As an early childhood educator, I love to use cooking with kids to teach. I use it to teach math, culture, and reading. And you can do the same at home—use our Read-with-Me Recipes to help your child practice reading skills in a fun way in the kitchen. And you can pair your cooking activities with a great book (or several) to build on the learning and enjoyment. Use this curated list of 11 picture books for kids who love cooking to whip up some great cooking-themed story times. Your child will learn about different cultures and find recipes in each one to boot!
MayaSmart.com has also produced a collection of Read with Me Recipes that are designed to help kids practice reading skills while preparing simple snacks and meals. They’re gathered together in a free printable PDF, along with specific teaching tips for each recipe.
Lights! Camera! Reading Action! A huge part of helping children learn to love books is getting them engaged and keeping it that way. By showing children how wonderful a book can be, they’ll want to dive in even more. Why not use every tool in your toolbox? Sharing books by people they recognize or admire is one more way to get them invested in the books they have in front of them. Additionally, introducing children to people they may one day encounter on television, in film, or on the news from a diverse range of backgrounds and careers allows them to envision their own future lives and potential.
What celebrity books sparked your imagination? Do you have a suggestion to include in our list? Let us know!
Laughter is universal. Just think: we laugh before we can speak. It contributes to our well-being and growth, and its powers are wide-ranging—it’s shown to benefit our bodies and minds, as well as being a catalyst for learning and social connection.
Whatever stage a child’s sense of humor is at—and this evolves rapidly in the first years of life—most parents would agree that if you can make them laugh, they’ll come back for more. And that’s just one reason why funny books for kids make smart choices for reading together.
So if your child loves funny reads, or if you think funny children’s books might help spark their love of reading, why not give more weight to light-hearted and humorous titles? For starters, try these 9 funny picture books for kids. Then enjoy the benefits, and especially the laughs together.
What children’s books sparked your imagination? Let us Which funny kids’ books spark laughs in your family? Have a suggestion to include in our list? Let us know!
Bodies come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and capacities. Would you like your child to learn to love their own body and accept others the way they are? Picture books are a wonderful tool to foster body positivity and tolerance, as well as to spark valuable conversations with your little one. (Plus, reading stories can actually lower levels of stress and pain and build emotional intelligence, setting children up to better navigate whatever life sends their way.)
Children begin to develop self-esteem as early as age five, and positive representation is tied to higher self-esteem. That’s why we’ve put together a list of empowering stories that feature kids who look or feel different. Check out these beautiful picture books that encourage self-love and acceptance.
Looking for more recommendations? Check out our Bookshop.org page for curated reading lists!
“Imagination is more important than knowledge,” Albert Einstein once told an interviewer. “Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
Stretching a child’s imagination through reading does so much more than entertain them. It engages them, inspires them, and prepares them for life. Imagination is the foundation of creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. It also supports personal growth and social-emotional development. If we can’t envision success, it becomes infinitely more difficult to maintain the motivation needed to reach a long-term goal. Meanwhile, the ability to imagine how another person feels is what makes us compassionate and empathetic. (And reading fiction directly builds empathy, too.)
The fast pace of modern life doesn’t always leave much time or energy for creative play, however. Kids can be too overscheduled, overwhelmed, or exhausted to stretch their imaginations when they get home. But you can spur your child’s imagination (and help them soar away from everyday routine or troubles) simply by reading picture books to them. Reading to children triggers higher activity in the area of the brain responsible for cultivating mental images, among other things. And, really, what’s more absorbing than getting drawn into a magical, fantastical, or wonderfully wacky story?
To help, we’ve curated a selection of twelve diverse, modern fairy tales and whimsical picture books that foster imagination and encourage kids to expand their point of view.
Books for Advanced or Older Readers:
Share these gorgeouWhat children’s books sparked your imagination? Let us know!
I want kids to understand that making pictures is similar to making music; there are so many instruments and so many tunes that the possibilities for how you play are truly limitless.
Jerry Pinkney (1939-2021)
Jerry Pinkney is a children’s literature icon. Even if you’ve never heard his name, chances are you and your child have read at least one of the many books he illustrated or authored. His career spanned six decades and 97 children’s picture books, not to mention a handful of illustrated novels. Pinkey’s books have won multiple Coretta Scott King Awards, an Orbis Pictus Award, and even a Caldecott Medal. His illustrations are lively, expressive, and invite the reader to delve in further, beyond the words.
We’ve curated a list of Jerry Pinkney’s books that showcase his dedication to the art of storytelling. All are picture books unless otherwise noted. And all should be available at a local library, in independent bookstores, and from Bookshop.org. Enjoy!
Jerry Pinkney’s Fables and Folktales
Adaptations of fables, folktales, and fairytales make up the largest portion of Jerry Pinkney’s body of work. He worked with authors to bring African and African American folktales to prominence. Additionally, he modernized European classics for today’s audiences with black characters in the lead roles. By breathing new life into tales that are hundreds (sometimes thousands) of years old, Jerry Pinkney has kept these stories alive and relevant for future generations. Some to try:
Inspiring Nonfiction Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
In addition to his many works of fiction, Pinkney also illustrated some wonderful nonfiction books during his career. In these volumes, he helped showcase the lives of black Americans throughout American history. Some to try:
Jerry Pinkney’s Wordless Picture Books
As a teacher, I probably most often use Jerry Pinkney’s wordless books. He takes well known fables and removes the text, letting his rich illustrations tell the story on their own. It’s a brilliant way to share these tales with kids and to encourage pre-readers to narrate the stories themselves. (Get tips in our post on wordless picture books.) Some to try:
These are just some of the incredible books by Jerry Pinkney that you can find in your local bookstore or library. Whether you’re revisiting a classic or introducing your child to a story you never knew, these Jerry Pinkney books will encourage a love of reading in your home.
Share these gorgeous books by Jerry Pinkney.
No joke: funny books for kids deserve to be taken seriously. If you want to make reading together more fun, encourage a reluctant reader, or help your child use books to regulate their emotions or deal with challenges, funny reads can pack a serious punch alongside the punchlines.
Reading with my daughter, I’ve also found that the books that make her (and me) laugh deliver some of the best value. She tends to pick them time and again, so we get in more reads. And they often spark all sorts of jokes, wordplay, and silliness after reading—which keeps the book, and the learning, alive for longer.
I’m not alone in seeking out laughs in kids’ lit. According to one report, 52 percent of children want books that make them laugh, and their parents want the same. Given that enjoyment is a crucial motivation for kids to engage with books, spurring them to keep reading independently—and that there’s a sharp drop in the number of kids reading for fun as they get older—kids’ longing for humor in story time isn’t something to laugh off.
Besides, laughter—remember that “best medicine” adage?—is good for us, credited with positive effects on body and mind. It stimulates and oxygenates organs and muscles, boosts the immune system, and provides emotional release. These reasons alone would make incorporating funny books into your family reading worthwhile. But what else can laughter bring to your child’s reading and development? Let’s dive in.
Laughter Can Lead to Learning
Humor is a great way to create positive learning experiences. Laughter attracts our attention and eases tension, thereby making us more receptive. It also activates the dopamine reward system, and dopamine has been linked to motivation to learn and memory retention.
Add in laughter and give kids free choice in their reading, and you’re onto a winning combination. So, if you have a struggling reader or one who’s lost their enthusiasm, funny stories might just help them fall in love (or fall back in love) with books. Plus, they’ll support learning in a way that feels playful and organic. And that kind of learning is more likely to stick!
Comedy Creates Connection
Laughter builds bonds as well as brains. In a group setting like the classroom, it can help to lower defenses, promote a feeling of safety and togetherness, and encourage rapport. And at home, sharing a laugh as you read together fosters connection on a more intimate level, as well as helping reaffirm books as a positive way to spend time together.
This isn’t just from a child’s perspective, either. For parents, taking a few moments to enjoy a funny story with your little one can go a long way towards carving out real quality time after a long day. This is especially true if you’re feeling the pain of missing out on the laughs your child had at daycare or you’re suffering from a bout of parenting burnout.
Humor Can Lower Stress
When we laugh, our stress hormones, like cortisol, take a dip, and feel-good endorphins spike. The result? We feel more relaxed and happier. In fact, even anticipating laughter can kick-start these mood-boosting effects.
Laughing can also act as a kind of emotional pressure-valve for releasing pent-up tension—and just think how much stress little ones may have to handle or repress day to day. For my family, reading has often been a go-to calming activity during stressful moments or after a challenging day. And choosing a funny book can often work extra wonders for re-setting the mood or easing that pressure-valve open.
Funny Books Allow for Rule-Breaking
This is one of my favorite reasons for bringing funny books for kids into the heart of our reading collection. Children are bombarded by rules, covering everything from what they can touch to where they can go, what they have to share, and when they eat or sleep. What’s more, adults may not be, or at least may seem not to be, bound by these same dos and don’ts.
But in funny books—especially those that lean towards the (mildly) anarchic or subversive in spirit—these rules are often upended or thrown out completely. So reading them can act as a kind of healthy wish-fulfillment for frustrated little ones, where they are free to relish rule-breaking, or uphold the rules, if they choose. Even more than that, funny, disruptive books also encourage creativity, taking alternative perspectives, and critical thinking.
Humor Is Empowering
Kids relate to funny characters, and often these same characters show children that it’s okay to be silly, it’s okay to make mistakes time and again, and it’s okay to feel fearful or uncertain even when that fear or uncertainty doesn’t make sense to others.
In some stories, it’s the grown-ups who are the silly or misguided characters, offering a valuable lesson that adults don’t always get everything right either. Humorous characters can help children to feel seen and understood in a world where that doesn’t always feel like the case.
How to Use Funny Kids’ Books
Funny books can be a valuable tool in helping kids come to grips with challenging ideas or situations, from bullying and family separation to illness or death. Using funny reads in a targeted way has its place, but simply focusing on the joy that humor brings is enough most of the time.
As long as the humor is age-appropriate—the youngest readers will struggle with irony and complex wordplay, for example—and positive rather than disparaging and aggressive, anything goes! Have fun exploring what you and your children find funny, whether that’s slapstick, dark humor, or anything in between.
The punch line? When it comes to your child’s reading choices, funny isn’t everything. But it sure makes a good starting point, especially on the most challenging days. And if you’re looking for more laughs in your family reading, our curated list of funny picture books for kids should do the trick.
Like so much of life, parenthood and childrearing—including who engages in it, how, and how much—has evolved rapidly in recent times. In many cases, dads are taking on new and more active roles in raising kids.
According to Scientific American, fathers in 1965 spent an average of just 2.6 hours a week on child care, compared to 6.5 hours in 2000. In 2014, a study of several hundred low-income families found that the mothers read more frequently to their toddlers, but that approximately 55 percent of fathers read at least weekly to their children.
In this article, we’ll look at what dads bring to story time—and how fathers can create a solid foundation for their children’s future through the simple act of reading to them.
When Dads Read, Babies Bloom
Babies benefit from being read to long before they can fully understand the words. And research shows that story times with multiple adults extend and broaden these benefits. For example, fathers reading to their littles ones in addition to the children’s mothers has correlated in studies with greater development down the line.
In a study of two-parent families from low-income rural communities, dads used picture books to interact with their children at six months. Compared to other babies whose fathers didn’t do that, those children had more advanced language development when they were a year old and when tested again at three years.
Another study, which looked at fathers who read at least once a week to their two- and three-year-olds, found that the children had advanced language and cognitive skills at both age three and in kindergarten.
Dad Does Things Differently
Captain Underpants. The Stinky Cheese Man. Walter the Farting Dog.
Researchers have found indications that dads tend to interact in different ways with babies and children than moms—and that these varied styles each bring their own unique benefits.
These differences can extend to reading choices, too, as dads bring their own spin, interests, and approach to sharing books with their little ones. And that can be a very good thing, offering even more opportunities and ways for kids to become engaged in books.
This engagement, in turn, drives greater attention during story time, willingness to read, motivation to learn to read independently, and inclination to continue reading in the long term.
But whether you’re a mom, dad, uncle, grandparent, or other caregiver, you can support both boys and girls in reading by seeking out books the child finds interesting. Publisher Steve Hill created his publishing company, Flying Point Press, because he couldn’t find enough books that engaged his son. You don’t have to go that far, but exposing your child to a wide range of books and following their interests will help draw them in and keep them hooked.
Fathers Can Model Reading for Reluctant Readers
Researchers have long documented a tendency for earlier and stronger language development among girls, generally speaking, while developmental disorders affecting communication skills appear more frequently in boys.
We should be extremely careful about such generalizations when dealing with individuals, and parents should absolutely watch out for language challenges with their daughters as well as sons. They should also scrupulously avoid assuming their sons will struggle or be reluctant to read; experienced adults know that a great many boys read well, often, and passionately.
Still, plenty of parents complain of challenges helping their sons meet grade-level expectations for reading or learn to love books. But with support at home and school, even boys who are slower to acquire early skills can catch up and develop strong reading ability. When Dad models reading skill and book love, it’s one more example to show young boys and any hesitant reader that they can do it—and motivate them to try.
Establish the Reading Habit for Life
Books they find interesting help both boys and girls get into the reading habit early. When children transition to adolescence, research shows that there is often a slump in achievement and motivation.
That slump is especially pronounced among boys and even more dire among boys of color, but it can affect all kids (especially in our digital-media-driven days)—as parents frequently attest.
If teens don’t have a strong reading foundation, their academic progress can slow or even stop. Building and reinforcing book habits early, as well as modeling that the adults in their life all read regularly, can help ensure they’ll return to reading throughout their lives.
This article has detailed a few key reasons that fathers should share books with their kids, from birth and well beyond. But the best reason of all for parents and other caregivers to read to their kids is simple: When they’re grown, they will have warm memories of those reading sessions with Mom and Dad to look back on.
Looking for some winning books to add to your family reading list? We rounded up some of our favorite basketball picture books to keep the little athletes in your home entertained and inspired.
If your child dreams of dribbling and dunking, they’ll love meeting these characters who share their passion for the sport. From biographies of the greats and stories of historic basketball moments to tales of practice and perseverance, these reads will be a storytime slam dunk.
Does your child love sports and sports reads? Don’t miss our other curated lists of picture books about sports!
“A little more fun, a little more love, a little more light every night. That’s the joy of Hanukkah.” —Unknown
As the season of candles, dreidels, and miracles approaches, it’s a great moment to pass on a delicious Hanukkah tradition to the next generation, all while giving kids the gift of reading. That’s why we’ve put together an easy latke recipe for kids, specially designed so they can read the instructions themselves, though they may need a little help from their grownups around the stove.
Just print out the PDF of the recipe (or bring it up on a screen large enough for easy reading), then let the fun begin. Your child will get to practice reading while spending quality time with you celebrating the Festival of Lights.
Note that this recipe involves frying your potato pancakes over a hot stove, so grownups should take the lead on that part. Before you get started, make sure you have a clean dish towel, grater, and child-safe knife or chopping tool on hand, as well as a bowl, frying pan, and tongs or spatula.
Our Read with Me Recipe series features printable recipes that are easy for kids to make and read. Simple words and short sentences in an easy font set your little one up for reading success. (Scroll down for tips on reading recipes together and maximizing the learning.) The idea is to make it easy for you to mix reading and writing into everyday life with your kids. This kind of “everyday literacy” is key to raising thriving readers.
Tips for teaching kids to read with this recipe:
- Introduce your child to how recipes work. If you’re not sure they know them already, be sure to explain vocabulary like “ingredients” and other cooking terms, such as “grate” in this recipe. One of the biggest challenges for beginning readers—and most important underpinnings of literacy—is just knowing and understanding the vocabulary they’ll encounter in books.
- Watch out for specific words in the recipe they may not be familiar with, and give a simple definition.
- Keep an eye out for tricky-to-read words, such as “oil” and “onions.” Point out letter combinations that might be new or less familiar to your child.
- For little ones who aren’t reading much yet, just pointing out what you’re reading and emphasizing a few key words or letters is enough. If you make the recipe again, you can help them find the words you pointed out before.
- Use this as an opportunity to show them punctuation, as well as words and letters. Point to the commas, periods, or other punctuation marks, and explain what they mean.
- If they can’t read the recipe on their own, give them chances for success by asking them about what they do know, gently underscoring key knowledge. E.g., ask, Can you find the letter P? or How many words do you see that start with O?
- For kids who are reading already, encourage them to read the recipe themselves. If they have trouble, just calmly help them with any words they can’t quite get. E.g., if they have trouble with the word “pancake,” try covering “cake” and helping them read just the first part of the word before you uncover the rest.
- Bring your patience. Give your child space to read a word (or identify a letter) before you jump in, but be prepared to help if they’re showing signs of frustration.
Browse our other Read with Me Recipes.
Easy Recipe for Kids: Latke Potato Pancakes
- 5 Potatoes
- ½ Onion
- 1 Egg
- Salt
- Oil
- Applesauce
- Sour cream