10 Heartwarming Children’s Books

I once heard someone say that the best way to instill a love for reading in your child is simply by… reading to them. As soon as we brought Lively home from the hospital, we started reading to her every day. Whether it was a cookbook, my Bible or a text message on my phone, I read to her as often as I could. At night before bed, Todd and I would take turns reading through chapters of the Jesus Storybook Bible. It was a special bonding time for our new little family and her first introduction to the good news of the Gospel and the gift of words beautifully strung together. Now that she’s a toddler, it’s been neat to see the fruit from all the reading we did in those early days. She has grown into quite the little bookworm and asks to read books frequently throughout the day. I would say we read between 10-15 books a day – sometimes it’s the same one 10 times. 🙂

I always love hearing books other parents have loved reading with their kids so I thought it would be fun to share some of our current favorites that always warm my heart. Some of these you have probably heard of, but there are a few that might be new to you!

1. Honeysuckle the Little Bunny – this is the newest to our collection and has become a fast favorite. Honeysuckle delights in baking lovely cakes, creating darling invitations, and hosting wondrous parties (a girl after my own heart) – all to show her friends how much she loves them. When a cloud overhead threatens to ruin her party, it is her friends who remind her that being together is all that matters. As a Martha-type who can easily get caught up in the preparations and wanting everything to be perfect, I really connected with Honeysuckle and love that I can teach Lively the important lesson of being present over perfect. Bonus: the cover and illustrations are ADORABLE and will look so cute on your bookshelf. Another bonus: you can get pj’s to match the book! A thoughtful gift for Easter or anytime of year.
2. Little His Majesty – while technically a Christmas book, we have adored reading this sweet story written and illustrated by our friend, Tricia Lowenfield, any time of year. It tells of the Biblical meaning behind the 12 days of Christmas song. She’s also written this adorable book about manners and kindness.
3. Through Your Eyes & Take Heart My Child – Lively calls these books “me and Mom” because there is a picture of a mother and baby girl (the author and her child) on the back and Lively thinks it looks like “me and Mom.” So cute! They are truly a dream to read to your child.
4. When I Pray for You: this is definitely my favorite of the bunch! I can’t read it without tearing up.
5. Jesus Storybook Bible: this book does a beautiful job communicating the Gospel (the greatest love story of all time) to audiences young and old.
6. Oh the Places You’ve Been: this precious picture book chronicles the life of a small penny. With playful rhyming this book explores how even small, long-forgotten things have amazing stories to tell.
7. In My Heart – this is a wonderful book for teaching children about different emotions. At the end of the book it asks, “how does your heart feel today?” And Lively always replies with a resounding “happy!” and it makes my heart melt.
8. Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You – cue the tears! Beautiful words and illustrations, this book is profoundly moving and a powerful message to give to your children.
9. Baby Wren and the Great Gift – written by the same author as the Jesus Storybook Bible, this darling book inspires children to recognize and bask in the wonders of the world while encouraging them to discover and share the unique wonders within themselves.
10. God Gave Us You – there are several books in this “God Gave Us” series and they are all wonderful! This book provides a valuable opportunity to build children’s self-esteem every day and assure them that they are welcomed, precious, and a treasured gift from the Lord.

Reading with Lively has become one of my most favorite things in the world for many reasons. I love the physical closeness it creates between us… seeing her imagination and curiosity spark… and I’m mostly thankful for the sweet words and illustrations of others that have helped instill important lessons and Biblical truths in both her mind and her heart.

What other books have you loved that I should add to her collection?

Photography: Red Fly Studio

Affiliate links are used in this post. This means that if you choose to purchase something, I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you. 🙂  10% of all income for Home Sweet Hunter is sent to Compassion International, a child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty in Jesus’ name.