These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things #2

Nancy Tillman

Nancy Tillman is a wonderful author and illustrator; we have 4 of her kids books and I love all of them - even if they do make me cry! The first one I purchased from Amazon when I saw it on offer and noticed the amazing reviews, the others soon followed when I realised how special they are! These are the titles we own:

1.  Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You, a truly perfect book which focuses on the unconditional love between a parent and child. I have read a fair amount about attachment parenting and the positive impact that knowing you are loved and supported has on a developing brain and this book is almost an instruction manual in how to let your children know that you will love them no matter what - I can almost recite it from heart! 
2. On The Night You Were Born, this one focuses on how special and unique you are - "You are the one and only ever you". It is probably my least favorite of the ones we have, we still read it often at it is great but not quite on the same level as Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You.
3. It's Time To Sleep My Love, is written by Eric Metaxas and illustrated by Nancy Tillman. The text is a beautiful poem that makes you read it in a relaxing rhythm- just right for bed time: "You'd better close your eyelids quick, so you can dream my love my love, so you can dream my love". 
4. The Spirit Of Christmas, I bought this book as a gift for Casper last year- our first Christmas without my Nan and it completely broke my heart "...the thing that was missing from Christmas was you...". It is written from the point of view of someone who can't feel Christmassy even though there are decorations and carols, then they realise that it isn't things that make Christmas it is the people that we love.
5. The Crown On Your Head, I have just purchased this one today and can't wait to read it! 

There are many reason why I love Nancy Tillman's books; the first has to be the stunning illustrations- they are so intricate and detailed, Casper loves looking at them and spots something new every time, some even have text hidden in them which I didn't spot the first few times of reading. Secondly the text is always just perfect, gentle rhythms which are made to be read aloud at bedtime and messages which are sentimental enough to make you cry but not sickly sweet (even for cynical old me)- my Mum actually refuses to read them because they always make her tear up! Also the hardback format is great for toddlers that think that being gentle is only throwing things halfway down the stairs instead of right to the bottom...

We read three books before bed every night and these books get chosen often, I recommend them to anyone who will listen and often buy them as gifts. I could go on about them all night but I will resist and just say that you definitely won't regret purchasing any of these books- this is what happens: