Great birthday books are difficult to find. One day, mine will be released and it will be epic!

Until then, you’re mostly stuck with kids’ books. Looking at Today’s Parent Top 10, I was reminded how birthdays are often an opportunity for kids to learn to be better. In Victorian times, birthdays weren’t celebrated but rather seen as a time to encourage kids to be reflective and “grow in goodness.”

Today, it’s an opportunity for a child to celebrate but also learn or practice:

• Patience, as in How Many Sleeps Till My Birthday.
• Manners, as in How Do Dinosaurs Say Happy Birthday.
• Generosity, as in My Super Sister and the Birthday Party or The Meanest Birthday Girl.
• Confidence (or not to play dead), as in Scaredy Squirrel Has a Birthday Party.

The book on their list I’m going to pick up? Happy Birdday, Tacky! Apparently Tacky the Penguin saves his own surprise party in Nice Icy Land with a positive attitude and impressive dance moves! Alright Tacky!

Photo credit: Steve Corey / iwoman / CC BY-NC