Great Middle Grade Reads discussion

Hello! I am halfway through my pregnancy with my first baby, and I plan to start listening to audio books with my baby. I'd love suggestions for what to read with my little one. What are your favorite MG reads?

Well, until the kids were several months old, I just read aloud whatever I was reading for myself (I read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to my oldest nephew. In Middle English). Later, when the child is starting to pay attention, I recommend books with nice sounds--rhyme an rhythm over content. When they start to talk, really simple books make sense, though I never stopped reading longer and more interesting picture books.

Much later, in general, you can read aloud from stuff well above what the child can read his/her self.

I also recommend that you do the reading yourself as often as possible, both for the sake of letting the baby hear your voice, and later because you can talk about what you are reading, interact with the child, and generally make it a more complete experience than just listening to a recorded book.

Congrats Hillary...babies are so amazing!
I did what Rebecca did, but I included in the mix straight up knowledge books. Things that show patterns and categories -the way the world works--animals, foods, things in the kitchen, things you wear, colors, numbers, shapes. My girls often selected those books first.
The most important aspect of reading I think, is interacting with the text. By interacting you are helping to develop a love for story/knowledge and you are connecting to the wider world and to their own lives. I think rituals are important with reading interactions too. We read every night before bed. The books changed over time as did the discussions. But my girls and I read together up until their teen years. Now we have conversations about topics we hear about in the real world, not only books.

Thank you so much for the feedback!

Rebecca wrote: "Well, until the kids were several months old, I just read aloud whatever I was reading for myself (I read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to my oldest nephew. In Middle English). Later, when the ch..."

Thank you! We're definitely excited. I think I'll probably just read out loud whatever I'm reading for now, and my husband will read his sports articles out loud. I'm already convinced this baby is a huge sports fan anyway, because he/she kicks like crazy whenever we're watching a game! :-)

Cindy wrote: "Congrats Hillary...babies are so amazing!
I did what Rebecca did, but I included in the mix straight up knowledge books. Things that show patterns and categories -the way the world works--animals, ..."

Cindy wrote: "Congrats Hillary...babies are so amazing!
I did what Rebecca did, but I included in the mix straight up knowledge books. Things that show patterns and categories -the way the world works--animals, ..."

Yes, patterns and things are good--there are some simple pattern books that are meant for very young babies, and pictures of animals and things are always fun.