Favorite Things Friday: Ezra's Favorite Books

Ezra is now 3 and a half and loves to read.  Just like Mama.  He has tons of books.  They overflow out of the 2 shelf bookcase I've had since I was a kid.  Pretty sure my dad made it once upon a time.  Ezra wants 2-3 stories before bed every night, and these are a few of the ones he requests over and over.

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I Love You Through and Through 

by Bernadette Rosetti Shustak - Illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church

I got this for Ezra on Valentine's Day 2011 and it's been a favorite ever since.  The illustrations are adorable, and Ezra insists they're pictures of him.  The words are simple and rhyme and he loves to "read" it to us by looking at the pictures.  

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Llama Llama Red Pajama

by Anna Dewdney

I think it's a toddler prerequisite to love this book and to love Elmo.  This one is adorable, and Ezra loves when the Mama Llama gets upset and raises her voice at Llama llama.  He always gets a twinkle in his eye and looks at me when we get to that page.  I make it extra dramatic for him.  I think we have 3 copies of this book.  We had a hard cover that was a little cumbersome for reading with a wiggly toddler on your lap, so we found one at a second hand store in town that was a smaller soft cover.  Then we got a 2nd smaller one in the mail through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, which is an amazing program through the United Way that sends kids a book each month until they're 5.

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Ten Tiny Babies

by Karen Katz

This is a bedtime favorite.  The book starts with one baby and adds one per page until "all ten babies are fast asleep" at the end.  I've read this one so many times I could probably recite it aloud.  I even wrote an email to Karen Katz telling her now much Ezra loves the book.  I was shocked when she replied and thanked me for emailing her.  It was a really nice email reply that I could tell she wrote herself.  This book came from Ezra's great-grandma Peggy.  Do you remember this one, Grandma?  :)

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Lost and Found

by Oliver Jeffers

Oh this book.  It is so adorable.  This one is a recent addition - I got it for Ezra this past Christmas - but it's become an instant favorite.  There's no denying Ezra loves penguins.  And this story is so simple, but it evokes emotion.  Ezra says "awww!" every time we read it to him.  The next time you're in a bookstore, look for it and read it.  It's so cute.  And the illustrations are out of this world.  I know a certain little boy who will probably getting another Oliver Jeffers book for his birthday.

Have you seen any books that we should add to our collection?  I'm a sucker for a good book.

-Kara