Looking for some great suggestions on what to read with your little ones at home?
We asked one of our in-house experts to weigh in with a curated list of their top picks! Any guesses who we are talking about? Let’s give you a CLUE—think of the color blue, and don’t forget a tiger named Daniel, too!
It’s our CCO and Emmy award-winning kids’ creator of both Blue’s Clues and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Angela Santomero! Oh, and let us not forget Angela is also a beloved author of books for both kids and adults!
So, without further ado, check out her fantastic list of Great Reads for Kids now!
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Angela: I’ve always LOVED to read. In my small town where I grew up, the local librarian joked that I read her entire library of books! My favorite book was Harriet the Spy, and as I got older, anything by Judy Blume, of course (Hello God, It’s Me Margaret), and I also loved being scared by Lois Duncan books (I Know What You Did Last Summer). As a mom, I started reading to my girls as soon as they were born. Similar to the shows I love to write and create, I loved sharing books with my girls that would make them laugh, that they could almost “read” themselves, and those that would mean something to them.
Some of my all-time favorite books for kids include:
- Hug by Jez Alborough is a lovely, bitten up favorite board book for those snuggly moments. It has only one word in it and tells the story through its beautiful visuals. All of the emotion that you can see and feel in just one word is so poignant! And hug was one of my girls’ early words!
- Todd Parr’s line of books, including The Feelings Book; The Daddy Book, and The Mommy Book. These books are beautifully illustrated and celebrate differences in a beautiful way that is “sticky” and memorable. I could refer back to the books as they began to realize differences between themselves and us, as their parents.
- Oliver Jeffers, The Day the Crayons Quit is a fantastically fun, funny, and creative way to talk about differences. I also love how it motivates and inspires kids to think about creativity.
- Norton Juster’s picture book The Hello Goodbye Window is a favorite mine. An intergenerational story, from a preschooler’s perspective, on her day with her grandparents. I love the relationships, the play, and the stickiness of incorporating a “hello goodbye” window into our lives! It’s a wonderful way to celebrate time together.
- Jaqueline Davis’ The Lemonade War is also a favorite. I love how Jacqueline is able to showcase and use math in her storytelling in a visual way that drives and propels the story forward! A lemonade stand is always touted as a way to inspire kids to actively learn and this book really does just that with great characters and a strong story.
- The Frances Series. These are strong socio-emotional stories with well-developed characters. I love them all and my girls found lovely lessons about sisters in all of them!
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That’s a truly book-stopping list of curated greatness!
Big thanks to Angela for sharing her picks, it’s always exciting to find out what inspires another author.
To gain more insights into Angela’s successful career and learn about her goals as CCO at 9 Story Media Group, check out this past interview with her here on our blog.
And since this is a list about books, we wanted to shine a light on some of Angela’s own work! As we mentioned above, along with her many other talents, Angela is also a celebrated writer of both books for kids and adults!
In Preschool Clues, Angela shares the secret sauce behind her shows’ powerful, transformative results in the form of eleven research-based, foundational “clues” to ensure that preschoolers flourish academically, socially, and emotionally during this critical time.
Angela goes right to the root of kindness, in her most recent book Radical Kindness, diving deep below the surface idea of this concept, uncovering the expansive and powerful idea of what kindness can be! The book shows you that when you practice Radical Kindness, you don’t just see with your eyes. You look past the yelling, hostility, and selfishness of life and look towards joy, compassion and see with your heart. This shift brings the scientific benefits of kindness to you and to the world around you. And that’s just the beginning!
Finally, Angela has written countless books for kids! You can see the library titles her via her website!
And while you are here, why not join in the storytime fun and watch Angela read one of her very own stories, “You Are Special, Daniel Tiger!”
We would love to hear what are some of your favorite books are? What are your kids asking to read again and again? Leave a comment on social, and/or tag your recommendations with @9storymg on Twitter, and/or @9storymediagroup on Instagram.
We can’t wait to hear about your favorite stories!