2025 Decade Challenge Selections

A new year brings new reading challenges! What challenge are you setting for yourself this year? Since 2022, I have set the same challenge, read 11 titles, 1 for each decade in the past 100 years. Below are the shining stars that I have chosen to read this year! Check back at the end of the year to see which ones I kept and those that were reassigned! 😉


The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This is one of my all-time favorite books. I am excited for the chance to read this again this year, and get something new out of it!

Mary Poppins Comes Back by P.L. Travers (Book 2 In the Mary Poppins Series)
I read the first book in this series last year and am excited to tackle the second one this year! I am sure that it will be full of whimsy just as the first was!

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
As a child, I watched and then re-watched the 1988 film of Pippi Longstocking. When I saw this title on the 1945 list, I knew that I HAD to read this to my kids so that we can then watch the movie together!

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
A beloved tale that I have not read in years. I am excited to read this with my kiddos and then watch the new movie!

Fox in Sox by Dr. Seuss
How can anyone resist a good Dr. Seuss? This one is currently sitting on my son’s bookshelf!

Curtain by Agatha Christie
For the past four years, I have enjoyed titles by Agatha Christie especially those in the Hercule Poirot series. I am so excited to tackle this one!

 

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
Truth be told, I am absolutely terrified of mice. This said, I cannot resist the adorable stories that Numeroff creates!

 

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Well, I have had this title on my bookshelf since I watched Wicked in Chicago at the Oriental Theater. There is no time like now than to finally read it!

 

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
This is another title that I have wanted to read since it came out and have never given myself the opportunity to read it! Also, another adaptation that was made this past year to be able to enjoy after I read this!

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I am so intrigued by this premise of this title and cannot wait to sink in!

 

 

2025 is yet to be determined! I’m excited to find my next favorite read in this new year!

 

 

 


Have you read any of my titles? I would love to chat about them in the comments!

December 2024 Children’s Books Spotlight: Cookies!

Happy December! This month, I have been making young readers crave cookie books! Below are the titles that I have been reading during my outreach storytimes!


Who Ate all the Cookie Dough?
by Karen Beaumont, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

Kangaroo is whipping up a batch of cookies to discover that the cookie dough has been eaten? Who did it? On a mission to find the culprit, Kanga visits her animal friends.

I had so much fun with this book! Many children claimed that they were the ones to have eaten the cookie dough. So cute!

 

The Cookie Book of Colors
by Holly Fox

Dive into a world of color with this gorgeously, delicious board book. Each spread in this book showcases a different color with corresponding cookies decorated in that color!

This was fun to share with my younger groups. The content was engaging and allowed the children to shout colors as they saw them. It was fun to ask them what shapes they saw on each page.

Cookies! : An Interactive Recipe Book
by Lotta Nieminen

Learn how to bake cookies from scratch in this interactive and engaging board book. Children will have the ability to sift in flour, crack eggs, mix together ingredients, and so much more while learning about how to make a beloved chocolate chip cookie.

Be prepared to make cookies after reading this. Your little and you may have a sudden craving!

The Best Mouse Cookie
by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond

Mouse is having a craving for cookies and has gathered all of the ingredients! Baking seems pretty easy, if you don’t drop your eggs on the floor and accidentally take a mouse nap while they bake!

This adorable classic tale still measures up with young audiences and adds an element of suspense to your storytime!

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond

Mouse is given a chocolate chip cookie by a young boy leading into a series of requests leaving the young boy exhausted. Who would have thought that giving a mouse a cookie could lead to so many consequences and such a large mess?

If You Give A Mouse a Cookie is a classic tale that has stood up to the test of time. Definitely an oldie but a cookie – I mean goodie. Who wants a cookie?

The Duckling Gets a Cookie
by Mo Willems

Oh no, the adorable duckling has politely asked for a cookie and was rewarded for the use of excellent manners. In comes pigeon who is not at all pleased that the duckling received a cookie just by asking. The pigeon asks for things all of the time and never gets what he wants! WHY?!

Our cantankerous protagonist is at it again and is sure to make young readers giggle with glee.

The Cow Loves Cookies
by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Marcellus Hall

The farmer feeds the horse his hay, he feeds the chickens chicken feed each day. He gives the pigs their slop each morn, the geese enjoy sweet cracked corn. The cow, however, won’t eat that stuff, she prefers cookies!

This story, written in rhyme, is engaging and adorable for all young readers!

Cookie Truck: a Sugar Cookie Shapes Book
by Caroline Wright, illustrated by Alison Oliver

Gather your ingredients for the perfect sugar cookie. Roll out your dough and then cut out the shapes necessary for the perfect truck!

This adorable book introduces shapes and how they can be placed together to create objects!


Have you read any of these titles? I would love to hear about what you thought of them in the comments!