Happy Children’s Book Week!

May 13-19 is Children’s Book Week, a perfect time to settle in with your kids and enjoy your favorite books. My daughter and I are pretty much celebrating the same way we do every day—reading lots of books, making up funny “mistakes” in books and drawing pictures of our favorite stories. We also like to make up our own.

I really recommend making funny mistakes in your books. For example, when you read Goodnight Moon, instead of reading, “In a great green room,” substitute room with “toilet.” Your kid is going to crack up! Mine loves it when I do this and she also loves to “correct” me in a silly voice.

When you draw pictures of your favorite books together, keep them open and let your child copy from the book if she likes. We once spent a whole afternoon drawing pictures of the Octonauts together and it was so much fun. My daughter also loves to draw pictures from Mo Willems books, Alice in Wonderland creatures and creepy creatures from one of her favorite books, Los Gatos Black on Halloween.

Try reading a book, then watching the movie for Children’s Book Week. Wood Sprite and I have been reading the Madeline books, and when it was on TV last week I taped it. She has really enjoyed seeing the characters come to life. She also likes the Winnie the Pooh and Dr. Seuss adaptations.

Finally, be sure to check out We Give Books this week. You can read books online for free—many of them are new!—and then donate books to a cause when you are finished, again for free.

Photo of Mo Willems drawing courtesy of Wood Sprite