story time

i'm always excited to find a kids book that's not about star wars or princesses, thus eliminating the nightly fight over what we're going to read. i love these books by nick bruel. bad kitty is great for pre-school aged kids (the text teaches the alphabet in a fun way), and bad kitty gets a bath is fun for older kids as well. my second grader reads it to my kindergartener (you can't buy that kind of endorsement, really). there's also a third book in the series, poor puppy. 

here are a few other books that we've loved (for preschool age and up), if you're trying to satisfy both boys and girls: 

a bad case of stripes by david shannon (although we love the david books, too!)

llama llama, mad at mama by anna dewdney

mike mulligan and his steam shovel by virginia lee burton

pinkalicious and purplicious by victoria kann and elizabeth kann (boys will pretend they don't like it, but they will laugh) 

pirate mom by deborah underwood, illustrated by stephen gilpin

cloudy with a chance of meatballs by judi barrett, ill. by ron barrett

on the nights that we don't want to read a story, sometimes we will flip through the audubon first field guide to birds (lots of info and colorful photographs) or the fantastic animals of the world book that i received as a baby gift when i had my oldest (thanks, rach!). i know costco always sells books like this, and i even saw a great planet earth book that i know my kids would flip for.  happy reading!