When do you do storytime at your house?

I know most families (ours included!) choose to read right before naptime or bedtime.  The kids are winding down and it’s a great opportunity to snuggle up with a story.

That’s usually when we do most of our reading.

BUT — at one time in our house, storytime also happened during breakfast.

It all started because the breakfast table was a little chaotic — kids reaching for things to do while they were eating or jumping off their chair to play with something.  Milk spills every morning! 

I needed to find a way to make mornings easier & get them to focus on eating — and sitting — so we could move on with our day.

So one morning, I innocently said “How about if I read a story while we eat?  As long as you sit and eat, I’ll keep reading“.

And that’s all she wrote folks! 

Those wiggly, active kids sat and listened and ate — and loved it!

Here’s how this worked for us plus a few of our favorite ‘breakfast’ books.

 

 

Reading to Kids at Breakfast

The benefits of reading aloud to kids of all ages is well-research — read aloud sessions help to build vocabulary, enhance comprehension and offers both academic and emotional benefits (even for older kids!). 

There’s nothing that says you can’t read while doing other things — sometimes it’s hard to fit in a dedicated storytime session each day.  So grabbing a book to read during breakfast (or lunch) could be the perfect solution! 

For us, storytime at the breakfast table was a novelty — it was a way to change things up, add something out-of-the-ordinary for the kids to enjoy.

Plus, the kids needed something to focus on other than just their food — the book offered them a way to engage while they ate. 

We had some wonderful discussions (I would ask questions about the story while I took a bite to eat) and it was a really great way to start the day together!

It’s always fun to match a book to the occasion so here’s a list of some of our favorite ‘breakfast-themed’ reads along with their affiliate links so you can learn more about each book. 

 

Pancakes, Pancakes! is the story of Jack, a boy who wants pancakes for breakfast.  But his mother tells him that he must gather all the ingredients in order for her to make them.  Beautiful illustrations lend to this wonderful story of independence andhelpfullness.

 

     

Two of our all-time favorite books about morning meals!  If You Give a Pig a Pancake follows a pig and boy on one crazy circle story that leads us away from and then back to the breakfast table.  If you’re more of a pastry fan, than If You Give a Moose a Muffin will bring a few giggles as you enjoy a favorite baked good.

 

Yum Yung lives in Korea and decides he wants a New York style bagel.  He sends off a message to ‘order’ a bagel delivery and seeks out some friends to help him. 

Where on Earth Is My Bagel? takes us on a fun trip around the world in search of a favorite breakfast.  I love the underlying geographic details in the story as kids begin to learn that eating breakfast is very different across the globe.

 

Always a classic for breakfast, Green Eggs and Ham is a comical look at what can happen when Sam tries to convince us to try green eggs and ham.  Kids will laugh along with all the crazy rhymes as they enjoy their own meal.

 

It seems that everyone who walks into the diner this morning would like Two eggs, please.  But they never want them the same way — some want them scrambled, some want them over easy — how many ways are there to eat eggs?? 

Kids will enjoy learning about how others might eat their eggs (and maybe it just might encourage them to try them a new way 😉

 

Enjoy the humorous illustrations in this fun tale of Pancakes for Breakfast .  This wordless picture book allows readers to follow along in the pancake-making process (the good and not-so-good) as a funny little woman decides to make pancakes for breakfast.  Kids will really enjoy the pictures & this is a great way to get them involved in telling the story!

 

We love Max!  In Max’s Breakfast , Ruby tries everything to get Max to eat his eggs but Max tries everything to avoid eating breakfast – he hides them under a napkin, crawls under the table — but Ruby is determined to get his to try his eggs. 

Kids will laugh at Max’s tricks (and may even recognize a few of their own) as they enjoy the great illustrations & story.

 

Mama Panya’s Pancakes is all about sharing and having breakfast for dinner (we love this at our house).  Mama is planning to make pancakes for dinner — and Adika gets so excited that he invites everyone over for dinner. 

But when Mama finds out, she’s not sure that they will have enought to feed everyone.  A heart-warming story about the power of giving, even when you’re not sure if you have enough.  

 

If you’ve ever read a Curious George book, you’ll know to expect mischief!  In Curious George Makes Pancakes , George and the Man with the Yellow Hat attend the pancake breakfast fundraiser at the children’s hospital.  When the cook steps away, George jumps in to flip flapjacks!

 

What books would you read with breakfast? 

Be sure to let us know your favorites in the comments!

 

 

MORE THEMED BOOK LISTS

11 Books for Kids Who Want to Start a Club

Around the World in 30 Books – A Trip Across the Globe