Self-love and confidence does not come naturally or easily to me. I’ve actually struggled with it a lot growing up! In junior high I remember crying to my mom because I was part of the IBTC and thought that meant I wasn’t good enough (now after going through nursing 2 kids, I long for my A cup size!). Attending a predominantly white private school also left me feeling insecure. Fast forward to college when I got my first “C” on a quiz, my self-love took a major blow. I’m slowly recovering for a life of attaching my worth to what I accomplish, how I look, and blind compliance to rules, to what really matters–my unique thoughts/contributions, my heart and finding confidence in flaws and failures.

Knowing how low self-confidence and self-worth have long term effects, I am proactive of using every chance I get to empower my kids and fill them with so much confidence and self-love. I wanted to share some of the book that I love to read to my kids to plant those seeds and teach self-love and confidence from an early age. How different do you think our world would be if people truly loved themselves?

Book List

I’m continually discovering new books on this topic, so this book list contains some of our current and all-time favorites.

Get links to books here!

1. I Like Myself by Karen Beaumont. // This book teaches kids to like themselves just the way they are—fast, slow, smelly breathe, messy hair. However you look or feel is deserving of love. I’ve been reading this book to my son his entire life and it’s still one of our favorites!

2. Go Get `Em Tiger by Sabrina Moyle. // This book is filled with enthusiasm and amazing illustrations following a tiger as he reaches various milestones. Since my kid’s are animal lovers, this seems like a great one to add to our home library.

3. I Believe I Can by Grace Byers. // One thing I want my kids to wholeheartedly believe is that they can do anything which is why I love this book! The theme of self-confidence is on every page.

4. A Boy Like You & A Girl Like You by Frank Murphy. // I love reading this empowering book to my son and daughter. It reminds them how unique and special they are and their important role in the world.

5. Dear Boy & Dear Girl by Paris Rosenthal + Jason Rosenthal // These books were immediately favorites after reading them. The way they celebrate innate differences and make kids feel big while developing emotional intelligence.

6. Be You by Peter H. Reynold. // What an empowering book! It tell kids that they can just they way they are and it’s something to be celebrated! I love the message that being themselves is more than enough!

7. You Matter by Christian Robinson. // Not only is the artwork really great in this book, the message is amazing. It shares that regardless of circumstances, looks, feelings, size, etc. everybody truly matters. I read this book over and over to my kids.

8. Remarkably You by Pat Zietlow Miller. // This book is a reminder that the things that make you you, also give you a remarkable uniqueness that has never existed before. A beautiful message for kids and adults.

Empower Greatness

I never want my kids to question their worth. I want to empower greatness in them so they believe they are worth unconditional love, respect, kindness and appreciation. It’s never too early to teach our kids self-love and confidence.

If you’re looking for additional books for your kids, we also made a post sharing 20 books on gratitude and thankfulness. Check out the post, here.

Thanks so much for reading! Happy week! —Melissa

Click on image below to download PDF of booklist.

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The post 8 Books to Teach Self-Love and Confidence in Kids! appeared first on sunkissed & grateful.

20 Books to Celebrate Valentine’s Day//Book Descriptions and Links

1. Mirabel’s Missing Valentines by Janet Lawler // When I saw the illustrations in this book I knew it was coming home with me! I am such a sucker for cute illustrations! This book is a super sweet story about a timid mouse, Maribel, who loses her valentines cards causing her to panic! She ends up stepping outside her comfort zone and brightening the days of those who find them! It’s a super sweet book!
2. In My Heart by Jo Witek // This is such a great book to build emotional intelligence in kids! We love this book so much and my daughter has memorized so much of it! Each page has a different emotion, ranging from happy and brave to sad or silly. It helps children understand how they feel and what emotions they deal with! Plus the little cut-out heart is so cute!
3. Celebrating Kisses by Amy Gibson // Love the bold graphics in this book and the sweet message that a kiss (love) can travel anywhere! It takes you all around the United States and is just a sweet book to read to celebrate Valentine’s Day!
4. Wherever you Go by Pat Zietlow Miller // I actually received this book as a gift at my baby shower and the story is so cute. It’s a book about the possibilities and adventures that are out there in the world. But the message is that the road will always lead you home again, like a parent’s love! I can’t help but get teary-eyed thinking of when the girls grow up and embark on their own adventures!
5. Love by Matt de la Pena // I recommend this book for a slightly older child. I read it with my 3.5 year old and it was a great conversation starter for us to talk about some different topics. The book is about finding love all around you, no matter who you are and what you look like. It also talks about understanding that sometimes loved ones can do wrong and that sometimes it’s hard to see the love in the world. You are probably thinking that’s a little dark right? But I think it is important to show that love isn’t always flowers and perfection, but that it is real and we can still choose to love in different situations. It’s also a super diverse book showing different racial, ethnic, gender, religious, and socioeconomic diversity.
6. Llama Llama, I Love You by Anna Dewdney // This is the perfect book for little ones. It’s short, sweet and has the ever lovable character, Llama Llama! //
7. Bunny Roo, I Love You by Melissa Marr // Love this book! It’s about a mom who reassures her baby and young children that they will always love them and keep them safe! It’s a classic, heart-warming family favorite in our house!
8. Love, Mama by Jeanette Bradley // This is a great board book for little ones! It’s about a mama and her baby penguin and her endless love for her child! It stretches across the wide ocean, through day and night and even when she and her child are apart! It’s short and sweet!
9. Tiny T. Rex and the Perfect Valentine by Jonathan Stutzman // Another cute board book for kids ages 2-4! It follows Tiny T. Rex and his friend as they try to make the perfect valentines! It’s a great story to teach children about overcoming obstacles and perseverance! It also has the cutest artwork!
10. Love Can Come in Many Ways by Terry Pierce // This book is an interactive lift the flap book all about how different creatures all over the world snuggle, love and reaffirm their family bonds. My daughters love animals and lift the flap books so it’s a fun book to add to our collection!
11. The Day it Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond // Such a sweet story about a little girl who collects hearts that rained down from the sky and turns them into Valentines for her friends. It is short and sweet, but a great book to read and then do a craft after! Here’s a fun craft to do after reading this book!
12. I Am Enough by Grace Byers // I love this book for many reasons! Valentines is a great day for both romantic love and friendship love, but it’s also super important to practice self-love! This book helps youth with positive self image while teaching them how to embrace people who are different.
13. Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal // This book is short and sweet but my daughters love to point out things and shout out the words!
14. Sealed with a Kiss by Beth Ferry // My daughter spotted this book when we were at Target and asked to read it while in the cart! She loved the images so I decided to bring it home. It ended up being the cutest little story that made her laugh so much!
15. The Invisible String by Patrice Karst // Okay this book is a bit of a tearjerker! It’s about love, but it is also a great tool for helping kids understand numerous concepts including separation anxiety, loss, and grief. I read it with my daughter when she kept asking me if I would die one day and it was such a great tool to talk to her about our everlasting love! Basically, a mother tells her kids that they are connected by an invisible string and she answers with ” An Invisible String made of love. Even though you can’t see it with your eyes, you can feel it deep in your heart, and know that you are always connected to the ones you love” Are you crying?
16. Happy Love Day, Daniel Tiger by Becky Friedman // Who doesn’t love Daniel Tiger? It sure is a favorite in our house! This is another super sweet book that is interactive with lift the flaps! Follow Daniel Tiger and his friends around the Neighborhood of Make Believe to see them shower each other with love!
17. This is Not a Valentine by Carter Higgins // Love this book! It’s a book for those who don’t love the mushiness of Valentine’s Day. It’s not about the glitter or heart shaped cards, but rather the little ways people show they care! Cuuuuute!!
18. The Love Letter by Anika Aldamuy Denise // Obsessed!! We love this book! Filled with the cutest illustrations and an adorable message, it follows three best friends, Hedgehog, Bunny, and Squirrel who each find a letter and the chain of events that transpire after! It is a heartwarming story about friendship!
19. Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli // Great book to teach empathy to kids and also the importance of reaching out to people who might be lonely or overlooked. I love the transformation that takes place in lonely Mr. Hatch and the lesson that being a part of a community can make a difference!
20. Lola Dutch, I Love You So Much by Kenneth Wright // We love Lola Dutch books and this one does not disappoint! The ever lovable Lola Dutch knows that when it comes to showing friendship and appreciation, there’s no such thing as too much. She’s over the top in the best possible way!

Read Along With Us Using the Hashtag #readwithSG

We want to challenge you to follow along with us and complete this reading list challenge! Download the PDF below, (20 Books to Celebrate Valentine’s Day) share your progress and tag us in the hashtag, #readwithSG. You don’t have to purchase all of the books if you don’t want. Rent them from a library, share with a friend, or see if there is an audio version on Spotify! If you want to support a local bookstore and shop small, you can shop via Powell’s or a local family owned San Diego bookstore, Warwick’s.

You can download the PDF version here!!

We hope these books help celebrate Valentine’s Day with your family and bring you lots of warm fuzzies and magical memories!

Thank you for following along!

xoxoxox,

Kari

P.S. Just a disclaimer, if you click on the links above and purchase within 24 hours, we do make a small amount of commission! Just wanted to be totally transparent! xoxox

The post 20 Books to Celebrate Valentine’s Day: Celebrating Friendship, Love and Kindness appeared first on sunkissed & grateful.

We cannot even believe that it is Christmas time already! This year has been a weird mixture of time moving really slowly, but at the same time passing by so quickly. It is a bit insane!

We really loved creating a book checklist for Thanksgiving (click here to see Thanksgiving checklist) meant to inspire feelings of gratitude and thankfulness, so we decided to make one for Christmas time as well! We searched high and low through our collections to find 20 Books to Get Your Child in the Holiday Spirit! These are some our favorite books to read during the holiday season and some new ones we added to our collection too! We hope you enjoy reading them and that they help get you and your child into the holiday spirit!

20 Holiday Books to get Your Child in the Holiday Spirit//Book Descriptions and Links

1. Pick a Pine Tree by Patricia Toht // We love this book! It’s written by the same author who wrote Pick a Pumpkin and it is so cute! The illustrations are beautiful and it’s a book we have cherished during the holiday season! It talks about all of the holiday traditions people do with family and friends and we hope it gets your child in the holiday spirit like it does for ours!
2. Everybody’s Tree by Barbara Joose // This book just came out this year and I am predicting it will become a classic. It’s a beautiful story about a little boy who planted a small sapling, watching it grow his whole life into a beautiful evergreen. But after many years, the tree gets older and needs to be cut down. It gets chosen as the city Christmas Tree and enjoys one last hurrah as everybody’s Christmas tree! I’m pretty sure it will make you cry!
3. Little Blue Truck’s Christmas by Alice Schertle // This is a great book for younger kids! Little Blue Truck delivers Christmas trees to the different animals and your child can help count each green tree from one to five and back again!
4. I Got the Christmas Spirit by Connie Schofield-Morrison // We found this book at the library last year and loved it. It follows a mother daughter duo as they prepare for the holiday season. The main message is that holiday’s aren’t just about receiving, but about giving too! My daughter loved the way the words rhymed together and it really captured her attention.
5. Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner // The illustrations in this book are so cute. You can see little pictures of the snowmen enjoying life while we sleep! It’s a cute and fun read! There are also hidden characters on each page that my daughter loved to find!
6. The Tree That’s Meant to Be by Yuval Zommer // I love this book for its super sweet message. It talks about celebrating our differences, sticking by our friends and the true meaning of Christmas. It’s a classic feel good Holiday book!
7. The Snowman Shuffle by Christianne Jones // My daughter loves this book and honestly, so do I. It’s playful and interactive and it encourages movement and dancing. We love how it rhymes and keeps us all entertained. My younger daughter really loves this book right now!
8. Snow Sisters by Kerri Kokias // I might be biased since I have two daughter’s but this is one of my favorite books. We rented it from the library and loved it so much I purchased it afterwards. It’s a short and sweet story about two sisters who enjoy their snow day in their own unique ways, apart but then together. It’s just beautifully illustrated, which is always a big win in my book!
9. The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen // This is such a sweet story about a friendship between a little girl and a lost reindeer! It’s cute, has beautiful illustrations and has little interactive die cuts that make it fun and interactive for kids!
10. S is for Santa by Greg Paprocki // We have a ton of these books. It basically just has an illustration for every letter of the alphabet. I use it to talk to my daughter’s about the images and they make up little stories! We also use them during our homeschooling adventures!
11. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg // This is a Classic in our house! We read it every year and it’s just tradition! It’s a beautiful story about a little boy who is starting to not believe in Santa and Christmas and his journey on the Polar Express! In the end, he finds his Christmas Spirit and keeps it forever!
12. Merry Christmas, Little Elliot by Mike Curato // We love Elliot and Mouse books in our house! They always have such great messages. In this story, Little Elliot the elephant isn’t quite sure what Christmas spirit is, but he suspects he doesn’t have it. Nothing really helps, until a letter for Santa gets blown his way into Elliot and Mouse’s path. The two friends discover what Christmas is all about―and make a new friend, too. Such a cute story!
13. Llama Llama Jingle Bells by Anna Dewdney // This is the perfect book for younger kids! It’s short, simple and sweet! Little Llama and his friends give gifts to each other, sing songs and decorate cookies!
14. Olive, the Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh // We love this story! It’s about a little dog named Olive who thinks she is a reindeer and goes off to the North Pole to help Santa and the reindeer at Christmas. Olive has quite an experience with Santa and the reindeer and ends up saving Christmas! 
15. Dasher by Matt Tavares // This is wonderful story explaining how the reindeer came to pull Santa’s sleigh. I think it’s a prequel to Rudolph so it’s a great book to read before you read that! It also has such beautiful illustrations!
16. When Posey Peeked at Christmas by Ann Dixon // My older daughter loved this book last year! It’s about a little mouse named Posey who loves Christmas, especially the presents! One afternoon, when she’s alone, Posey picks up a present and lifts the wrapping just a little and peeks! On Christmas, while all of her siblings are happy and surprised, she is sad because she ruined the surprise of it all. It’s a great book that teaches a lesson for kids with a cute little twist at the end.
17. The Spirit of Christmas by Nancy Tillman // The message of this book is super sweet. It talks about how you can have all the fancy decorations, elaborate feasts, pretty presents and everything else, but what really matters is the love that makes angels sing!
18. The Great Spruce by John Duvall // This is a cute story with a little environmental twist. The little boy is attached to a tree his grandfather planted years ago and they decorate it together every year. One year, a nearby city wants to use it in their Christmas celebration and Alec, the little boy, protests and says it can only be borrowed. They borrow it, return it and Alec replants it in his yard. The town then grows a sapling so they can have a tree of their own. The author encourages readers to go back to the ancient practice of decorating a live tree, instead of cutting one down.
19. Snow Globe Wishes by Erin Dealey // This is such a sweet book about community and sharing. It’s a story about people enjoying a little respite from their everyday hustle and bustle to have fun in the snow. A great reminder to slow down and enjoy life!
20. The Wish Tree by Kyo Maclear // My girls love this book. It has adorable illustrations and a sweet little story, with the added bonus of having some real life facts about animals in the winter. It’s a perfect addition to your holiday book collection!

Read Along With Us Using the Hashtag #readwithSG

We want to challenge you to follow along with us and complete this reading list challenge! Download the PDF below, share your progress and tag us in the hashtag, #readwithSG. You don’t have to purchase all of the books if you don’t want. Rent them from a library, share with a friend, or see if there is an audio version on Spotify! If you want to support a local bookstore and shop small, you can shop via Powell’s or a local family owned San Diego bookstore, Warwick’s.

We hope that these books help get your child in the holiday spirit! It’s been such a crazy year so it’s nice to focus on a holiday and all the fun it brings!!

Thank you for following along!

xoxoxox,

Kari

P.S. Just a disclaimer, if you click on the links above and purchase within 24 hours, we do make a small amount of commission! Just wanted to be totally transparent! xoxox

The post 20 Books to Get Your Child in the Holiday Spirit appeared first on sunkissed & grateful.

We love fall! We love books! And so it only made sense for us to create a fall-inspired book list to help inspire feelings of gratitude and thankfulness. While these books are geared towards children, they definitely help remind adults to practice gratitude and thankfulness as well!

Reading with your children is such a game changer! Not only does it give you tons of quality time with them, but it helps in so many other ways.

Reading to your children can

• increase imagination and creativity
• prepare them for academic success
• increase vocabulary
• instill a love for reading
• develop empathy
• increase concentration skills
• further develop a bond between you and your child!

Gratitude and Thankfulness Books//

1. Apple Cake: A Gratitude by Dawn Casey // We are a sucker for cute illustrations and this book has the cutest little pictures in it and encourages children to practice gratitude and thankfulness. It’s the perfect book for November and Thanksgiving.
2. When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L.B. Deenihan and Lorraine Rocha // My daughter loves this book and right away (at 4 years old) she understood the lesson of the story, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
3. If I Had a Little Dream by Nina Laden // This book is such a great reminder to be grateful for all of the little things in our lives. The artwork is super cute too!
4. My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith // We love this book for many reasons. It showcases different family and cultural traditions, has beautiful illustrations, and helps inspire both children and adults to appreciate the small moments in life.
5. Gracias/Thanks by Pat Moira // This book is about a boy who is Mexican/Caucasian and discusses some of the everyday things he is grateful for. We love that it is written in both Spanish and English.
6. Sweep by Louise Greig // This book is one we were so excited to finally read! I’ve had it saved in my camera roll forever to purchase and it did not disappoint. While it is about fall, it also uses the analogy of leaves to talk about emotions, moods, gratitude, and mindfulness. Win-Win in my book!
7. Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena // Gorgeous book! It follows a little boy and his grandma as she teaches him how to see the beauty and fun in his world. So heartwarming!
8. Llama Llama Gives Thanks by Anna Dewdney // Who doesn’t love Llama Llama? He’s a classic in our house and we love the simplicity of the message in this book, especially for younger children.
9. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson // This beautifully illustrated book talks about the changing of seasons, empathy and wonder! We love the Fletcher the Fox series!
10. Pinkalicious: Thanksgiving Helper by Victoria Kann // The Pinkalicious series are always so fun! In this book, Pinkalicious and Peter want to be Thanksgiving helpers but end up making a mistake. However, in the end, what really matters is being with your loved ones!
11. Powell’s or a local family owned San Diego bookstore, Warwick’s.

    Just a small disclaimer, if you purchase a book using our Amazon links above we do make a small commission.

    Leave a comment below and let us know your favorite book or if you have any other suggestions on books about gratitude, thankfulness or just ones you love! We can’t wait to follow along with you!

    Have an amazing day,

    Kari and Melissa

    Click Here to Save as PDF: https://sunkissedandgrateful.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/369B0972-DDB1-47F8-8499-0CECE006A1F0.pdf

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