It’s been nearly a year since I did a roundup of what Emma’s currently choosing from her bookshelf every night. Here are a few of the books she’s been into lately as a 3.5-year-old:
Interstellar Cinderella. Emma got this as a gift when Charlotte was born, and didn’t seem to like it then. But she picked it up again a few weeks ago and we’ve read it literally every night since. She likes that it’s the familiar Cinderella story with a twist; I like that Cinderella is a spaceship-fixing girl who’d rather be the prince’s chief mechanic than his bride.
Madeline. Emma’s been pulling this one off the shelf a couple times a week for months now. She never gets tired of it and neither do I. I guess that’s why it’s a classic!
Disney Storybooks. I have 8-10 of these that I accumulated in the mid-90s when my dream job was to be a Disney animator, and they’ve been in fairly regular rotation for the last year, at least. We’ve got Robin Hood, Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, 101 Dalmatians, a very tattered Little Mermaid, and a few more. I tried to find more as recently as last year with no luck. Then last weekend at Target, I spotted a few of the princess stories in an updated version of this format — big hardback, full story, lots of great illustrations! It doesn’t look like they’ve expanded to the rest of the Disney library yet, but at least I can pick up a few more of the princesses that we don’t have.
Clifford the Big Red Dog. I had forgotten all about Clifford until my mom bought Emma a box of 6 stories at the daycare book fair last fall. They’re all cute stories with some little life lessons thrown in. Emma’s favorites at the moment are Clifford Goes to Kindergarten and Clifford’s Sports Day.
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun. Emma got this for her birthday last summer and it’s a fairly regular request at bedtime. I have to admit that it’s not my favorite to read, but it does have a great lesson about being yourself.