Our families love to read and therefore consider “Read Across America Day” a worthwhile holiday.  So, like any other holiday, we wanted to make something fun and yummy to eat.

This cake in honor of the Lorax was super easy and my son, Grant (The Lorax is his FAVORITE book!) said it was perfect!!I made a  9″ round layer cake and frosted it with pale green frosting.  I used Teddy Grahams for the brown barbaloots.  For the Lorax himself, well I really out did myself.  Just kidding.  He is nothing more than computer clip art printed on cardstock, cut out, glued to a popsicle stick and stuck into the cake.  Now the famed truffula trees were fun.  I used black and white striped paper straws and haphazardly wrapped cotton candy around the tops and stuck them in the cake.

Shelves, piles and even baskets of books like this one exist in just about every room in each of our houses. Our motto: “If there are books, they will read.”

For the Mommies:

By now, you know that we are HUGE fans of reading.  We definitely read our fair share of children’s books.  We are members of a book club, but don’t always stay on schedule with that!  But we don’t get down on ourselves, and neither should you.  Read what you can, when you can.  A magazine article counts as reading, our blog counts as reading, shoot…even a movie with subtitles counts as reading!  But if, by chance, you want to crack open a new novel, here are a few suggestions.  So go be a reader!

• Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth
• And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
• The Storyteller by Jodi Piccoult
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Our book bucket list:

• Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
• The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
• South of Broad by Pat Conroy
• Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

For the Kiddos:

We LOVE reading with our kids.  But as they get older and become more independent readers, that doesn’t happen as much.  Don’t let them fool you.  They still love for you to read to them.  Holly’s fondest memory of our most recent Christmas break was when, unsolicited, all of her children (even the big ones) climbed into her bed to hear her read The Polar Express aloud.  This week, as our county celebrates the life of Dr. Seuss, we will both be volunteering as guest readers in all of our children’s classrooms.  Even big kids need a good story book every now and then.

Here’s a few of our favorite read-aloud titles for all ages.

• Born to Read by Judy Sierra
• Mr. Peabody’s Apples by Madonna
• Somebody and the Three Blairs by Marilyn Tolhurst
• My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston
• The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
• Brothers at Bat by Audrey Vernick
• Officer Buckle and Gloria Peggy Rathmann
• How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long
• Roasted Peanuts by Tim Egan
• The Giant Hug by Sandra Horning
• Mrs. Toggle’s Zipper by Robin Pulver
• The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli

Some of these books are funny, some are feel-good, and some teach a lesson.  But they are all good for all ages, even yours!