Ideals Books are well...Ideal :)

Disclosure: We received three books to help facilitate the review. All opinions stated are genuine and my own.

I know the word play in the title is a bit corny, but it's also 100% true: Ideals Books really is an ideal place to find great books. They've got a great selection of children's titles to choose from, and since our local bookstore closed a few years back (*gasp*), we now opt to do most of our book shopping online. Ideals never disappoints with their number, or quality of selections.

I chose all board books, but with over 400 selections in stock,
you can get whatever kind of book that you like!

To help you see what kinds of books are available at Ideals, I went with Christmas (though they have every holiday covered), and Grandma themes (because I've got a new book lover in the family to buy for now too).

The inside of this sturdy board book is colorful and true to the story
we all know and love!

For Christmas we celebrate the religious meaning of the holiday first and foremost, but we also enjoy the secular. To help celebrate both, I opted for a book theme from each.  Frosty the Snowman is one of our favorite stories, and the bright, colorful board book I selected was a huge hit. There's just something cheery and happy about that snowman, and I'm happy to have this version of the book in our library. This book was written by Jack Rollins & Steve Nelson, and the lyrics are simply the words to the old Gene Autry classic we all know and love. I dare you to try and read this book without singing... we tried, multiple times, and could not. ;)

This book features lyrics from the Christmas song,
"O Little Town of Bethlehem."
It has a music button that plays the same (melody only) in the upper right-hand corner.

The second selection I chose was O Little Town of Bethlehem. This is also a board book, and in the upper right-hand corner it has a button that when pushed plays the melody of the song of the same name. It tells the story of Jesus' birth, and does so with soft colors & gentle drawings for the pictures (illustrated by Nathalie Beauvois). I think this might well be the last year my youngest enjoys push-the-button music books, so I was happy to add this one to our collection. Pushing that little button gives him a little happy dance, and the story is a great way to reiterate to him why we actually do celebrate Christmas each year. As an added Fun Fact: "O Little Town of Bethlehem," (the song) was written in 1868!

Such soft, pretty pictures
for my sweet, soft, and very pretty baby grand (grandchild).

The third book I chose was Grandma Loves You by P.K. Hallinan. This little board book is for my sweet baby granddaughter who loves to have her mummy and daddy read to her. It's nice and sturdy too, for when she wants to do a little 'reading' on her own. ;) Katherine Kirkland is the illustrator and her drawings depict everyday things grandma's love to see the little ones do (there is a 'grandpa' version as well). At the end it has a tender moment shared by grandma and granddaughter.  The front of this book has a heart insert that allows you to slip a photo of your own choosing into the cover, and that's exactly what I plan to do. This will be either a Christmas gift, or just an 'I love you' gift from me to the little one.

Ideals Books is just a wonderful website to visit, and a great place to buy children's books...both old favorites and new titles too. They also offer very reasonable prices, and shipping is free on orders $25 or more.

Ideals Books

Ideals Books publishes 20 to 25 new children's titles each year, primarily for 2 to 8-yr.-olds. The company actually started out in the 1940's as a magazine of the same name (Ideals), which you may have heard of because it is still in existence today. In the '60's, they expanded to the publishing of children's books as well. The books, and the magazine, were centered around family, home, holidays, and God.

There are over 400 titles to choose from at Ideals, and though the three books I selected are all  board books, you can find most any format you prefer. Ideals publishes picture books, activity books, board books, and novelty and sound books covering a wide array of topics.

You can learn more about Ideals by visiting their website. You can also follow them on Facebook and/or Pinterest.