Children's Book Week

This week May 10-16, is Children's Book week. It all started in 1919 with the idea that children’s books can change lives. In 1913, Franklin K. Matthiews, the librarian of the Boy Scouts of America, began touring the country to promote higher standards in children's books. He proposed creating a Children's Book Week, which would be supported by all interested groups: publishers, booksellers, and librarians.

I loved reading and being read to as a little girl. I have many fun memories of the books I've read. I loved reading while sitting in our wide window sills, outside on the swingset, in the car, and in bed.

I thought it would be fun to note some of the Classic books I love... I mean really classic dating from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Little House on the Prairie Series: written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published originally between 1932 and 1943.

Written in the 1940s by Elizabeth Enright:  The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze

The Little House written in 1942 by Virginia Lee Burton.

The Little Red Lighthouse was written in 1942 by Hildegarde H. Swift.

Scuffy the Tugboat by Gertrude Crampton. The book was first published in 1946.

The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey in 1942. One of the original 12 Golden Books.

The Little Red Hen published in 1940 by Little Golden Books.

'All of a Kind Family' Series by Sydney Taylor published in 1951.

A Story to tell: a “book of virtues” for young children that features fables, parables, and exceptionally well-told stories. The book, first published in 1945, was compiled by the General Boards of the Primary Association and the Deseret Sunday School Union. (I loved when my mom would read this book to us. The funny thing is that it really doesn't have very many photos. And we still loved it. So different from the easy reader books these days with bright colorful photos with words of fluff.

It's interesting to note that many of these favorites were published in the 1940s. Also interesting to note the cultural themes that are seen in books from a certain era... cities expanding, big bridges being built, boats, lighthouses. Mostly I love that families are a large part of the stories!!!

Any other CLASSIC favorites you can think of?

I'm hoping to read more to my kids this summer. I've been doing Abe's reading with him in the mornings and I love snuggling into the couch reading with him. It's hard holding an infant and a wiggly 2-year-old at the same time, which is why it doesn't happen as often as I'd like. I want my kids to love reading and I'm realizing I need to do better at immersing them in good reads while they are young.