. How much they love it, combined with my own personal dislike of shopping, has this, our first llama llama book, thanks to Once Upon a Child, remaining my
favorite llama llama story too, and one of my favorite books all around. 
10. Lilly's pick: Where's Spot? Lilly's immediate response when I asked her to pick her favorite book on the shelf was, "Where's puppy?!" It's not entirely clear if she was asking me where the puppy book she loves was, or if that is simply her name for the book and she was telling me her favorite. Either way, with this little treasure she gets to flip open flaps, and she gets to say "puppy" a lot. How could I not have guessed this would make her list?! (Although I still don't understand why the "stairs" page is her favorite...we have to check there about 5 times per read, and sometimes she just skips the entire first half of the book and goes straight for the "puppy up stairs" page).
