CLICK ON THIS IMAGE and follow this board to find great book lists for your kids!
Last night was bittersweet. We finished The Cricket in Times Square. It really is true. Finishing a good book is like losing a best friend.
This was a special book. It was one of the few that had the boys asking for more each time. When we sat down yesterday to read, we had 4 chapters till the end. My plan was to read 2, because of the time. When I finished reading, the boys were torn. They wanted to keep going and see how this touching story of friendship would end but didn’t want to end their journey in the book.
When I started the last chapter, they braced themselves and got closer. They wanted to hold on to every word, wanting to make the last few moments with their friends, Chester and Tucker, last as long as possible.
The story was simple but the lessons in it will stay with all of us for years. The Cricket in Times Square is a timeless book about friendship.
We learned from Mario how to love a friend selflessly. Chester will be an object lesson for years because of his honesty and integrity. Tucker mouse will always be remembered as the character who had the boys laughing so hard, one of them rolled off my bed!
You do lose a friend when you finish reading a good book. But the void it leaves behind will have you looking for your next “best friend”!
One of my favorite sources for books that are timeless, exciting and memorable is Pinterest. I have a board with hundreds of book titles!
Click the image above and follow this Pinterest board. Use it in your search of your next “best friend”!
We are actually reading this book with our oldest son!!! I have enjoyed it greatly and we also found the cassette for the smallers to listen to!! Wonderful book I would agree!!
I have never heard of this book.. I’m going to have to look for it!
We love to read, never a lack of books in this house!
I have a hard time with books, when I finish them it is certainly like losing a best friend.
Kayla, I am going to have to get the cassette for my 6-year-old. I lost him most of the time. He loved the pictures, but I think it was too long for him.
Monica, one of my goals is for my kids to take this love of reading with them for a lifetime! Share your favorites!
Thanks for the link. Somehow when we get to the library without a list I somehow have such a hard time finding good books.
Thanks for this. Now I really need to get a pinterest account!
There’s so much wonderful stuff there. I’ve gotten most of the books on our numerous booklists and used our library for the rest. I’ve held off on ebooks till the kids were older because of our concerns with technology “over-use” but now we started using them. My children love to read and we have piles of books everywhere so that they can read anytime they want to. And reading to them at night is the sweetest way to end our day. Thanks again for this.
@cmjenniferm: It is so difficult to go to the library without a list. I feel like I am picking books randomly, which for a 9-year-old can be dangerous
I love reading to them at night, too, but sometimes I am too tired 
@My Tropical Home: ebooks are so great! Both for me and the kids! But I share your concern…I feel that with the ebooks, some online/electronic curriculum we use, I have found it difficult to minimize screen time :/ but maybe this is just a sign of the time