2017 Children's Challenge & Early Reader Wrap Up & Top Books

So I thought I would do things a little differently with my Challenge wrap ups and I wanted to break down my Challenges so the posts weren't as overwhelming and also give you some of my favorites from each challenge.  Because the Children's Challenge and Early Reader Challenge really go hand in hand I figured I would combine them in one post.  You can check out my original list of goals for 2017 HERE.   So on with the wrap up, I will list out the books I read for each challenge, with links to my reviews, and then post my top picks.

Children's Challenge

So first we have the Children's Reading Challenge,  I had set a goal of 60-65 books this year and managed to stay pretty close to those guidelines with 68 Children's Books this year.  Munchkin is starting to out grow picture books now so some of the books that we may have really enjoyed in the past, are a little boring for him now, but we do still love reading them and sharing them with you. So here is what we read in 2017

1. Too Many Toys

2. I Love My New Toy

3. All By Myself

4. Big Snow

5. What to do with a Box

6. Driving Force
7. Duck Soup
8. I Will Take a Nap
9. Hedgehugs
10. Happy Valentine's Day Little Critter
11. Love Monster
12. Love Monster and the Perfect Present
13. Duck and Hippo in the Rainstorm
14. The Quite Contrary Man
15. Foreman Farley has a Backhoe
16. Cody the Cloud
17. Monster Trucks
18. Today I will Fly!
19. Mighty, Mighty Construction Site
20. Pancho Bandito and the Amarillo Armadillo
21. We are Growing!
22. Why Not Call it Cow Juice
23. The Longest Game
24. Rhody Ram's RI Adventure
25. Dragonfly Magic
26. One Cent, Two Cent, Old Cent, New Cent
27. Supertruck
28. A Little Book About Safety
29. The Pups Save the Bunnies
30. My Friend is Sad
31. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes
32. Giggle, Giggle, Quack
33. Ten Rules of Being a Superhero
34. Fire Engine No. 9
35. Little Owl's Night
36. Little Owl's Day
37. The Beastly Pirates
38. Dear Teacher
39. There is a Bird on Your Head
40. Last Day Blues
41. Catch Crusher
42. Swimmy
43. Big Frank's Fire Truck
44. Make Way for Ducklings
45. Can I Play Too?
46. Pete the Cat and the Bedtime Blues
47. What to Do With a Problem?
48. Dinotrux Dare to Repair
49. David Goes to School
50. This Book Will Not Be Fun
51. It Came in the Mail
52. Ted and Friends
53. The Librarian of Basra
54. Animalia
55. Go To Sleep Mom
56.  Bright Stanley Save's the Day
57. I'm Not Scared
58. The Rainbow Fish
59. There Was an Old Lady Who Was not Afraid of Anything
60. Can You Snore Like a Dinosaur
61. Twas the Day After Thanksgiving
62. Puppy Dog Pals - Adventures in Puppy Sitting
63. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
64. Olaf's Frozen Adventure
65. Cars 3
66. Merry Christmas, Mouse!
67. Gekko Saves Christmas
68. My New Friend is So Fun!


Best Children's Books Read in 2017
So obviously Munchkin and I might have slightly different opinions on our favorite books this year so I did include a couple of his favorite and a couple of my favorites, these are the books we kept coming back to . .

Munchkin was completely obsessed with this book and I was not allowed to pack it away with the rest of the Halloween books.

One of Munchkin's all time favorite books is Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site so I had to get this one for him as soon as it was released.  It is a great follow up to the first book and continues the work with some new truck friends. It can stand alone too, you don't need to read the other book first.

So I originally picked this book up simply because there was an armadillo in it, and quickly became obsessed! I love the classic tall tale feel of this story and the illustration style has bold colors and graphics that are great for the younger kids and an adventure story perfect for the older kids.

I had picked this book up in one of my failed Usborne orders (more on that HERE) and while the experience made me a little bitter, this book was really fantastic! This is a set of several short stories with alliteration and rhyming words, all are simple words and sentences for those kids learning to read and it has a hidden duck on each page and interactive flaps for younger kids.  This has become our go to book when we need something short and simple before bed after an overwhelming day.

This was certainly more for me than anything but Munchkin got a lot out of it too! We both learned a lesson or two when reading it, me to not try cram too much on my to do list and Munchkin to help out a bit more so I am not so tired and cranky. And the book accomplished all this in a few simple, silly pages.

Early Reader Challenge

Again for this challenge I was shooting for between 50-55 books and I actually managed it this time around with 54 books. Munchkin is really getting into these books now as he is looking for longer books with more complex story lines. He is also starting to read quite a few words now and is sounding out new words so these books have been great for us.

1. Time To Be a Hero

2. It's Snowing! It's Snowing!

3. Moose and Mouse

4. DinoTrux: To the Rescue

5. Max Has a Fish
6. Bubble Trouble
7. Blaze Loves to Race
8. Pig and Pug
9. Meet Blades the Copter-Bot
10. Let's Make Something
11. Tony Baloney: Pen Pal
12. Fire Truck to the Rescue
13. PJ Masks Save the Library
14. Shampoodle
15. Optimus Primal
16. The Garden that We Grew
17. The Little Duck
18. Miss Bindergarten and the Very Wet Day
19. A Day in the Life of a Firefighter
20. Transformer Rescue Bots: Meet Quickshadow
21. Otis's Busy Day
22. The Colorful Story of Comics
23. Transformer Rescue Bots: Meet Boulder the Construction Bot
24. Transfomer Rescue Bots: Meet Chase the Police Bot
25. Transformers Rescue Bots: Team of Heroes
26. Planet Earth
27. DinoTrux: A Thirsty Day in the Crater
28. Transformers Rescue Bots: Meet Heatwave the Fire Bot
29. Pete the Cat and the Surprise Teacher
30. Otter: Hello, Sea Friends!
31. Storms
32. Sir Pete the Brave
33. The Berenstain Bears are SuperBears
34. Mouse Makes Words
35. Dory's Story
36. Robin Hill School: Summer Treasure
37. Berenstain Bears Gone Fishin
38. Berenstain Bears Around the World
39. Meet the Minions
40. Pete the Cat: Too Cool for School
41. Mars
42. We Love Soccer
43. The Snowman and the Snowdog
44. The Spooky Cabin
45. Cat in the Hat Home for Christmas
46. Aaron Loves Apples and Pumpkins
47. Me Too Woody
48.  AT-AT Attack
49. I Spy Thanksgiving
50. See Santa Nap
51. Do You See What I See Christmas
52. Go, Go, Trucks
53. Do You Want a Hug?
54. A Cars Christmas

Best Early Reader Books Read in 2017

Again, some of these books I liked better and some he liked better but they are all on the top of our list.  Obviously, as he grows and learns more his reading preferences will change with his abilities so books that might top our list this year, may not work for us next year if they aren't challenging enough for him.  But for now these are the books we have picked up again and again!

I am just using this as the cover picture, but it was actually a part of a bind up of 5 or 6 Rescue Bots books that were all Level 1. Munchkin absolutely loves flipping through this book and picking out the words he knows and telling me what is happening in the stories.

We are not huge Berenstain Bears fans but we both really enjoyed this book and how it related to us. It was an easy book to read and Munchkin recognized several words in it. With all that said, the best part was the message behind the story of it just being a game and to have fun.

This is a little advanced for Munchkin right now but will be a great one for when he gets just a year or two older.  It is a great non-fiction but told in a fun style with entertaining art too, and it is a subject that will interest young readers.  I will definitely be picking up more History of Fun Stuff books in the future!

Munchkin completely latched on to this book during this holiday season, it not only featured several of his new words but was full of repetition and rhymes with a silly story too. We have really worn this book out in the past month.

This is by far the best early reader book I have come across so far! It was a great level one book with simple words but helps with sounding them out, building words and rhymes. Munchkin loved that he could read so much of this book on his own so much earlier than other books. Definitely one to add to your little one's shelf!




So there you have it, my wrap up of the 2017 Children's Book Challenge and Early Reader Challenge and my top picks.  I have so enjoyed reading these books in the past several years and look forward to sharing more with you in the future!  Please feel free to share some of your favorites from the year, or let me know if there is something you would like to see in the coming year.  I will be back tomorrow with more Challenge wrap ups for the year.