Love of Reading: Nursery Rhymes

This Little Piggy, illustrated by Hannah Wood, is one of Eleanor's new favorite books. I like it a lot too, and prefer it to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star from the same series, which we also own. This Little Piggy has tons of active nursery rhymes and adorable, brightly-colored illustrations of animals and peoples acting the rhymes out.

It includes lots of rhymes I'm familiar with -- "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Where is Thumbkin?", and "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round".

But This Little Piggy also includes several rhymes I'm unfamiliar with, like "Trot Trot to Boston", "Knock at the Door", and "Open, Shut Them". I especially like "Open, Shut Them" because it's fun to act out with her:

Open, shut them/ Open, shut them,
Give a little clap.
Open, shut them/ Open, shut them.
Place them in your lap.
Creep them, creep them/ Creep them, creep them.
Right up to your chin.
Open wide your little mouth,
But do not let them in!

Books like This Little Piggy are a great way to help instill a love of reading in babies and toddlers, because the songs and motions help hold short attention spans! Sometimes Eleanor and I will read this book for 20 minutes straight as she keeps turning back to her favorite rhymes again and again. As Stephanie mentioned in her post yesterday about instilling a love of reading in children, it's important to pick good, quality kid books. But when looking for quality don't forget to look for interesting and age-appropriate titles too! I've several times made the mistake of checking out beautiful picture books that Eleanor is completely uninterested in.

What books do you read to your kids? 
Which side do you support in the Eensy Weensy v. Itsy Bitsy Spider debate? 

Don't miss any of the other Love of Reading posts!



The cover image is an Amazon affiliate link. If you use the link to buy the book I'll make a few cents.