Contrary to what everyone else might say, the written word is not dead. Books are still the number one way to convey information, to learn, to capture our imagination and our hearts...
Books That Have Been Referenced in Blog Posts:
- Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less (by Greg McKeown)
- Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids (Kara Powell)
- The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family: Over 100 Practical and Tested Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Kids (Kara Powell)
- The Grace and Truth Paradox: Responding with Christlike Balance (Randy Alcorn)
Books on Talking About Faith With Our Kids:
- Keeping Your Kids on God's Side: 40 Conversations to Help Them Build a Lasting Faith (by Natasha Crain)
- The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name (By Sally Lloyd Jones) -- To Read Aloud to Your Kids (ages 3+)
- Everything a Child Should Know About God (by Kenneth Taylor and Jenny Brake) -- To Read Aloud to Your Kids (ages 3+)
- The Radical Book for Kids: Exploring the Roots and Shoots of Faith (by Champ Thornton) - great for ages 8+
Other Books that We LOVE!
There is something intrinsically beautiful about kids learning for themselves. I mean, who has time to sit and teach a kid every.single.fact that need to know for their entire lives?
So instead of investing in toys that break, every time grandparents or aunts or uncles ask us what they can get our kids for Christmas, for birthdays, for special occasions, the answer almost always is always emphatically... books!
In the early years, kids LEARN to read. As they grow, they begin to READ to learn!
Invest in good books for your bookshelves, and you'll feed their minds for life! I discovered Usborne books and loved it so much, I signed up to be a consultant -- yes, so I can buy books for myself (ahem, I meant...my kids.) If you purchase anything through MY LINK HERE, all proceeds will go to invest back into maintaining this blog. Thanks for your support!
(And yes, having a blog costs money - paying for server, domain, security tools, etc.)
So thank you so much for your support!
Absolutely Must-Have's For Any Family's Bookshelves
For Older Kids (ages 9+)
- History Timelines of the World History: The very first book of its kind that has the history of the major regions of the world (e.g. different continents) lined up side by side with its timeline of history in chronological order. So I can see that while the Industrial Revolution is happening in America and Western Europe, James Cook was sailing to Australia, India was struggling with the British, and China was invading Burma. (YES - I can see all this with simply scanning my fingers across the charts on a page.) THE BEST VISUAL reference BOOK in my opinion.
- Usborne Encyclopedia of Geography and Complete World Atlas - Everyone needs a good geography reference book on their shelf. And this book is definitely thick and big and chock full of information.
- Usborne Encyclopedia of World History - Everyone needs a good encyclopedia that gives you a survey of history from the beginning of times to modern day civilization. This one is a great illustrated one - one that your kids can pore over for hours and hours. (Note: Usborne books are secular, so you may have to edit or filter out with your child that historians "differ" on their opinions on how the world first began...you can take out the first few pages if you need too...BUT, there is still chocked full of history that makes this a worthwhile reference book to have!)
- Famous Composers Reference Book - If you want your child to talk about Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Vivaldi, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Stravinsky, Bartok... as if they are amazing, gripping characters from a favorite show.... well, 'nuff said. This book makes studying famous composers FUN.
- The Usborne Classical Music Reference Book - Easy to read, fun to flip through, and QR links to hear music samples.... this book will give your child an overview of operas, ballets, orchestra, origins of music notations... it's a must-have!
- Book of Famous Artists - Who needs to fly to Italy or to go museums, when all the famous work of arts are conveniently in your hands? My kiddos have learned about so many iconic paintings and the story behind it...simply through this book. Word of caution: May contain some nudity - like Michelangelo's Statue of David. Feel free to cut out paper, glue over it and give the art "clothing" if you prefer. 🙂
Lift the Flap Books - K-5th grade
Reading is fun by itself already. But when you pair it with tactile touching of book flaps, well the fun just went up exponentially!
- Lift the Flap Picture Atlas - fun orienting young ones to the world atlas with tactile discoveries!
- Lift the Flap Computers and Coding - important foundation for today's modern world
- See Inside How Things Work - get a peek behind how a toilet works, pipes, pulley's, and inner workings of machinery
- See Inside Your Body - Amazing way for the kids to visualize major body systems like the digestive system, circulatory system, respiratory systems...
- See Inside the World of Shakespeare - Set the stage to study the classic works of Sahkespeare with this interactive book
- See Inside Great Cities - What a makes a city so memorable? Which statue or bridge gives character to that city? Go on a virtual tour!
- See Inside Weather and Climate - Why is it raining? Snowing? What are climates?
Books Our Preschoolers Love!
- What is Poop? Any kid who is potty training would LOVE this. Actually, any kid would love this. Who doesn't like cracking up over...POOP!
- Little Red Riding Hood - Enthralling cut-outs and images. As you flip through the book, it almost feels like you are going "deeper" into the forest.
- Shine A Lights Books - So many series to choose from! Use a flashlight to reveal "hidden" pictures behind each page! My favorite is the Human Body one!
Inside SHINE A LIGHT Human Body book. Without the flashlight? Normal fingers. With the flashlight behind the page? FINGERPRINTS!
Inside the Human Body SHINE A LIGHT Book. Without the flashlight, it looks like a NORMAL picture of a pregnant Mom. But with a flashlight? You can see how a baby is positioned inside the belly. GREAT LEARNING activity for the kids....and ahem, to broach the subject of the birds and the bees?? 🙂
{This list will be continually updated. Please check back!}
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