Sometimes it feels like all I do is bark at, correct, beg, and negotiate with my children. There are days when I can’t seem to speak a kind, patient word. There are days when I’m so frustrated, exhausted, fed up and hopeless that I don’t even have it in me to engage with my children. I had a few too many of these in a row, and my children were picking up on it and mirroring my frustration. In an effort to correct our course I thought I could strike a deal with at least my oldest child. We decided on a plan to help him when he was at his wits end and a plan for me too. I would remind him when he seemed to be on edge and the real kicker was he would remind me when I was close to losing (or had lost) my cool. There is nothing quite as humbling as having your child remind you of the action plan you promised to implement when he noticed you need it.

I needed a balm of Gilead for my hardened and frustrated heart and for me there are few things more healing then having my children snuggled up next to me, listening as I read story after story to them. I love their little heads resting against my shoulder. I love their little fingers pointing out the wonders held within each page. I love their little hands that help turn pages, and rub my arm, or hold onto my hair. It does my heart a world of good. But when things are bleak it’s hard to want to have them on my lap, in my space, wanting my attention. My saving grace is that the words are there for me. The story, the message, the love, is written out for me and all I have to do it read- book by book, sentence by sentence, word by word. So this became our plan- when mom gets on edge, frustrated, irritated, distant, Little Mister would bring it to my attention and then suggest that we read some books together. It was definitely hard to sit down and invite my children to sit with me, but by the time we were few pages in we had all calmed down, sunk into the cushions and let the books do the talking. It helped to reset the feeling in our home tremendously.

It isn’t always easy to find worthwhile books, filled with the words, stories, love and reassurance and I hesitate to buy books for our home library unless I’m sure it’ll be a home run. So in an effort to give you words to say when you too have no words left I’ve decided to share some books we have enjoyed. Some of these will be from our home library, others will be from our local city library and on our Amazon wish list! I hope to do several installments of our book lists and for ease of digestion, I’ll be sharing only a few at a time. Sometimes I see lists of “50 books you need to read to your kindergartener” or “30 books that will have you and your children laughing” and they might as well be “400 gazillion books that you won’t know to pick up because you never got through this list.” Each book will have an affiliate link to amazon.com (which doesn’t affect your price but gives my family a little kickback for recommending it- you can read more about it here). I hope you can snuggle down with your little ones, or your big ones (it works just as well), share words of imagination, love, encouragement and wonder, whether or not it is with the books I recommend. Because story snuggles truly are extraordinary!

Book Recommendations

Roscoe Riley Rules series 
By Katherine Applegate


Roscoe Riley is a average, fun-loving, curious, lively boy. As he navigates life in first grade he is learning some very important rules along the way and happily shares them from his chair in time out. It is light hearted and refreshing to read a story about a boy who wants to do what’s right and wants to be helpful. Things may not go about it quite the right way and he learns important lessons when things don’t turn out how he thought they would. We read this aloud to our late 5 and late 3 year old boys. I think it would be appropriate chapter book for a second/third grader to read independently with its short chapters, short sentences, larger print, and frequent pictures. We sped through all 7 books in this series and loved every one!

Mo Willems Pigeon Books

If you have not been introduced to our good friend Pigeon, you need to be. Pigeon has the art of negotiation down. He can lay out his side of the argument in such a way that you almost want to cave. He doesn’t want to take a bath, he wants the cookie that Duckling has, he wants to drive a bus, he doesn’t want to go the bed. Each book is a joy to read and children love to watch pigeon try to finagle the reader to give him his way. But children know how to spot a failed negotiation – after all they have been in several themselves. My children love these books and they are often read over, and over!

Mo Willems Knuffle Bunny series

Knuffle (the K is silent- I think you learn that in the second book) Bunny and Trixie have their ups and downs as Trixie grows up- mostly because Knuffle Bunny gets lost several times. My children loved these books and the plush Knuffle Bunny. Trixie’s plight is easily relatable and familiar. I also love how Trixie’s parents do all they can to comfort Trixie and bring Knuffle Bunny home. Each one of these is a winner in our home.

My Mom has X-ray Vision
By Angela McAllister

What child hasn’t asked “Mom! How did you know?” Matthew knows the answer- his mom has x-ray vision. It’s the only thing that makes sense. This is a fun read that tackles every child’s question: How does mom know?!