My kids love to read. So when the Okanagan Regional Library came out with their list, 100 Books to Read before Kindergarten, we were pretty excited.
Librarians from all over the Okanagan submitted their favourite children’s books to make a comprehensive list of literature.
If you haven’t started reading with your children yet or have trouble finding books that engage them, this is such a great place to start.
It certainly made picking out books a little easier at our house.
We grabbed the list, and scanned it to see which titles had made the cut.
Then we grabbed our biggest book bag and loaded it up with as many books as we could carry home.
We laughed at Can You Make a Scary Face, by Jan Thomas and cried during Love you Forever, by Robert Munsch.
We created our own story in Journey, by Aaron Becker, and imagined our own hand drawn world in Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson.
We read books from my childhood that I remember so fondly like The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch and Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.
We read new classics that I hope my children will remember like Olivia, by Ian Falconer and Lost and Found, by Oliver Jeffers.
We finally finished the list this week (Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf was book number 100).
It got a little hard at the end to find the books from the list as more and more families endeavour to complete it.
My four-year-old was so excited to bring her completed list in to the library to claim her prize.
My prize is seeing the joy and excitement on her face each week when we bring home our new stack of books from the library and sit down together to read.
Most of 100 Books to Read Together Before Kindergarten have been featured at the library since January.
As families work their way through the list, many titles have become quite popular and some need to be requested. See if you can read them all.
Crystal Fletcher is an Auxiliary Assistant Community Librarian at the Summerland Branch, mom to two young girls and picture book aficionado.
