5 books for the kid in all of us.

I don’t care how old my kids get, I therefor and hitherto solemnly swear and publicly proclaim that from this point forward and forever more we will always read picture books aloud together.

Ok, maybe that is an ambitious vow, but I DO hope we always keep that deep-seeded love for the classic, snuggled-up, tuck-my-toes-under-the-blanket-next-to-yours kind of book reading. I’ve always had a tender spot for a good story, since it’s one of the most lasting and powerful ways we connect to each other as people, and it helps us to understand things and ideas far greater than us. Over the years, we’ve read our share of books together as a homeschool family, and there have been a few that have stuck with me as real treasures that we will occasionally wander back to and recommend quite often to folks we know (and even to some we don’t).

The great C.S. Lewis once said, “No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.” And I have to say I wholeheartedly agree. Children are just smaller people trying to catch up with us taller folks, and I’ve always thought we’re really not all that different. We are often feeling or thinking the same things, I have just learned a tad more self-control (not much though) and it’s become socially unacceptable for me to scream when I’m hungry or lay on the ground and cry when I’m mad so I try to wait until I’m alone for that part. (Hah!) But we share a lot of the same desires, the same questions, the same excitement, the same curiosity. A good book honors that in a person, no matter how old they are, and like a long-lost friend you always seem to find your way back to each other.

Here are a few books that have a treasured place on our bookshelf, all for various reasons. Some are newer, and some are old school, but all are beautiful and rich in their own unique way.

ish, by Peter H. Reynolds

I wrote a post recently on how one of my kids has a beautiful desire for perfection, but at times it can cripple them and suck all the joy out of the beauty they’ve got to offer. This flares up and is on full display when we settle in for art class, and this book was such a gift for all of us. It gave us a way to talk about the joy-crushing elephant in the room, and language to set ourselves free from it. We can all learn to embrace the unexpected with a little more openness anyway, right? He also wrote another gem of a book called “Happy Dreamer”, which you MUST read if you have anyone with ADHD in your life.

You Are Special, by Max Lucado

I maybe wept the first time I read this book. I mean, I had to play it cool and wait until we were finished but MAN. What a beautiful story of a wooden puppet coming to know his Maker, and how it changed everything, even the way he saw and understood himself. These Wemmicks, or wooden puppets, live in a world not that different from our own. It’s a world built on accomplishment and the comparison trap that naturally accompanies it, and this delightful book proposes a reframing of all that we’ve learned to think about ourselves and each other. I don’t care how old you are, buy a copy right now. And go ahead and buy another for a friend, because you are just THAT thoughtful. I promise you (and they) will be so glad you did!

Lily the Unicorn, by Dallas Clayton

I can’t even remember how I originally stumbled upon Dallas Clayton, but it was years ago. I was so enchanted by his playfulness, not just in this book, but also as a person and an artist. I remember watching his Instagram stories where he would carry a piece of sidewalk chalk in his pocket at all times and write cheerful little notes and doodles, one of his most notorious ones being, “Stand here and think about someone you love.” He would walk around and give flowers away one at a time to strangers, just offering small things to make people smile. This particular book is about the joys and hardships of making friends, especially with those who are quite different from you. I found myself laughing just as much as the kids, and couldn’t help but want to be friends with the most optimistic unicorn AND the most pessimistic penguin I ever did see. A really endearing and light-hearted crowd pleaser!

Noah’s Ark, by Peter Spier

I’ve always struggled with children’s literature that paints the story of Noah’s ark as this cutesy little scene with all the animals boarding the boat two by two and Noah smiling from the top deck. It was actually a tragic and heartbreaking moment in history where the world as a whole was wiped out. There was so much death and destruction everywhere, and the journey for Noah and his family was brutal and long… but the mystery of God was at work.

This book has very minimal words, only three pages of them actually, but is filled with beautiful and rich depictions of different parts of this story that are thought-provoking and maybe paint a more accurate picture of what this journey was truly like, including the good, the bad, and the ugly. We were able to ask questions, compare it to Scripture, and have some really rich conversations with this book on the table. And hey, it even won a Caldecott Medal, so I’m not the only one who liked it!

Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney

Did you know that Barbara Cooney wrote and/or illustrated 110 children’s books over the span of 60 years?! I mean, talk about #goals. This book is one of her most beloved, along with other notorious Caldecott-winning titles like Ox-Cart Man and Chanticleer and the Fox. I seem to think that Miss Rumphius is the perfect storybook for the dreamers, the ones who are still trying to figure out how to make the world more beautiful than it was when they found it. Sometimes it’s small and simple, and sometimes it’s a long time in the making. But it’s always worth it in the end. I will totally be giving this as graduation gifts and birthday presents no matter how old you are. We can always be re-inspired to think creatively on how we make life and the world around us beautiful.

That’s all for today’s little curations, but if you like these let me know! They are so fun to create and reminisce on, and if I can offer any kind of opportunity for a snuggle-up or a story session than BY ALL MEANS! Let it be so. I also would love to hear some of your favorites, too! We seem to always have room for ooooone more book, no matter how crowded the shelves may be.

May the stories be rich, and the memories with them even richer.