I Love You As Much...by Laura Krauss Melmed

One of the first books that I read to both of my sons was I Love You As Much...by Laura Krauss Melmed.  I have really fond memories or reading this over and over to my oldest son thirteen years ago.  I think I read it for my own benefit as much as I read it on his requests.  It's a very basic story of how much enormous  love various animal mother's have for their babies.  As a mother (especially a first time mother)  when you read this book to your own baby that you are holding in your arms, the simple words of course take on such a deeper meaning.

 

The words are gentle rhymes and with beautiful light watercolor illustrations of animals and their babies.  The text is very pleasing and works well with the pictures.

I Love You As Much... is a must give at a baby shower or maybe as a gift for a new mom for Mother's Day.  This is a great book to read to reiterate how much love you have for your child and they will want you to read it to them for many years to come.  Highly recommended.

Buy Your Own Copy of I Love You As Much from your local bookstore or from Amazon:

                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

The first book that I had to review without a doubt had to be Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.  It was my older son's favorite book when he was a baby and it's becoming Benjamin's favorite as well.  This was the first book that I ever read to him and even though he was so young, he really sat intently listening to the words and looking at the illustrations.

We are reading the board book version and it's just the right size for us.  It's going to get a lot of wear and it seems to be built to be up for the task.

Goodnight Moon was published in 1947 so it's definitely a timeless classic.  It's simple gentle rhymes and colorful contrasting illustrations from Clement Hurd are what make this book stand the test of time.  This is a staple for a child's book collection and a go to perfect gift for new baby.

The book alternates from black and white to colorful contrasting colors which include orange, yellow, blue and green.

Without a doubt, my favorite line has always been, "And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush."  There is just something about saying goodnight to mush that gets me every time.

 Buy Your Own Copy of Goodnight Moon at a local bookstore or from Amazon:

                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Welcome to the Blog

Bedtime Stories for Benjamin came about when my youngest son was about six months old.  I wanted to document all of the books read on our journey through children's literature. I have another son who will soon be a teenager and we read lots of books together over the years and I wish that we would have documented some of the choices and favorites along the way.  So this is our journey.

Every child that is read to grows as a reader.  They continue to grow as they become readers themselves.  Every time anyone finishes a book they also grow in some way as a person.  Some books are more inspirational than others, but nonetheless all books leave you with something.  I look forward to looking back on this blog and remembering all of the stories we shared, the lessons we learned, and the favorites that emerged.

This blog reviews classic and new options available in children's literature.   I envision this to be a type of journal where I am often times quickly typing up the post while Benjamin is napping so hopefully you will forgive any slights of grammar and/or spelling issues.  I feel like I want to get all of the information down without dwelling too much on the editing so hopefully you will forgive me and not be too judgmental if you come across any errors (let me know if you see any though!)  I love  to create book lists and I get a kick out of checking on the books recommended on someone else's list and love for you to share yours.  Hopefully, this site will also inspire readers to read more to their children and enjoy these simple moments in life.  They will go by so quickly.

I am a former elementary school teacher and former children's librarian who is now a full time stay at home mom.  I am married and I have two boys (one baby and one teenager).  We also have a dog that we rescued from our local SPCA.  These days we call Charlottesville, Virginia home.