Around the time my first baby was due, a new flood of baby books were created by a company called BabyLit. They were taking classic books like Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, The Jungle Book, and more and creating board books out of them. They looked so cute, I wanted to get them all. I started slowly collecting the books, which were cute, but also gave me the sense that I was being a good mom by exposing my child to great literature from the beginning. So yes their marketing got me.

As I collected more and more books I realized that I enjoyed some books much much more than others. So today I want to share with you my top 8 favorite BabyLit Books. 

Each Babylit book is a primer to something we typically teach children early on. I think this stack has a wide variety of primers.

Truth be told, I don't have every Babylit Book. Although they are great, I'm not sure if anyone needs the whole collection. But if you are looking to get some to add to your library, I would recommend the following.

1 | All Aboard - I have two of these books, All Aboard National Parks - A Wildlife Primer and All Aboard New York - A City Primer. I have also read through All Aboard Washington D.C. I really like these books. It is basically a train ride through whatever place the book is about. They are fun to read an have great illustrations. These are probably my favorite books from the BabyLit collection.

2 | The Secret Garden - A Flowers Primer - The Secret Garden is a beautiful flowers primer. The illustrations are fun and colorful. One thing I love about this book is how simple it is. Each page highlights a different flower and has a simple quote from the secret garden book. As a lover of all flowers, I love teaching my daughters about different flowers, and I guess this is the perfect way to start early.

3 | The Jungle Book - An Animals Primer - Like The Secret Garden, one of my favorite parts of this book is how absolutely simple it is. Each page highlights a different animal and has a simple quote from the book. I love the illustrations of this book, and I find I enjoy reading through this book.

4 | Emma - An Emotions Primer - This book makes me happy because it makes my girls happy. Each page is a picture of a different character and an emotion they are feeling. It is fun to read because you can read it with the expression of the emotion on the page. It is bright and colorful and my kids seems to especially enjoy this one.

5 | Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles - A Sounds Primer - This book basically just has a variety of sounds in it. I like this book because I like reading it, I like making the different sounds. I think it is an interesting book for children because of the emphasis on sounds instead of just words. It is kind of fun!

6 | Sense & Sensibility - An Opposites Primer - This book is a simple way to explore opposites. I love the illustrations and femininity of this book. I love that it makes sense to me. I love that it explores a few opposites that are unique to the book Sense and Sensibility (single & married). It is just a lovely one all around.

7 | Wuthering Heights - A Weather Primer - I don't have many weather books for my children but I think this is a good one. What I really love about this book is that the scene is exactly the same on each page, a large house and a tree, but the weather makes the scene look drastically different. It is neat to see just how much the weather changes our environment.

8 | Pride & Prejudice - A Counting Primer - There are a few counting primers, but I think this one is my favorite. I do love Pride and Prejudice though, so I may be biased. My favorite page is the 4 marriage proposals which includes two marriage proposals from Darcy to Elizabeth. I think it is a fun one to have in our collection.

As I was writing through some of these, I realized that a common theme was that I loved the books that made sense to me. I think some of the books I own are just a bit of a stretch for me, or I find it hard to make the connection between the concept (like colors or counting) being highlighted and the illustrations. But each of these books does a good job.

A few of the books that I don't have yet but would love to get include Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, and A Midsummer's Night Dream. Have you read any of these? Would you recommend them? Let me know what your favorite Baby Lit Books are in the comments below!

Mallory

If you love this book list, I'm sure you would love my Ultimate Children's Book List filled with my favorite board books, picture books, first chapter books & holiday books!

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We don’t make sushi very often, but when we do I always wonder why we don’t make it more often. It is fairly simple to compile and tasty. We like to serve this sushi with vegan spring rolls for a more satisfying meal.

Dipping these sushi rolls in some soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos really brings it all together for me. We all love coconut aminos the most. They are pretty easy to find at health food stores or online. I even see them popping up more often in grocery stores. They can be a little pricey though, so when we go to Trader Joe’s we always stock up since they are reasonably priced there.

Have you ever made sushi at home? Give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Sushi

1 pkg. Sushi Nori (Roasted Seaweed)

2 Cups Short Grain Brown Rice

2 T. White or Rice Vinegar

2 T. Coconut Sugar

VEGGIES

Bell Pepper, thinly sliced

Cucumber, julienned

Carrots, julienned

Sprouts

Avocado

Soy Sauce, Coconut Aminos, or Tamari for Dipping

1. Cook the rice in a rice cooker or on a stove according to package instructions. Mix the vinegar and coconut sugar together until the sugar dissolves.

2. While the rice cooks, thinly slice or julienne the vegetables. 

3. When the rice is finished cooking, add the vinegar-sugar mixture to the rice and stir to combine.

4. Assemble the sushi. Take one sheet of nori and fill it with a thin layer of rice. Start from the bottom leaving about 1/3 of the nori uncovered.  Add vegetables and avocado at the bottom of the nori roll. Roll the sheet carefully from bottom to top. Wet the top with a bit of water to seal the roll.

5. Allow to sit for a few minutes to allow the roll to seal, then cut the sushi into 1” rounds. 

6. Enjoy these dipped in soy sauce, coconut aminos, or tamari.

If you are looking for more delicious plant-based meals to enjoy, I'm sure you will love my E-books Earth Fed Family and Whole Plant Foods. Each cookbook is filled with healthy whole-food, plant-based, oil-free and vegan recipes that our family loves.