What Little Boys are Made Of by Robert Neubecker

What Little Boys are Made Of by Robert Neubecker

Rating: 5 stars!

I just kissed Ben's boogers good-night.

I don't make a habit of kissing his boogers good-night, I'll have you know.  But when he insists that he's not tired and the door to his room keeps opening and closing a million and two times, I go in and tuck him in tight, and lie down next to him.  "Ben," I say.  "You were the cutest baby in the world.  Do you want to know how I used to say good-night to you?"  "Yes," he always says.  "I'd say good-night to your ears...." and I smooch his ears.  "I'd say good-night to your forehead..." and smooch his forehead.  "I'd say good-night to your bum..." and smooch his bum (giggle, giggle!).  "I'd say good-night to your boogers..." and smooch his nostrils (ha ha ha!).  You get the idea.

I love that boy.  He drives me crazy, but...I love him.

I must admit, though, that I'm not sure I'm ready for TWO boys of that age in the same house, at the same time.  It's a good thing I have a year or two to get ready for it.  But, wait.  Weren't they already wrestling today?

I'm doomed!

We are fans of Robert Neubecker and his books.  His series of Wow! books are big in every way--big pictures, big thoughts, and they induce big smiles in our house.  I was super excited to find out that he had a new book out.  And it is a book about boys, and what makes them boys.  I'm learning what makes them boys, and mostly loving it.  As a tomboy myself, it's great to teach Ben (and Lorelei, too!) about push up and pull ups, maps and mountains, creeks and splashing.  That's what kids are made of at our house.

Nuebecker stretches out the imagination of the little hero in the book, showing a sequence of pictures where, in the first picture, the little boy is creating a pretend scene, and playing enthusiastically in it.  As if rewarded for his creativity, the next page magically transports him into The Real Deal.  Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

First, the little boy gathers up his toys (and, we wonder, his pet rat and pet dog?) and pretends he is on safari.

And then he IS on safari!  Ben is somehow obsessed with going to Africa, so these are his favorite pages.

On his blog--it is so worth reading, click here to read all of what he says--he explains that his daughter was lifting weights, saying that boys like muscles and she likes boys, so she wants to build muscles...  He started thinking about the differences of boys and girls, so wanted to write two books: one for girls, one for boys.  He's just got this one out now, and I sure hope another one comes out for girls.  (Oh please oh please have something about running or sports--please NO PRINCESSES!)

Until then, it'll be boogers and this book for me.