Children's Storybooks that entertain and teach
What has reading to your baby got to do with disciplining her or tackling potty training?
A lot more than you might imagine.
Whether you’re dealing with the terrible twos, terrific threes or other stages in between or haven’t yet figured out how to get your picky eater to well…pick a meal and eat it, you’ll be surprised to find an unlikely friend in your baby’s book shelf.
Books prove to be quite effective and helpful in coaxing children into doing things they don’t want to do. They provide parents a way of getting their fussy kids to cooperate without having to resort to the frequently futile lecture mode.
I think the authors of children’s books are either insanely wicked-smart or have wised-up with parenting experience. Either way – they seem to know what they’re dealing with when they write books about dinosaurs eating healthy or being polite or a little, determined engine climbing an impossible mountain. The best part is – now all you and I have to do is to find these gems and read them to our little guys and gals when the situation demands it. Of course, you may not find success the first time or even the first dozen times. But rest assured, reading to your kids about everyday situations that they can relate to and showing them how their favorite dinosaur, giant red dog or bespectacled character handled a situation or acted in a certain way brings you a lot closer to accomplishing your mission – be it potty training, a lesson in politeness or helping kids overcome separation anxiety.
You don’t have to take my word for it though, for, each child, situation and family is different. And both you and I know that no two days or experiences in the parenting universe are the same. But the next time you are faced with a difficult situation that involves your kid, why not give reading to your child about a similar or related incident a shot? It just might help. Besides, if you’ve faced a check-out lane crisis at the supermarket or lived through one of Junior’s screaming episodes at the popular, neighborhood restaurant – you don’t even have your dignity or reputation at stake. So, there’s nothing to lose and maybe a solution in sight.
So, go ahead – pick up one(or more) of these delightful books and read it with your child. Will your problems vanish and your child undergo a dramatic behavioral change? Of course not. (And gosh, I hope not!) But you will have, together, discovered a few different ways to deal with the little challenges you face as a parent. And maybe along the way, if you’re lucky, you will have instilled in your child a love of reading and sowed the seeds to a lifelong habit that’s incredibly hard to break.
Baby books to the rescue – Here’s a list of children’s books – some old favorites and a few you may not have heard of – that you may find helpful in dealing with the common challenges of parenting, especially with younger kids. Of course, this is nowhere near an exhaustive list. Please feel free to add to it with your suggestions.
Title: The Little Engine that Could
Creators: Watty Piper and Cristina Ong
Helps with: Encouraging kids to persevere, be helpful, kind and friendly and to never give up . Especially helps when kids are frustrated with a difficult puzzle or can’t figure out something by themselves. Give this book a few casual readings and when you see them ready to give up or feeling overwhelmed with something, offer a gentle reminder. Even chanting the mantra ” I think I can” with them, when dealing with a challenging task, may help.
Title: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Creator: Eric Carle
Helps with: Teaching kids to eat healthy, the connection between eating and development and about transitions.
Title: How do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food
Creators: Jane Yolen, Mark Teague
Helps with: Teaching kids table manners, being polite and coaxing picky eaters at meal time. Also, check out the other books in this series.
Title: Raccoon On His Own
Creator: Jim Arnosky
Helps with: Easing separation anxiety, especially when kids start daycare or school. A beautiful book about a baby raccoon unwillingly separated from his family only to be reunited with them at the end of his unexpected, but exciting adventure.
Title: A Potty for Me – A Lift-the-Flap Instruction Manual
Creator: Karen Katz
Helps with: Potty training, of course. What happens when mom gets a brand new potty for her baby but he is not quite ready to use it, yet? A simple book that coaxes kids into the process, gently and naturally.
Title: Ready for Anything
Creator: Keiko Kasza
Helps with: Encouraging optimism, a positive attitude and teaches kids about the importance of being well-prepared. A tale of two friends who, after almost cancelling their picnic, manage to overcome their fears of what might happen and eventually have a great day out.
Title: I’m Going to be a Big Brother/ I’m Going to Be a Big Sister
Creators: Brenda Bercun, Sue Gross
Helps with: Coping with the arrival of a new sibling. By telling them the important role they have to play as big brother or sister and how everybody loves them just as much as before their little sibling arrived, these books make great gifts for the older child when the new baby arrives.
Title: Tilly and the Rhinoceros
Creator: Sheila White Samton
Helps with: Showing kids to be compassionate and give unconditionally, like Tilly Gobble the kind goose. The book depicts an unlikely friendship that develops between the kind Tilly and Gregor the bully. It’s also a great book to share with your kids when you want to discourage them from bullying.
Title: Yes We Can!
Creators: Sam Mcbratney and Charles Fuge
Helps with: Teaching kids about their special talents and individuality and how they can combine their gifts to work and play together. When Kangaroo, Duck and Mouse set out to outdo each other at what the other is good at, everyone ends up disappointed and grumpy. But, with a little encouragement from Mommy Kangaroo, when each does what he is best at, they quickly turn the day around and have fun just as they planned to. This book offers a way to tackle sibling fights and is a good choice to take along on play dates too.
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@Bernadine Orr – Thanks! I sure will. Is there a specific, related topic that interests you?
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