Happiest Birthday Milo! Our first born is turning FIVE today. What a bittersweet age. They have reached the milestone of making their way to Kindergarten in the Fall, yet, they still want to curl up in your lap and read. Seems like just yesterday we were reading sweet Milo his first book -- Guess How Much I Love You. Now, he's so close to reading independently.
We sat down with Milo & asked him what were his top 5 favorite books. The books he wants to hear read all the time. The books he likes to independently "read" (look at all the illustrations). The books that he would recommend to kids his age.
Book 1: The Proudest Blue: A story of hijab and family by ibtihaj Muhammad with s.k. Ali, illustrated by hatem aly
When asked why The Proudest Blue was in his top 5, Milo said: "It's cool because it talks about hijabs. Hijabs are what big kid girls wear when they are big. I like learning about new cultures and how the little sister draws a picture of them with crowns, like princesses." This is why we talk about different cultures and people with our youth. They are curious, they are inquisitive. They actually *like* learning about diverse cultures. Story time is a perfect time to allow kids to ask questions and to help us raise kind, empathetic, understanding kids.
If you like The Proudest Blue, we suggest: The Kindest Red: A Story of Hijab and Friendship
Book 2: Little People, Big Dreams Marcus Rashford by Maria Isabel Sanchez vegara, illustrated by Guilherme Karsten
Milo is REALLY into soccer lately. He has been playing indoor & outdoor soccer with his dad as his coach. We recently started doing profiles on interesting people for homeschool. He wanted to learn about a soccer player so we headed to the library. After doing some research, Milo chose Marcus Rashford. We asked him what he liked about this nonfiction biography, he said: "It's so good because he played soccer and during Covid, he gave out food to the people. That was nice. I want to buy that book to keep, I don't want to return it."
If you like Marcus Rashford, we suggest: Little People, Big Dreams Pelé
Book 3: Sir Simon: Super scarer by Cale Atkinson
sPoOkY sEaSoN is all year long in our house. Halloween is a month long event with an advent full of activities (spooky science experiments, tea times, costume dinner parties) and books (obviously). One of those books is Sir Simon & it is one of the only Halloween books that he keeps out. Milo says: "I like that he's spooky *he's making a creepy face and moving his arms towards me in a zombie-like manner* and a ghost like our house ghost. He's funny & spooks the old lady with his buddy Chester. Chester is kind of like Otto (his brother)."
If you like Sir Simon, we suggest: Simon and Chester Super Detectives!
(A series; like little kid graphic novels & he just got these for his birthday)
Book 4: CIrcle by Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen
Our family are huge Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen fans. We have all of their books. If I would have asked Milo a month ago, he would have said Triangle was his favorite book. But since switching out his shelves, Circle is his new favorite. When asked he said: "Triangle goes behind the waterfall and he wasn't suppose to and there is someone else hiding back there and they don't know who it is. I think it's probably a diamond. But I don't know for real because I'm not great at shapes."
We suggest to watch: Shape Island on AppleTV (here's the official trailer)
Book 5: Space Kids: An Introduction For Young explorers by Steve Parker, illustrated by Andrea desantis
If you ask Milo what he wants to be when he grows up, he says an astronaut. He claims he is going to Mars and is going to drive a rover. He also wants to discover more about Makemake. But he's not going there, it's too far from home. Needless to say, we have read a lot of space books. We've checked them out from 4 different libraries. We've bought them from our favorite small shops. We thrifted vintage ones that still believe Pluto is a planet. Space Kids is Milo's favorite space book ever. Or so far. I like it because it isn't as wordy as most nonfiction space books. It goes over the basics, it's an introduction for space explorers. Easy to read in one sitting and keeps his interest the whole time. Milo says: "I like it because it talks about space. There's not so many words and the pictures are cool. There's a rocket too. And a spacesuit. And they have to sleep in a bag standing up."
If you like Space Kids, we suggest: our diverse space books for kids list
And of course, because he loves books just like his mama, Milo has 3 more books that he HAS to add: (1) Saturday by Oge Mora (2) Out of a Jar by Deborah Marcero & (3) Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard
Interviewing Milo about books has got to be one of my new core memories. We read a lot and we talk about the books as we read them, but we haven't talked about his favorites and why he recommends them. I'm thinking we need to do this with each of our kids, every year.
Which leads me to my newest idea -- I know, I know, I have so many ideas. Hear me out: Kids recommendations. Kyle and I have been rewatching Reading Rainbow with LeVar Burton. Our favorite bit of the episode is at the end where the kids get to recommend their favorite recent reads. It got us thinking: we should do that. We would love to feature YOUR KIDS at the end of each blog post & on our socials for a new section called The MOSS Minute where we will be sharing kid's book reviews/recommendations. Send us a photo of your kid (if you don't want their faces shown use the book to cover) with their book that they would like to review/recommend, their age; what state they live in and their mini review/recommendation. Try to write exactly what they say-- kids really do say the best things. Each blog post we will feature a child at the end of the blog and 1x/wk they will get their own post to our socials. MOSS Kids is all about community and we want to hear from you and your kids. Just email us at hello@mosskidsbooks.com with The MOSS Minute as the subject line. We can't wait to see what you're reading!
Did you know?
We started a Patreon to help fund all the fun we are having creating/stocking Little Free Libraries, our Kid's Book Club, donating to underserved schools, daycares, & throughout our communities. Patreon is basically a monthly subscription/donation. You choose the tier that you want. Each tier has something neat included with your donation. If you're able, we would appreciate any and all support. There are some pretty cool tiers (that we put a lot of thought behind) with lots of fun goodies. Check it out & donate below:
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