Children's Books About House Hunting
Ease your little one through the process of looking for a new home and facing the changes of a new neighborhood and circle of friends with a book that will spur healthy parent-child conversations about an impending move. Introduce the topic of change through a colorful book as a way to provide stories and themes that will help ignite your child's excitement for a new phase.
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Activity Books
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Harness that nervous excitement into a project your child can keep to commemorate her moving process. In "A New House," by Jill Wenzel, 4- to 10-year-old children can work through puzzles and games that help them address the mixed emotions involved with all the steps of finding and moving to a new house. Author Lyn Thomas also provides an outlet for kids via a memory scrapbook: "My New Home and Me," which encourages young children to capture the moments of looking for a new house and getting ready to move by channeling their feelings into drawings and diary entries.
Preschool and Early Elementary Books
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In "Big Ernie's New Home: A Story for Young Children Who Are Moving," authors Teresa and Whitney Martin gently explore Ernie's fears of moving with a charming and humorous approach. Anne Civardi's "Moving House" contains humorous illustrations by Stephen Cartwright that will introduce opportunities to talk through the experience of looking for a new house and moving. Michaelene Mundy also wrote a house-hunting book as part of the Elf-Help book line for kids -- "Saying Good-Bye, Saying Hello: When Your Family Is Moving" helps young children to think through the coming changes.
Elementary to Pre-teen Books
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Your growing girl will enjoy "A Room for Cathy," by Catherine Woolley. In the charming story, Cathy explores the excitement of finding a new house, the changes in moving to new neighborhood, making new friends and being flexible through changing financial situations. This coming-of-age pre-teen book captures the mixed emotions of a child caught between wanting to have fun but feeling grown up enough to crave independence. In "A New Home for Lily," authors Suzanne Woods Fisher and Mary Ann Kinsinger draw young readers into the story of an 8-year-old Amish girl who moves with her family to Pennsylvania and has to adjust to a new home, school and friends.
Animal Fiction
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Follow the beloved Berenstein Bears in Stan and Jan Berenstein̵7;s book: "The Berenstain Bears' Moving Day." Through humorous drawings and the family̵7;s honest interactions, the book answers all the questions your young one may have in an approachable way -- from leaving friends to taking along favorite toys. Written on a child̵7;s level, this book helps young ones think through the process of looking for a new house and getting ready to move. Pamela Hickman's book "It's Moving Day!" presents darling pictures to accompany a story about animals finding their natural habitats. The tale will help to settle your child̵7;s questions about what will happen to his house after he moves out.
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