Reading is a great way for parents to connect with their children. It also serves as learning time. The most active period of brain development is between birth and 3 years of age so even for the littlest ones, who can’t yet speak or read for that matter, reading is important.

Are your kids ready to read? Reading aloud to them can help! Click here for tips from the AAP on how to help your child get started.

The best books have story plots that make parents fall in love, too. (We love children’s books so much that we even decorated 411 Pediatrics using themes from our favorites.)

Because it is the time of year for lists, I thought I’d share my ALL TIME five favorites and two very close honorable mentions.

1. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
2. Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
3. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
4. KnuffleBunny by Mo Willems
5. Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy E. Shaw and Margot Apple

Honorable mentions (These make me cry!)

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
• The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco and Gennady Spirin

What are your favorites? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter (@411Pediatrics).

Ari Brown, MD