100 books like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Research shows that babies in utero hear and remember rhymes and rhythms they hear from inside the womb. The more frequently the rhymes and rhythms are repeated, the more responsive babies are to these familiar sounds when they are born. So if you’re going to be reading a book to your baby over and over again, it ought to be a fun, makes-you-laugh-out-loud one like Moo, Baa, La La La. This story is chock full of silly, catchy rhymes that you won’t mind repeating time and time again. Of course, Sandra Boynton’s illustrations are fabulous, too, so when your baby arrives, she will be delighted to meet the kooky animals she’s been listening to for months! Trust us, you can’t go wrong with any book authored by Sandra Boynton. Their lively illustrations and all-around silliness are bound to become cherished additions to your child’s read-aloud repertoire.

The rhyming, almost musical, text is easily memorized by students who delight at repeating and repeating the story. 

Eric Carle’s illustrations are engaging and colorful. I like the book because I am able to see the joy on the children’s faces when they join me in “reading” the story.

We adore this book and know it all off by heart! Our 2.5 year old can often be spotted sitting ‘reading’ this book to herself, reciting the poems! The simple repetitive story tells the tale of a babysitter (Skinny Doug – although for some reason he has always been known as Lanky Dave in our house!) singing nursery rhymes to Bonnie and Ben, the children he is looking after. Such a lovely book to share and we have even added in our own extra nursery rhymes for the picture of the moon at the end. Judy Horacek’s bright and cheerful and inclusive artwork makes this a family classic.

Everyone has heard of Dr. Seuss, but most people don’t realize that he was a prenatal reading enthusiast. As a matter of fact, Dr. Seuss (whose real name was Theodore Geisel) was fascinated by the research that shows that babies can hear and respond to the voices they hear from inside the womb. After his death, author Tish Rabe along with Geisel’s widow Audrey, adapted his popular Oh, the Places You’ll Go to create the first-ever story especially for reading to a baby in the womb. Oh Baby, the Places You’ll Go includes all the fun rhythms, rhymes, and whimsical characters you expect in a Dr. Seuss’s story, but what’s unique about this one is that it invites expectant parents to speak directly to their baby-to-be. Reading this story to the baby bump allows new parents to share their excitement about their little one’s arrival. 

This extraordinary book combines a lived experience with the powerful writing of an accomplished author.  Unexpectedly, in her mid-thirties, she finds a man to love and a baby is on the way. But then, the agony:  the baby dies in utero in the ninth month. She tackles head-on the deepest feelings and questions this brings. I like the way she unsparingly describes her experience and her grief, and then how she processes this and finds a way to move on. 

Women are more than their vaginas—but guess what? Vaginas are, themselves, utterly fascinating, powerful, provocative! This book takes a look backward through history, all the ridiculous things that make doctors thought vaginas did (like wandering womb syndrome), and then gives us the scoop of modern understanding. The clitoris, for instance, is so much more than we might expect—and made of erectile tissue, just like the penis! Speaking of penises, we hear a lot about ducks. Ducks are weird, man. It’s a delightful romp through anatomy and science, medicine and history, and it just might break us from thinking that vaginas are taboo. 

This book does my favorite thing: It takes peculiar historical and scientific facts, and then gives them back to readers as a riveting, funny, bizarre journey. It’s just the sort of book that makes you stop, call a friend, and say did you know?? I am, myself,… show more.

This new memoir (out 2022) is about a New Yorker who marries, buys a decaying farmhouse, and shortly thereafter is diagnosed with a high-risk pregnancy, committing her to five months of bed rest. While horizontal, she confronts grief over the death of her father and struggles to hold her marriage together. Though this story is narrated in a humorous voice, Weintraub deals with tough issues, including the merits of prenatal restrictions, demanding we take better care when handling maternal mental health. 

It’s maybe inaccurate to describe this (not too) long poem as a society grappling with the aftermath of a war. There isn’t much grappling to be done, and it only partly exists after a war is through, to the extent a war like the one Christensen describes is ever through once it’s been started. It’s instead a litany of loss, of those things that can’t be reclaimed, which should instead be protected through the avoidance of war.

The artwork in this colorful book is detailed and amazing. It’s a big job to move letters of the alphabet and the expressions on these robots’ faces are priceless, especially the gleeful ones. This action-packed book is filled with fun sounds and a variety of skinny-limbed robots hauling letters in every color of the rainbow. At times it’s a challenge to find the small item that begins with the letter. There is a lot packed into each page.

Alphabreaths is brilliant. It’s a colorful alphabet book and a mindfulness book in one. Clinical psychologist Christopher Willard teamed up with family therapist Daniel Rechtsschaffen and illustrator Holly Clifton-Brown to create mindful activities from A to Z. Kids will want to try out these breath and mindfulness techniques because they are so simple, and the illustrations so inviting. You can do each one without any prior understanding of mindfulness or breath techniques.

My favorite pages include: “Question Breath. As you breathe in, ask yourself how you are feeling. As you breathe out, answer.”

“Superhero Breathe. Breathe in and imagine you are a superhero. Breathe out and imagine how you will help someone.”

“Wish Breath. Breathe in and make a happy wish for yourself. Breathe out and send a happy wish to someone else.”

I’m crazy about Clifton-Brown’s illustrations. Her characters express innocence, wonder, and serenity. Her palette is soft yet… show more.