A guest post by


If you love children, then being a nanny is one of the best jobs in the world. I mean, what other profession can you devote your undivided attention to providing quality childcare for one or two children? One of my favorite parts of being a nanny is reading time. I love how the children attentively listen and get enthralled in the stories. They learn so much by being read to, and their imaginations develop so rapidly that pretty soon they are creating stories of their own.

However, there is sometimes a downside to reading to the kids. I have a few books that I love and some I simply can’t stand. Ones that make my teeth grit when the kids ask me to read it to them. Here is a list of my favorite and not so favorite books that I read to the kiddoes. Since I have taken care of a wide variety of age ranges, the books will reflect that.

The Good-

·        The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle– Who doesn’t love this book? The colorful pictures and great food images offer opportunities for so much learning.

·        Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein- I love poetry and these simple kid-friendly and imaginative poems are fun for us all!

·        Anything by Dr. Seuss is a great read. Kids love the rhymes and so do I!

·        Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak –Little boys especially love the monsters in this story. I love the expressions I get to make reading it.

·        Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst – We all have bad days, even kids. I love the moral of this story and how it teaches kids that is okay to have a bad day.

·        Stellaluna by Janell Cannon – My favorite animals are bats. This is a book about bats in a good light. What more can I say?

·        If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura JoffeNumeroff -This is one book that always makes us laugh.

The Not So Good –

·        The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein – This book is just depressing to me. I mean, that poor tree…

·        Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg – I love the pictures for older children, but I find the story itself too frightening for younger ones.

·        Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson–The ending. No.

·        Hansel and Gretel–Yes, let’s teach kids that their parents want to kill them, evil witches want to eat them, and it is okay to push someone in an oven… There is a reason this story isn’t a Disney movie.

I could go on for eons, but this is just a sample of books that make the cut and ones that really don’t. This is just solely based on my opinion. You may find that different children (and nannies) have different tastes. As for me, I like to keep reading time fun, positive, and educational.

Author Bio

Sara is an active nanny as well as an active freelance writer. She is a frequent contributor of http://www.nannypro.com/.


image from MS Free Images