We Moved!!

July 13, 2023 Julia Jorgenson

I have a big life change to announce—we’ve moved!

Our last home was not only a family home, which belonged to my great-grandparents and then to my grandfather, but also my first post-college home, where I spent the majority of my 20s, met my husband, buried my childhood pet, got married, and had a baby. I’d put a lot of love and work into our last home, which you can see some of in the nursery reveal I posted less than a year ago.

It was hard to say goodbye—at times, I had to pause packing because I was crying so hard—but I took comfort in reminding myself that it was just a house. The only special, magical element in it was love. The love I put into it and the love for the people who lived there. When we left, we took that with us and brought it to the new house, and it may not be as mature a love yet, but those seeds will grow and blossom again.

Already, it’s obvious that the move was exactly the right choice for our family. There’s enough space for me to get an office again, so I can write and paint and craft. For a play area for Charlie. For our piano to rest fully against a wall and not out into the hallway. For Chase to finally buy a rowing machine. For a big, cozy pit sofa. Our bedroom is actually big enough for our bed. Our kitchen window looks out into our own backyard, not our neighbor’s. I get a two-story home with stairs, something I’ve dreamed about my entire life.

I’ll be Instagramming about the house on a new IG handle: @magnoliaarchhome so I can share pictures publicly (my personal IG has gone private so I can share pictures and videos of Charlie with trusted friends and family).

Good things are ahead of us.

Which brings me to another big life change…

I’m leaving my job to stay at home!

For the next few years, I plan to focus on parenting my son, taking care of my family’s new home, and pursuing creative passions. I’m in an extremely privileged position where this is something I’m able to do, and I don’t plan on wasting a single day of this opportunity.

I’ll update again soon (maybe with moving tips?), but I’ve been watching a lot of Winnie the Pooh with Charlie lately, so all I have left to say for now is T-T-F-N. Ta-ta for now!

Love,

Julia

P.S. if you know me in real life, send me a message on the contact page and I’ll let you know the new address!

What to Buy for a Baby's First Year

June 8, 2023 Julia Jorgenson

I realized in my last post about my favorite items of the past year that I should have some sort of post for all of the essential items. So here is the most comprehensive list I can make of everything we used and loved in Charlie’s first year.

TRAVEL

We use the Nuna Pipa Lite RX car seat, which we chose because it was the lightest on the market and didn’t need a base—we carry it around often and use it without the base regularly, so these two factors ended up as important as we thought they might be.

We also use the Nuna Demi Grow stroller, which the carseat easily attached to, and which will easily become a double stroller if a second baby ever comes along. It’s big, but rides really smoothly and I love the full-coverage netting on the summer seat. For the past couple of months, we’ve also used the Doona Liki Trike instead of the stroller on occasion, which Charlie loves riding in.

I never invested in a diaper bag. I use an old Vera Bradley backpack with my portable changing pad. It’s worked perfectly fine so far.

I did, however, get a felt caddy for the car. I try to keep it stocked with an extra: (1) diaper, (2) outfit, (3) burp cloth, (4) pack of wipes, (5) muslin, (6) pacifier, (7) small toy, and (8) bottle/snack. It doesn’t come in handy every day, but definitely has helped with a couple of “oh no” moments. It’s in current need of restocking, after an “oh no” moment came when I didn’t have it stocked.

Because I’m not entirely sure what category they belong in, I’ll also add pacifiers to this section, because we make sure never to go anywhere without a backup. For some reason our son loves and only loves MAM pacifiers. I think it’s that they leave a lot of room for his nose and chin?

Nursery

For information about our crib, nursery storage, and more, see my Nursery Reveal post. I am extremely happy with our crib and nursery organization, although Chase did switch our armchair out for a rocker. We’ve also added an inflatable bed in the nursery as we’ve struggled with Charlie sleeping in his own room, and a display bookcase for our favorite books of the moment. Some book recommendations can be found here.

Play

I never fully understood why such small babies had so many toys until I realized that toys aren’t just for play, but for development.

In the first three to four months, when Charlie needed visual stimulation, we bought a foldable wooden baby gym with a leaf mat. We bought a couple of exrta black and white toys to hang from it, because in the first few months, having high-contrast toys is important for vision. We also bought a black and white book for him to look at during tummy time. I also used wrist/ankle rattles during playtime, because “I can control my hands and feet” is a thing babies need to learn. Finally, crinkle books and lovies were always a good time during the first couple of months.

For travel, we bought these Manhattan travel pull toys for his car seat, and they were some of Charlie’s favorite toys when he was learning to reach and pull.

From months four to eight-ish, we used a foldable foam play mat more for tummy time and switched to more interactive toys, like this owl wobble toy, Montessori pull toy, the aforementioned carrot pull toy, a Baby Einstein piano, a walk-and-glow salamander, a hide-and-seek Winnie the Pooh, silicon blocks and stackers, some teethers, and a sensory tissue box.

We also got an activity center/jumper, and while it was useful to have a place to put Charlie to entertain himself for a few minutes, it wasn’t the best bouncer we could’ve gotten and he enjoyed one like this at my sister’s house much more.

For the past couple of months, in addition to still playing with a lot of the toys I’ve just mentioned, Charlie has been all-in on this Little People farm set, because he sees the big kids playing with it. He also walks with his walker, plays with balls, and enjoys time with bubbles.

Feedings

In the milk-only days, we loved Burt’s Bees Burp Cloths and Lansinoh bottles, which we needed to fortify with Oat Cereal for reflux. We also got a lot of use out of our Boppy.

When we started transitioning to solids, we bought a Bumbo, which we’ve only used a handful of times, and a Lalo high chair, which we use daily. I love the Lalo for its sleek design and how easy it is to clean, but our space is small and the legs do extend quite a bit, so I do sometimes wonder if the Stokke may have been a better choice for our space.

We use the Lalo tray to serve food (any other plate or bowl has gotten thrown to the floor), and for water, we started with the Ola Baby Training Cup with silicon wings and eventually transitioned to Contigo cups for on-the-go.

There’s no use trying to keep a self-feeding baby clean, but I do love these pullover toddler bibs.

Like I mentioned in this first post, I wasn’t able to breastfeed, so we used the Brezza to warm and mix our formula, and Kendamil was our formula of choice for its ingredients.

Changing

Coterie diapers are the best and our set up was complete with our Ubbi diaper pail, Skip Hop Changing Pad, Honest Wipes, which I keep in this great dispenser, and hedgehog diaper caddy. This spray on diaper rash cream also rocks. For travel, we used the portable changing pad.

We used a dresser as a changing table and you can see some of out changing set-up in my nursery post.

Bathtime

For bath time, we originally gave Charlie sink baths using this Frida baby soft sink bath, which was easy to store and dried quickly. We used the silicon scrubber with Honest’s shampoo + body wash and conditioner. When we had a bout of cradle cap, we used the Frida Oh Cr*p Cradle Cap set and brushes to deal with it quickly.

When Charlie got a little better at sitting up, we transitioned to the Frida Baby 4-in-1 tub and installed a Moby spout cover. We always have a couple of silicon bath toys for Charlie to play with.

We own baby towels, and we did use them often in the beginning, but nowadays, he’s big enough that we just use our towels to dry him off after a bath. I suspect when he’s a little older, he may want the fun hooded towels again.

Currently, we use finger tooth brushes to brush his (six) teeth.

Sleep

Until he was too big, Charlie slept in a Halo Bassinest in our room. He really likes being snuggled, so we used the MySnuggly infant insert for safer snuggles. We tried so many swaddles, but never found one that really worked until Charlie was old enough for a Merlin suit. He liked being cuddled and cozy, but not swaddled. We used a Love to Dream swaddle, Halo swaddles, and Swaddle Me velcro swaddles, but some of my favorites were actually just these big baby socks.

Eventually, he completely outgrew the bassinet, and we transitioned him to the crib in his nursery (crib link, mattress link), where he sleeps. Sometimes.

We bought an Owlet sock and rarely used it, so that felt like a waste. We do use the Owlet camera, and that works just fine. The Merlin Magic suits helped Charlie fall asleep back when he was smaller and we love the Kyte Sleep Bag Walkers and Burt’s Bees zip-up PJs.

We use our Yoto Player to play lullabies and sleep sounds. Even if you don’t want to use any of their cards, the app has an amazing Sleep Radio and a huge selection of white noise options.

I’m not sure this belongs in sleep, but for lounging and supervised naps, we used the SnuggleMe and Dock-A-Tot often in Charlie’s first couple of months, and considered them lifesavers.

We used muslins for nap time, swaddling, and just resting and I loved the Aden + Anais muslins. They were so soft and sweet. I think in our prime of using muslins (in the pre-sitting up era), we regularly used about ten. Now that Charlie is a a year old, we mainly use them on car rides and on walks. But in the next couple of months we may reintroduce them as bedtime blankets, since Charlie is reaching an age where blankets are considered safe and muslins are thin and breathable for a safer transition to sleeping with real blankets.

For covers for everything (Dock-A-Tot, SnuggleMe, Bassinest, & the crib) I tend to buy on Amazon and I buy at least 3 covers for each item.

Clothing

Clothing is such a hard task to handle because differences in seasons, climates, grow rates, and even trends, no two babies are ever going to have the same wardrobe needs. I tried never to buy clothes too far in advanced because Charlie grew out of his “age” of clothes more quickly than the labels suggested, and wasn’t wearing 6mo clothes at Christmas or 12mo clothes in the summer like he was “supposed” to.

Still, I’ll try to recommend some basics.

In the early days, we dressed Charlie in a good amount of short-sleeve onesies as a clothing “staple", adding pants when necessary. I also liked these newborn gowns with elastic bottoms as cozy clothing options that provided warmth, but also were super easy for diaper changes.

Around 4-5 months, we stopped dressing Charlie in onesies for the most part and switched to t-shirts (short or long sleeve) and either shorts or pants depending on the weather. We also dressed him in a lot of 2-piece pajama sets for all-the-time wear. (He was a baby. Who was he trying to impress?) During the winter, he wore a good amount of pull on sweaters.

Before he stopped fitting in 9mo clothes, we put him in a lot of Carter’s footed zip-up pajamas for sleep. They were cheap and great. Unfortunately, they don’t have many options for zip-up pajamas past 9mos, so we switched to Burt’s Bees brand.

During winter, we would put Charlie in baby booties and now that he’s older, strap-on sandals seem to be the most effective for keeping shoes on his feet for more than thirty seconds.

We mostly store clothes in IKEA’s 6-drawer Tarva dresser, organized by type of clothes in IKEA Skubb drawer organizers. We change Charlie on the dresser, right over where we keep his clothes, and use this the Owl basket as a hamper and keep it on the other side of the dresser to toss dirty clothes.

We also have some hangers in his closet, but we don’t use them very often anymore.

I hope this helps any new parents. It’s been interesting to write this up and realize just how many stages we’ve gone through in just a year, although I beg of you, please do not tally the cost of the items listed here.

I’m so excited for whatever is coming next and for all of the new ways our life with Charlie will change and grow.

Julia

Toddler Friendly Autumn Movie & TV Show Watch List

October 28, 2022 Julia Jorgenson

Happy Halloween weekend!!

Our first family “costume”—a quickly pulled together *It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown* inspired set.

With Halloween quickly approaching, I thought I’d share my toddler-friendly Autumn watch list!

We’ve been having fun re-connecting with old kiddie-movie classics this Halloween and even wore a Halloween movie-themed family costume.

If you’re interested, here are some fun movies, classic specials, and new TV shows to get you and your little one in a spooky spirit!

Best,

Julia

A Little One's First Fall Library

October 26, 2022 Julia

One of my core memories is of walking into a school book fair and spotting a fall display table. Every book cover displayed fall scenes in warm oranges, yellows, browns, and reds. There were stories about pumpkin patches, piles of leaves, trick-or-treating, and thanksgiving feasts.

It made my little kindergarten heart soar. Already, fall was my favorite time of the year. I was so young, I’m not sure I understood that it was even possible to create a collection of books that were all about your favorite thing, but after that moment I knew.

Every holiday after, I would scour my bookcase for the “relevant” books, and spend an afternoon reading them all as part of my personal holiday traditions.

Charlie is currently 4 months old, but I believe it’s never too early to introduce a little one to not only all the joys of autumn, but to the joys of seasonal reading.

We’ve been reading Halloween books for the past couple of months now, and I thought it would be nice to share some ideas for “A Little One’s First Fall Library”—books perfect for babies under one year old all about autumn, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.

I’ve tried to focus on books with bright colors, short and simple text, and interactive elements (like touch and feel or lift-a-flap). It’s obviously not a complete list of seasonal picture books, but the great thing about starting a collection this early is that there’s nothing but time to build it up.

Autumnal Picture Books

Halloween Picture Books

Thanksgiving Picture Books

If you want to create a fall display shelf or shelves for your little one—even if they may not be old enough to appreciate it yet—here are some decoration recommendations:

Since Charlie is only 4 months and can’t really appreciate holiday décor yet—but definitely enjoys looking at wall decorations—I dug around in our Halloween boxes and found some homemade foam bats and glitter spiders from Michael’s to dress up his nursery’s small Halloween book display this year.

As we get ready for Halloween, our favorites are You’re My Little Pumpkin Pie and B is for Boo! You’re My Little Pumpkin Pie was the first book he ever made me read again (by way of some fussy tears when it closed!) and reached out to interact with, so it will always be special to me.

What are some of the first fall-themed books you remember reading? Let me know in the comments below! For me, it’s Arthur’s Halloween, Trick or Treat Little Critter, and a bunch of Clifford books including Clifford’s First Halloween, Clifford’s Halloween, and Clifford’s First Autumn.

Happy reading,

Julia

Building a Baby's Library

October 24, 2022 Julia

Besides getting the nursery ready, one of the other pregnancy activities I enjoyed was starting to build Charlie’s library! I love children’s literature—so much so that I have a degree in writing it! As a result, I’ve taken on this task as seriously as if I’ve been asked to take over the Library of Congress.

I decided to write down my process and priorities, as well as leaving a few book recommendations at the end of the post! Hopefully this will help you build an amazing library for your Little One too, or just inspire you to pick up a picture book or two!

Storage & Display

One of my first library building priorities was actually finding a place for the books. This obviously includes bookshelves, but just as importantly—if not more importantly—a place to display and highlight certain books.

Until babies can no longer be considered babies, books’ primary attractions are their illustrations. But picture books are thin, and when they’re crammed on a bookshelf, there’s little that draws your eye to any of them, especially when you can’t read the title on the spine!

This is why I think picture book shelves are an essential piece of a baby’s library. There are a couple of options for picture book shelves: floating ledges and specific picture book bookcases.

I already had plans for a larger bookcase in my nursery, and didn’t want to take up more valuable floorspace, so I opted for floating shelves. Mine are hung up with command strips, so I didn’t even have to nail into the wall to install them.

Picture book shelves allow space for children to see the illustrations on whatever books you’re choosing to highlight at the moment, which will hopefully help the books grab your baby’s interest and make them easier to pick out for story time.

There are also tons of ideas for displays based around themes, like holidays, seasons, and events (like first days of school)! I plan on decorating and changing out my shelves based on the time of year, as someone who still loves to base my reading list on whatever season (of the year or of life) I’m currently celebrating.

Of course, even with picture book shelves, you’ll still want a place to store the books that aren’t currently being displayed. A popular item in a very small child’s nursery is cube storage, because they tend to be low to the ground and can be used for both toys and books.

Three-shelf bookcases are also a great option for children’s rooms—so long as they’re deep enough for picture books, which can be much wider than adult books!—as they’re a good height for children but also provide a lot of storage space.

Currently, I’m using a 4-cube organizer as well as a tall bookcase that we already owned (because I already have a large collection of children’s books and we’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to reorganize the rest of the books in our house). If you’re using a tall bookcase too, just remember to put books for a child’s current age and interest where they can easily reach them, so they can explore their library without your help—or climbing!

Collecting Books

Now that we’ve figured out where our books are going to go, it’s time to discuss what type of books we’re going to fill those places with. While I firmly believe anyone can enjoy any book, when building a library for a little one, picking a book for “the right age” takes more than just considering their reading comprehension level into account.

An Important Note

While talking about books to collect for little ones, I think one very important thing to note at the beginning, is that the people reading the books to the little ones need to also enjoy the books! If you hate Dr. Seuss—even if his books are cherished classic—don’t add those books to the library!

Adding books that will be a chore to read to you will make reading feel like a chore to a child too, and one of the most important tasks at this age is teaching children that books are fun and enjoyable—which is easiest done when you are having fun and enjoying the book yourself.

Sure, you may not like any book after reading it by request for the hundredth night in a row, but at least make sure you’ll like those first ten nights.

Board Books (Years 0-3)

Board books are books that are made from thick board instead of paper. They also tend to be smaller than picture books and adult books. These features make them small enough for a baby to hold and durable enough to withstand a baby’s less-than-delicate treatment of them.

*1. I Like You More Than Ice Cream, 2. Goodnight Moon, 3. Where’s the Polar Bear, 4. Pat the Bunny, 5. Never Touch a Crocodile, and 6. C is for Camping*

SENSORY BOOKS

The very first sense you’ll want to consider is an obvious one—sight! You can start reading to a baby as early as you’d like, and when they’re only a month or two old, colorful, high-contrast books will capture their attention.

Once a baby reaches three or four months, however, they’ll start reaching out to touch the pages. This is a great time to introduce a little one to “touch and feel” books. These are books with panels that include different textures, like velvet and rubber, usually related to the image on the page. Touch and feel books enrich the experience by engaging multiple senses at once, which not only makes reading a more fun activity, but helps develop a little one’s vocabulary and understanding of the words on the page. Other interactive sensory books can include scratch and sniff books, fabric books, lift-a-flap books, and finger puppet books; these are all great options for introducing a baby to a love of books and engaging them in reading.

1. The Pout-Pout Fish, 2. Llama Llama Red Pajama, 3. You’re My Little Cuddle Bug, 4. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, 5. Grab Your Pillow Armadillo, 6. The Going to Bed Book

AUDITORY EXPERIENCES

Another category of board books that help engage your baby in reading early on, are books that sound fun to listen to! This is a pretty broad category that includes books that focus on onomatopoeias, rhyming and repetition, and songs. These kinds of books help make the experience of being read to more engaging, and also help take the experience beyond pictures and vocabulary. Before understanding what any word means, a baby can still enjoy how they sound.

*1. Z is for Zoo, 2. Anne of Green Gables: A Places Primer, 3. Touch! My Big Touch-And-Feel Word Book, 4. Paris: A Book of Shapes, 5. Duck and Goose: Colors!, 6. A is for Apple*

VOCABULARY BUILDERS

Babies are learning machines, and their language development begins long before they can speak themselves. Early on, board books can help them build their vocabulary and word association: ABCs, counting, colors, animals, feelings, nature, food, shapes, etc. There are so many options out there for books like these, but I personally love the BabyLit “Primers” and the Hello, World travel series, because they’re a way to share my interests (literature and travel) with my little one while introducing them to basic words and concepts.

*1. The Story of Ferdinand, 2. The Very Hungry Catepillar, 3. The Monster at the End of This Book, 4. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Bedtime Classics), 5. The Gruffalo, 6. Madeline*

SIMPLE STORIES

Rounding out a board book collection are some of a little one’s very first “story” books—short picture books mainly in board book format so they can be one of the first stories a little one can hold in their hands, enjoy, and somehow cover in an unknown sticky substance. Juice? Apple sauce? Candy? They’ll never tell. The only priority in collecting these—prior to the little one expressing their own preferences—is picking out personal favorites that you can’t wait to share. Some of the picture books you read as a little one yourself may now come in a board book format.

Picture Books (Ages 3-6)

The problem with picture books is that there are so many and that too many are exceptionally great. Just to clarify, if it’s been awhile for any of you and “children’s book categories” isn’t your Jeopardy specialty. Picture books are thin, large books with illustrations on most pages. They tend to use the illustration and words in combination to tell a story and are often designed to be read aloud to a child who can’t yet read themselves and include language and stories a little more complicated than “early reader” or “I can read!” books. Of course, while picture books are usually targeted to children ages 3-6, they can be enjoyed by children of any age.

*1. Green Eggs and Ham, 2. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, 3. Just For You, 4. Where the Wild Things Are, 5. Eloise, 6. The Tale of Peter Rabbit*

BELOVED CLASSICS

The easiest place to start with a picture book collection is with beloved picture books from your own childhood, so that’s where I started with mine—books like Where the Wild Things Are, Dr. Seuss, The Berenstain Bears, Madeline, The Stinky Cheese Man... If you can’t quite recall what picture books you read as a little one, there’s list after list online to help jog your memory.

There are so many classic picture books, it’d be difficult to collect them all, so I’d recommend focusing on the ones you remember loving and would like to read again.

If you want to skip on a BIG classic—like if you hate Dr. Seuss—it might make you feel better to remember that you won’t be the only person exposing your little one to picture books, and there are ample opportunities for them to listen to, read, and enjoy those books with grandparents, babysitters, or at school or daycare. Eventually, you may have to add it to your home library as a result, but you don’t have to include it before your little one deems it necessary.

1. What’s Inside a Flower?, 2. A Ticket Around the World, 3. Claude Monet: He Saw the World in Brilliant Light, 4. The Story Orchestra: I Can Play, 5. National Parks of the U.S.A., 6. If You Had Your Birthday Party on the Moon

BOOKS TO SHARE INTERESTS & PASSIONS

My husband has played music his entire life. Our small home has a keyboard, piano, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and a ukulele. It’s one of his greatest passions and something he’s interested in sharing with our children.

As a result, while starting to build up our picture book collection, I made it a point to look into books about music. I found picture book biographies of musicians, picture books that introduced different musical genres (that play music!), picture books that illustrated songs, picture book introductions to orchestras, picture book retellings of operas and ballets (that play music!), and picture books about children discovering their love of music.

Obviously, the largest musical picture book collection in the world won’t guarantee that our child will develop a love of music or ever want to touch an instrument, but they are a great tool for my husband to use to share his passion for music with our children, and allow them to explore that interest for themselves. Maybe our child will never play the piano, but they may discover a love of Swan Lake after reading about it in a picture book or decide they want to experiment with makeup like Ziggy Stardust. As a parent, you can’t know or control what a child will be interested in, but you can do your best to expose them to your interests and expand their world.

*1. Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, 2. Charlie & Mouse, 3. Watercress, 4. Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann, 5. I Want My Hat Back, 6. The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend*

RECENT AWARD WINNERS

Amazing new picture books are being released constantly. A great way to get a pulse on the industry and make sure your home library isn’t missing out on some truly stellar works is to look through lists of award honorees and winners. One of the biggest awards for picture books is the Caldecott Medal, offered to the year’s “most distinguished American picture book for children.” You can browse through honorees and winners here. A few other good ones are the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award, the Kids’ Book Choice Awards, the World Illustration Awards, the Cybils Award, and the Theodor Seuss Geisel awards. Barnes & Noble has a great page for browsing the winners and finalists of a number of different awards. Full disclosure, I bought Knight Owl while writing this post after seeing it on one of the lists. It was too cute!

*1. Happy Valentine’s Day Curious George, 2. The Little Rabbit, 3. Back to School Rules, 4. Sweep, 5. Arthur’s Halloween. 6. Pick a Pine Tree*

SEASONAL & EVENT STORIES

As adults, I believe we use books more for exploring beyond the limits of our own lived experienced—romances and careers to daydream about, mysteries and murders we hope never to personally witness, time periods we’ve only learned the barest histories of, places we haven’t discovered for ourselves. Books often serve an entirely different purpose for children, however, especially the littlest ones; they’re one of children’s best tools for understanding the world around them, their place in it, and ways to think and feel about the situations they find themselves in. Fantastical as they might be, most picture books are grounded in experiences, themes, and lessons that children can directly connect to their own lives.

In your library, it’s important to highlight some of the big changes and events happening in a child’s life—whether it be a change in season, a big holiday, or something more personal to a child like the arrival of a new sibling, potty training, losing their first tooth, or starting school for the first time. Books can answer all sorts of questions about the seasons of life and the seasons of a child’s life: what are some of the big changes in a child’s world during X? What are things we can appreciate and enjoy about X? What might be some things that may scare, worry or disappoint us about X? What are some of the things we can do to prepare ourselves for X? What are some of the activities and traditions we can participate in during X? What are some lessons we can learn from the events of X?

Having a small collection of books for each of these occasions will help answer these questions for a child, and hopefully help them develop their understanding to the point that they can approach them with confidence and joy.

*1. Same, Same But Different, 2. What Makes a Family. 3. Pink is for Boys, 4. Last Stop on Market Street, 5. Julian is a Mermaid, 6. All Are Welcome*

DIVERSE STORIES

Books are a key way we gain empathy. By existing in another point of view for a few pages, or a few hundred pages, we’re able to understand a vaster array of life experiences than we’ll ever be able to live for ourselves. I believe it’s important to give a child those opportunities to help them grow into a kinder, more openminded adult—to encounter the stories, experiences, and perspectives of others at an early age. I think it’s also important to make sure my little one knows that there is no one right way to “be,” and let him be comfortable in exploring his own identity. Books about gender, race, culture, orientation are all vital to rounding out a library.

1. Bedtime Stories: A Timeless Collection of Stories and Rhymes to Share, 2. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, 3. A Year Full of Stories: 52 Folktales and Legends from Around the World, 4. A Child’s Book of Poems by Gao Fujikawa, 5. Disney’s 5-Minute Classic Stories

Bedtime Treasuries

No library is complete—for babies or adults—without a couple of treasuries, books featuring collections of short stories, poems, or both. I love collected volumes because they’re like little libraries unto themselves. I’m calling these “bedtime” treasuries, because these types of books usually don’t have as many pictures as picture books, but often aren’t designed for children to read themselves. They’re the perfect bedtime reads. Little ones can focus on the voice of the reader—without needing to see or engage with the images of the page—so they can get cozy in bed and let the story lull them to sleep (okay, maybe not during the first story, but hopefully by the third or fourth!).

Publishers have recently gotten into a “5-Minute-Stories” frenzy, which is great for an instant collection of a certain character or author. You can find a “5-Minute” collection of just about any popular character or series: Spider-Man, Star Wars, Disney Princesses, Winnie the Pooh, Scooby Doo, Biscuit, Fancy Nancy , Berenstain Bears, Mary Engelbreit, Amelia Bedelia, Little Critter, Richard Scarry, Mickey Mouse, Curious George, Bluey, Peanuts, Peter Rabbit, etc.

You can also find collections designed for certain ages, like Cottage Door Press’ collection that includes 2-Minute-Stories-for-2-Year-Olds and 3-minute Stories for 3-year-olds, or A Treasury of Tales for Four Year Olds: 40 Stories Recommended by Literacy Experts.

I believe at least one fairy tale treasury, one mythology treasury, and one poetry treasury is a must, although my library already has an entire shelf-full.

*1. Harry Potter Books 1-4, 2. Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: Books 1-4, 3. Magic Treehouse: A Library of Books 1-28, 4. Bunnicula in a Box, 5. Judy Blume, 6. Roald Dahl Collection*

Aspirational Books & Family Favorites (Ages 6+)

In July of 2000, I remember looking at Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Not reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Looking at Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The previous month, I’d both finished 1st grade and turned seven. I was firmly in the “early chapter books” stage of reading. My books still had full-page illustrations, large fonts, and ended before page 100. But the Harry Potter craze had truly begun, Goblet of Fire was the summer’s big release, and my mom made sure our house was prepared.

I knew that behemoth was well beyond my reading abilities, but the cover illustrations completely captured me. I would pull it off the bookshelf, sit on the floor, and study every detail, trying my best to imagine the book within.

Within the year, my mom and I were taking turns reading pages of the Sorcerer’s Stone before bed each night, slowly sounding out each word, and taking breaks to explain some of the bigger, unfamiliar ones. Soon after that, I was reading the final chapters of Prisoner of Azkaban during recess and using the school’s front office phone to call my mom at work and beg her to bring me Goblet of Fire so I could start it at lunch. (The amazing mother she was, she did.)

I think it’s important to include some “aspirational” books in a little one’s library—perhaps on a shelf they can’t quite reach, if they’re still at a page-ripping age. These are books that they may not be ready for yet, but that you want in their periphery in the hopes they’ll capture your little one’s attention and spur them on to the next stage in their reading journey.

After picture books are chapter books (generally for ages 6-8, like Roald Dahl novels, the Magic Treehouse series, or Goosebumps), followed by middle grade novels (generally for ages 8-12, like the early Harry Potter books or A Wrinkle in Time), and finally YA novels (generally for ages 13+ like the later Harry Potter books, The Hunger Games, and the Fault in Our Stars).

There’s also the “I Can Read!” selection of books, featuring a number of series and characters, that help bridge the gap between picture books and early chapter books, and are useful for teaching a child to read on their own.

I recommend keeping a couple of options in the “next category up” of books, and including a couple of family favorites from categories even beyond that. My little one’s library currently includes collections of Frog and Toad and Winnie the Pooh, The Series of Unfortunate Events, and illustrated Harry Potter editions.

1. Yoto Player 2. Runny Babbit (Yoto Card/Book), 3. Disney My First Christmas Bedtime Storybook (Yoto Card/Book), 4. Winnie-the-Pooh: The Complete Collection (Yoto Card)/ The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh (Book), 5. The Tales of Peter Rabbit (Yoto Card)/ Peter Rabbit Classic Gift Set (Book), 6. My First Halloween Bedtime Storybook (Yoto Card/ Book), 7. Frog and Toad: Audio Collection (Yoto Card)/ Frog and Toad: Storybook Favorites (Book)

Audiobooks

The final section of my little one’s library is our Yoto Player and audiobook collection. Currently, we listen to audiobooks during tummy time, or meal times in the rocking chair. In the future, audiobooks will be used during playtime and to supplement bedtime stories from mom and dad. We like the Yoto because it’s designed for young children to use on their own, like the Teddy Ruxpins of old with less fur. I’ve also made a point to buy both the audio card and physical book of a number of titles, so our little one can “read along” if he wants. I also recorded myself reading picture books, so that he can listen to me read even when I’m not physically present. Introducing your little one to audiobooks has a ton of benefits, and will help develop their enjoyment of reading, not hinder it.

Outside of the Yoto, there are other child-operable audiobook options like the Toniebox, Lunii, Storypod, good old Teddy Ruxpin, and if you just want to dip your toes in a “Me Reader” set.

Additional Resources

BRIGHTLY

Brightly is a website devoted to helping parents inspire a love of reading in children with tons of recommendations, printables, “storytimes,” crafts, advice, and much more. I highly recommend it!

NYT BOOKS: HOW TO RAISE A READER

This is a great guide from the New York Times with advice to parents for nurturing a child’s love of literature. It has tips for reading to babies to making sure reading is fun for an independent reader. It’s also available as a book, in longer format.

NYPL’s BEST BOOKS FOR KIDS LIST

Each year, the New York Public Library creates a list with some of the best new books for children. It’s a wonderful list and resource for parents who are just dipping their toes back into the world of children’s literature.

LITERATI KIDS / BOOKROO

A book subscription service can be a fun way to discover new books and build your library, if you’re interested in a couple of surprise, expertly curated picks coming your way. Literati Kids has a box for ages 0-4 and Bookroo has a box for ages 0-3.