In this post, I am hoping/trying to make up for being so absentee. It started with Screen Free Week at the end of April and beginning of May, which was followed by a trip to Chicago for a week for a family get-together during which time my laptop went completely bonkers!! (I have had it for 6 years, but still...) My new one will arrive on Wednesday, and I am lucky enough to be able to use a work laptop that is currently not needed for any of our youth programs. In short, though, this leaves me 3 weeks behind with The Weekly Library Challenge! Yikes!! So, I am sharing way more than three library books the boys have been reading in order to make up for it. I am sharing 100 of our favorite transportation books, plus some great transportation play and learning ideas from The Kid's Co-Op last week. This means, that next week, I will share 4 library books that I have been reading to get caught up. Hoping I can do it.
For the transportation books, there are two authors in particular whose books we get at the library quite often: Leo Timmers and Byron Barton. Both have many great transportation books, such as: Vroom! Toot! and Who's Driving by Timmers and Planes, My Car, Boats, Trucks, Trains, and Machines at Work by Barton. The Timmers books are the ones we have been reading lately, and we are not the only ones who are Barton fans. Theresa of Capri+3 also loves Barton and shared this great post about Trucks. (With those 2 authors we already have 9 books shared). And Next Comes L also loves Barton. Another transportation book that is favorite or hers is Dragon in a Wagon by Jane Bell Moncure. (That makes 10)
Now to get specific: we love trains at our house, so let's get into all of the wonderful children's book that highlight trains: Freight Trains by Donald Crews (which is also great for color sorting activities). Carolyn of The Pleasantest Thing shares our love for this book. Of course, there is also The Little Engine That Could, a classic from Watty Piper, I'm Fast by Kate and Jim McMullen, Tootle by Gertrude Crampton, All Aboard the Dinotrain by Deb Lund, Trainstop by Barbara Lehman and Go Train Go! and Stop Train Stop!, which are both Thomas the Tank Engine Beginner Books. Jessica from Play-Trains is always sharing great train books and says that The Train to Glasgow is one of her favorite read-aloud train books. We shared many of these books and play, learning, snack time and other fun train ideas in our popular Things That Go Series - Trains Edition. (19 books and counting).
If you have a truck lover, we have got you covered there as well: The Little Blue Truck is loved by many (Stir the Wonder reminded me of this wonderful book), Trucks Roll, My Big Truck Book,You Can Name 100 Trucks, Diggers and Dumpers, Truck by Donald Crew, Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site, and Snow Sounds are all books that my boys love. School Time Snippets recommends the classic Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (that makes 24). Of course, fire trucks get a mention all their own and our Ten for Tuesday post we did for Fire Prevention Week remains the most popular on my blog. In the post, we share 10 fire truck books. We also love Alphabet Rescue by Audrey Wood. Plus, we link to No Time for Flashcards who has a list of 20 wonderful firefighter books. (This brings us to 59 books -- I figured we need to speed this list up a bit...)
Now for water and air - boats and planes: T is for Tugboat, Dinosoaring and Dinosailing by Deb Lund The Little Airplane by Lois Lenski (whose books I love), Flight 1-2-3, Angela's Airplane, Airplane Flight, The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont, A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom, and I'm Here by Peter H. Reynolds. Rachel of Nate and Rachel recommends Richard Scarry's A Day At the Airport, which I remember from my own childhood. Plus, Fly High! and The Hallelujah Flight are great for sharing the history of flight with your kids, and Pragmatic Mom has a great list of the Best Books for Girls focused on Girls who Dare to Fly. (This brings us to 86 when I include her 14 books...almost there...)
No Things That Go book list would be complete without Cars and Buses! Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (of course) by Mo Willems, The Bus Stop by Janet Morgan Stoeke, School Bus (another fabulous Donald Crews book), Bus Stops by Taro Gomi, and Royal Baloo has some other great bus books and activities. These make 92, and we still have some more favorite car books to share: Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, another Richard Scarry classic, Cars (Little Golden Book edition), Meet the Cars (Disney/Pixar book that we recently got from the library that tells you about every car in the Cars franchise - Wild Thing loved it, but it wore me out!), and Go Dog Go! by P.D. Eastman make 96. We will round it out to well over 100 with 9 books about Things That Go in Space! Whew! Please say all of these book suggestions make up for 2 absentee weeks from Project 101: Weekly Library Challenge. Now for some transportation fun from The Kid's Co-Op.
These 10 activities caught my eye:
- Tin Foil River and Mini Ice Boats from Reading Confetti
- Train Reading Game and Steam Train Art from Play-Trains
- Transportation Literacy and Math Worksheets, Transportation Count and Clip Cards, and Math Play using Vehicles from The Measured Mom
- London Bus Craft from Craftulate
- Transportation Outdoor Play with Outdoor Play Ideas Using Tires from Making Boys Men, DIY Outdoor Roads from And Next Comes L and DIY Choo Choo Wagon from Caution! Twins At Play!
Plus, you will find lots of transportation activities through our Things That Go Series!
Now, enjoy The Kid's Co-op: Link Up and Play!
