Has your toddler or preschooler outgrown the books in their library? Once your little one is 5 years old, they’re considered an early reader. This booklist hopes to inspire Little Daydreamers from ages 5-7 with big ideas and hopes to never give up. While some books on our list focus on creativity, we aim to share books that also grow their social-emotional abilities. We believe reading at any age is a fantastic way to open their minds to new ideas. The words on a page can help grow a little one’s imagination and we hope that these 5 books here do just that for your Little Daydreamer.
The Most Magnificent Idea by Ashley Spires
A sequel to her book, The Most Magnificent Thing, Ashley Spires continues her story about a girl and her best friend and trusted furry companion. The girl always full of ideas wakes up one day feeling lost because she has no ideas. After keeping herself busy and trying out new things, she sits down and decides that she needs an idea but not just any idea… a magnificent idea! She tries to find this idea but struggles and is filled with sadness. What happens if she never has an idea again? Will she ever have a magnificent idea?
Brave Every Day by Trudy Ludwig
Trudy writes about Camilla, who worries A LOT, in a book focused on social-emotional learning. One day, Camilla goes on a field trip to the aquarium and her worries start to overwhelm her. But she sees her classmate worry too, chooses courage, and helps her classmates. This book addresses fears around “What ifs”, “I can’t”, and “I’m scared”. It encourages young readers to choose courage and face their fears, even if it’s just a little every day.
Meena's Mindful Moment by Tina Athaide
It’s time for Meena to visit her Dada (grandpa). But wherever she goes, so does her hurly-burly hullabaloo, an imaginary friend that is always with her. When they’re together, they never run out of energy and it’s just so hard to stay calm! Once she gets to her Dada’s village, Meena and her hurly-burly hullabaloo run around and cartwheel around the village making A LOT of noise. She finds out from her Dada that he has a hurly-burly hullabaloo too because life is just too exciting! Dada with his gentle and calming presence teaches Meena how to tame her hurly-burly hullabaloo with deep breaths and meditative poses. This book is such a gem and a great introduction to mindfulness!
When Langston Dances by Kaija Langley
A beautiful book about a boy overcoming gender stereotypes, this book is about Langston who loves basketball but discovers a love for dance - particularly ballet. He dreams of spinning, leaping, and twirling and asks his mom if she thinks he can do the same. His mom tells him, “you can do whatever you set your mind to.” After practicing really hard, Langston feels ready and heads to dance school. On his way, he meets another boy who tells him, “boys don’t dance”. That’s when he starts to worry. With the encouragement of his mom and his dance teacher, he gets his first pair of dance shoes and dances with pride.
Hold That Thought by Bree Galbraith
This is a thoughtful and powerful story about how an idea can grow and connect people - even bullies. One night, Finn wakes up with an idea! Finn shares this idea with friends who add more ideas and help it grow into something bigger. But when a bully comes and puts Finn’s idea down, Finn starts to doubt it. Can Finn still find excitement in this big idea?
Books, Books, Books!
With these books, we hope to inspire you and your Little Daydreamer to share ideas, thoughts, and big feelings. As we all know, Little Daydreamers have BIG imaginations that have no boundaries. And this is a great opportunity to feed their imaginations with different stories.
Do you have a book recommendation for early readers? Let us know!
