Race You to Bed by Bob Shea

Race You to Bed by Bob Shea

Rating: 3 stars

Lorelei and Ben would be more generous with their stars...they like this book a bit more than I do.  I think it's the image that I have a problem with: Race you to bed!  Ready, set, go!  Faster, faster!  I mean, I've tried for over three years to create a pretty successful, mostly calm (splashing not included) bedtime routine that actually does not involve a race.

But this book is catchy with its nonsensical rhyme "Sneeze to bed! / Grilled cheese to bed! / Angry, angry bees to bed!"  It is so random in a way that makes me wonder but makes my kids giggle.  On the "Clang to bed... / bang to bed... / bring a BRING-BRANG-BRUNG to bed!" the bunny plays the nosiest instruments known to mankind...on the way to...bed?  I always ask, "Would Mommy let you take these things to bed?"  Both kids: "Nooooo!"  I'm a party pooper like that.

But I do like the ending.  The bunny gets to bed: "Looks like I beat you! / Beat you to bed!" and then with a startled look: "Oh, you're already in bed? / You were way up ahead? ? Okay then, race you to sleep!"

I like that kind of race.  Can I get in on that?

The Adventures of Polo by Regis Faller

The Adventures of Polo by Regis Faller

Rating: 4.5 wordless stars

We've stumbled into the world of Polo, an adventurous French pup whose imagination takes him to some pretty neat places.  I'm not a huge fan of wordless books...I once checked out a bunch because I read an article saying that it was The Thing To Do with 3-ish-year-olds, but I just wasn't into them.  Neither was Lorelei, so it was an easy genre of books to not check out again.

But we ordered this book, not realizing it was a wordless book until we got it home.  I'm so glad we made this mistake!  Lorelei sat and "read" it for ten to fifteen minutes when we first got home from the library.  She could easily follow along little canine Polo's adventures: laughing when he slid down a line and plopped onto a cloud, gasping in surprise as Polo sees what he thinks is a giant fish from inside a submarine, and wondering out loud what Polo was going to do on the next page.  The illustrations are charming and funny, full of slap-stick type humor that toddlers totally get.

The only negative thing is Polo's run-in with a polar bear.  He and his new friend of the feline variety find an igloo on top an iceberg with a scary polar bear inside.  The polar bear frightens them with his silent roar (this part is actually one of Lorelei's favorites) and the cat and Polo look scared.  But then the polar bear slips and falls off his iceberg and splashes into the cold water below.  That's not so bad, but Regis Faller adds a little picture of Polo and the cat laughing.  Boo.

But I can't end on a bad note.  I overlooked that not-so-great part and added my own words (the beauty of a wordless book): "Glad that he was ok after that fall!"  There are lots of things to love about this book: I love how Polo meets all different types of animals along his not-so-straight path from his tree house and back again.  He had a little imaginative adventure with each, waves good-bye, and sets off on his way, alone, until he pops into someone new.  I actually think it's a sweet message about friendship--how some friends stay a long time in your life and other friends just come for a short while and disappear into the woodwork. 

I also wonder if this book is a little gift to parents--it's a book children can "read" to themselves, after all, so maybe I'll check out a few more of the Polo books so I can get through The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest a little bit faster...

Ballerino Nate by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ballerino Nate by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, illustrated by R.W. Alley

Rating: 3.5 stars

Little (dog) Nate sees a ballet with his class at the end of his kindergarten year, and decides that he wants to learn how to dance ballet, too.  His mother finds him a class, but it doesn't start until Fall.  All Summer long Nate dances happily everywhere and anywhere; all Summer long Nate's big brother Ben teases him that only girls dance ballet.  His parents shush Ben every time, simply saying: "That's not true, Ben," to whatever falsehood falls from his mouth that moment.



"Ballerinas all have to wear pink shoes and a dress."

 Finally little Nate goes to his first class.  He loves it!  But he realizes that Ben is right--he's the only boy in the class.  So his mother takes him to a "real" ballet--not just a little school performance by students, but one danced by professionals.  He looks on in awe...the illustration of this is my favorite.  From the stage you see the dancers, but more important you see the whole audience, colored in dim grey, except for Nate and his mother, who are colored in brightly.  Nate is about to explode out of his seat in excitement!  Nate is thrilled to see that nearly half of the dancers are men, and that their roles are integral to the performance.  He even talks to one backstage, who explains that "ballerina" is for the top female dancers, while "ballerino" is the term for the best male dancers.

This is a lovely book that challenges the only-girls-do-this and only-boys-do-that stereotype.  It's a great one to read a few times just to put into your kids' heads, maybe to let them think a little outside of the box, or maybe to provide information that will prevent teasing/bullying later on.  I really like this book, but of course wish that the language was a little softer.  I wish that Ben didn't say "yuck" or "stupid" and that Nate didn't say he "hated" dresses and shoes.  I'm being harsh, I think, because I can't imagine boys saying much else at 5 or 6.  I'm still living in la-la land because my boy isn't saying much at this point!

Truck Duck by Michael Rex

Truck Duck by Michael Rex

Rating: 4.5 stars

There aren't many words in this book, and that makes it one of my personal favorites when it comes time for Ben's choice of two books at bedtime.  By then I'm pretty much counting down the seconds till I kiss him good-night and close the door.  I love the little guy, but man does he wear me out some days!

It's just a simple, rhyming text: "Truck duck / Chimp blimp / Plow cow / Cab crab..."  The pictures are very realistic and clear, with the right animal sitting in the driver's seat chug-chug-chugging along.  Ben likes the pictures of the trucks and animals while Lorelei likes the rhyming. 

The only one that makes Lorelei, when she's with us at nap time for a reading of this book, get a wrinkled-up expression on her little face is "Hog frog."  "Why are motorcycles called hogs, Mommy?"  I sure don't know.  I keep meaning to ask my Moto Guzzi-riding stepfather, the kids' GrandBill (husband to beloved Grammy), but I keep forgetting.  What he doesn't know off the top of his head he knows at the tip of his fingers (what a Googler that guy is!), so...I'll let him weigh in on this heavy question.

I Want to Be An Astronaut by Byron Barton

I Want to Be An Astronaut by Byron Barton

Rating: 5 stars

Byron Barton should definitely be required reading for little boys.  His Machines at Work and Building a House are some of our favorites, and we've read all his other books a number of times. 

A few weeks ago my husband encouraged me to get Ben out and do some more fun stuff with him like I did with both kids all summer long.  I love some gentle prodding like that to push me out of my comfort zone, so Ben and I dropped off Lorelei and went to the Air and Space Museum out by us, called the Udvar Hazy Center.  We had a great time, and Ben was totally amazed by all the airplanes, helicopters, and space shuttles.  Of course he's about a decade away from really having the attention span and desire to read all about each and every aircraft, and he's way too young to do the way-cool simulation rides that they have there.  But my husband was really right--it was a cool new thing that got Ben to really look around him and see something new. 

We had a great time walking through everything.  I loved the helicopters the best, and Ben loved the look out tower at the top where you can see planes take off and land from Dulles.  (It would have been my favorite had an airplane actually flown by us, but we were whisked away from it before we could see one because some fancy-schmancy diplomat needed the room cleared for his/her visit.  Humph.)

I let Ben choose two books at the gift shop--one for him and one for Lorelei.  This was his choice for himself, and it didn't surprise me at all.  We've checked it out from the library two or three times, and both kids love it.  The text is very simple and the pictures are bright and glossy and uncomplicated.  "I want to be an astronaut, / a member of the crew, / and fly on the shuttle / into outer space."

Who wouldn't want to do that?  And I wonder: what will be our kids' options for space exploration? 

Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea

Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea
Rating: 5 funny stars

Among the library books we brought home last week, this is definitely in Lorelei and Ben's top three.  Maybe the best of the bag! 

It's a simple little story of a father hippo trying to get his son to do something.  Using the classic trick of doing the desired thing wrong, the son laughs and shows his father how to do it correctly...and therefore does what his father actually wants him to do. 

For example, Dad Hippo comes in, "dressed" with a bucket on one foot, a boot on another, oven mitts on his hands, underwear on his head, and a flower pot on his head.  "Is this how you get dressed?" he asks his son.  "Oh, Daddy!" his son says, and shows him how to do it the right way.  The little hippo shows his dad how to get in the car, eat his lunch, water the flowers, and give a hug the right way. 

If you don't employ this tactic with your kid--and how could you not?!  It's the oldest trick in the book!--you should start now.  This book would probably help an obstinate kid for at least a few weeks...  The only drawback, and it's not a very big one, is that the little hippo says, "Easy peasy, mac and cheesy!" after showing his dad how to correctly get in the car.  Your child will, without a doubt, pick that up.  It doesn't bother me too much, though Lorelei has only repeated it six or seven times a day, not 50 or 100 times.

Katy and the Big Snow by Virgina Lee Burton

Katy and the Big Snow by Virgina Lee Burton

Rating: 5 valuable stars

Lorelei's preschool just had their annual book fair.  The only reason I didn't spend my husband's entire paycheck there: Grammy was in town, so I made her spend her entire paycheck there.  Thoughtful, don't you think? 

We actually didn't spend that much money, but generous Grammy did let each child pick out a book--though I think my twin nieces got to choose two each...got to say something about that favoritism thing...unless it goes in my kids' direction...  Anyway, I'll write about Lorelei's choice, but this was Ben's choice--heavily assisted by me.  While I don't read through books from the library first, I always want to make sure we're buying good ones.  I don't want to waste Grammy's money!  I don't think you can go wrong with Virginia Lee Burton, a classic writer that you probably associate with her most famous book, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, a great book that has been in Ben's bed for the past two weeks.  I had never seen this book before and really liked what I read when I skimmed it.

Grammy wonderfully planted the book on Ben's car seat for the drive home and we read it later that night together.  It is wonderful in that classic, old-school values sort of way.  Ben was hooked from the first line: "Katy was a beautiful red crawler tractor."  I loved the next line: "She was very big and very strong and she could do a lot of things."  How wise of Burton to make a big, powerful tractor female--makes both little girls and boys curious about her.  Lorelei and Ben listened carefully to the story after the first few lines, curious to hear how Katy would use her strength.  Burton explains how Katy did a lot of different jobs throughout the year; "the harder and tougher the job the better she liked it." 

When winter came, Katy was so big and strong that she stayed put when there was only a light dusting on the ground.  But one day that dusting turned into a huge blizzard, and Katy was the only plow who could cut through the snow.  Everyone and everything in the town came to a stand still, unable to do their regular duties.  Then Katy came to the rescue, slowly but surely plowing everyone out, enabling the police to protect the city, the Postmaster to get the mail through, the Telephone Company to repair downed lines.  By the end of the day she was tired but still she chugged on until the roads were all clear.  Then and only then did Katy stop and rest.

What a great story about taking on a challenge, finishing what you start (see the sweet Ella Takes the Cake for another one), working hard, and helping those in need.  Those are such valuable lessons that Burton manages to pack in a classic book with sweet drawings.  This is a wonderful holiday book; I can't say how grateful I am to have it on our shelf.  I'm going to order up all of Virginia Lee Burton's other books from the library right now...any favorites I should read first when they come home with us for a visit?

P.S.  I might extra-like this book because of my name.  I just wanted to point that out before one of you guys did.

Police Officers on Patrol by Kersten Hamilton

Police Officers on Patrol by Kersten Hamilton, illustrated by R.W. Alley

Rating: 5 stars

We had some high excitement at our house a few Sundays ago.  Our doorbell rang--something that doesn't happen in our not-so-populated neck of the woods--and who should be standing at our door but...a policeman!  While Lorelei rushed to introduce herself and explain how we've been reading a book on policemen ("I'll go get it and show you!" she exclaimed, then darted off to find this book and show it to the officer, who was appropriately impressed and sweet.), Ben just stood and stared in awe at the police cars.

Us parents were not so excited as he was looking for a burglar who has been prowling around our county for a few months.  He is getting closer and closer to our house.  I'd be more worried if we didn't have two big ol' dogs who'd be happy to take a bite out of crime.  Literally.

Anyway, since we were just reading this book, the visit was a super positive one--a "teachable moment" as teachers and parents like to say.  The police officer explained how he was looking for a bad guy and wanted to keep us safe.  In the book, there are three different problems (broken traffic light, lost child, and burglar) that three different officers (two male, one female) help to solve.  The pictures make the situations just serious enough to make it a problem, but light enough that the child isn't worried or frightened.  The refrain is: "Uniform! Badge! Radio!  When you need help, we rock and roll!" so we checked out the uniform, badge, and radio on the officer on our doorstep.  He was a good sport; we (mentally) gave him two gold stars.

I'd say this is a must-read, just to introduce the police to your kids.  Hopefully your neighborhood will be burglar-free for the next few decades, but...better to teach your kids all about community safety before they really need the lessons.

Alpha Oops! H is for Halloween by Althea Kontis

Alpha Oops!  H is for Halloween by Althea Kontis, illustrated by Bob Kolar

Rating: 3.5 stars

So we're finally getting into the Halloween groove, and it's really only because Lorelei is in preschool and all her friends are into it.  Last year I was impressed we even got a costume, and we even went trick-or-treating in the local way (which involved a little strip-mall-like place because the houses around here require a hike and a half to get through one neighborhood).  This year Lorelei's spook-o-meter is a little higher, so she's not at all frightened by pictures like those in this book, of monsters and goblins, werewolves and vampires.

The book is a follow up to Alpha Oops!  The Day Z Went First, which we checked out at the same time.  Like that book, it's a classic "A is for..." book with a twist: the letters are all jumbled up in fairly random order.  The only plot is they all have to find a Halloween-themed item that starts with their letter.  One in particular, B, shows up again and again, and is uncertain of his choice, but then ends up as the last letter as B for BOO!  And he scares all the letters off stage.  It's a cute ending.

It's a little confusing, and definitely better for kids who are completely comfortable with their ABCs in order, and therefore see the humor in getting them all mixed up.  It's only sorta fun to read out loud, because the only text apart from the "A is for..." lines is the dialogue between the letters.  And Lorelei and Ben don't find that too easy to follow.  Still, it's Halloween-y and it's Halloween week, so we've been reading it every day!

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett

Rating: 4 stars

I am all for simplicity, but sometimes there are too few words in books for my personal taste.  This one definitely falls in that category, but it's too clever to dislike and it holds a special place in my heart because Lorelei read it all by herself.  Well, she can't read yet, but she's great at realizing which words are which once she has a general idea of what the words are.  Wait, is that what reading is?  I mean, I can officially read Thai but a) only at an embarrassingly slow pace, b) only words I know already, and c) a whopping sentence at a time.  So maybe Lorelei can read...well, we'll just keep an eye on that and let her keep reading/listening as much as she wants...

There are just four words in this book (well, a fifth appears at the end), but they are rearranged as many times as possible in cute little ways, and have illustrations that support the new arrangement.  The bear is cuddly and adorable and seems to dance around with the fruit on his head or rump or hand.  At the end he gobbles them all up and, funnily, what remains of the fruit are just cores and peels.

I don't know how many times you could read this--it might get old after a dozen times--but we appreciated it for the two weeks we had it from the library.  And because it was a great confidence booster for Lorelei, there's a good chance we'll check it out again.

Higher! Higher! by Leslie Patricelli

Higher!  Higher!  by Leslie Patricelli
Rating: 4.5 stars

There isn't a whole lot to this book, but I think that--plus some wonderfully clear and bright illustrations--is what make Ben and Lorelei request it again and again and again.  Our kids are both swing-lovers (they got it in their DNA from beloved Grammy, I think); just this morning Ben was giggling himself silly at the playground when I was pushing him, and then stopping him suddenly, then starting him up again in full swing.  Whiplash?  Oooh...hadn't thought of that.  As Lorelei would say, "Next time, I'll be more careful."

Anyway, this book is adorable.  A little girl and her father walk to the playground and she requests, "Higher!  Higher!"  ("Add a please, please!" I want to add.)  Despite the lack of a "please," he pushes her higher, and she soars as high as a giraffe, then as high as a rooftop, then as high as the Himalayas, past an airplane, into space.  Then she meets a martian, who is on a swing, shouting "Higher!  Higher!" just like she is...from Mars!  How fun!  They greet each other, share a high five, say good-bye, and she wordlessly floats back to real-swinging-range, back to the playground.

A very cute book.  I can't imagine any kid not loving it!  If it had a please or two, I'd have given it a 5.  I'm feeling stingy with my stars today.

How Kind! by Mary Murphy

How Kind! by Mary Murphy

Rating: 5 stars

If ever there was a book for my mother, this is it.  My mom grew up telling us to "be charitable" (my best friend still tells me that in her best mom-voice because she heard it almost as much as me); here is a book that has the same message without that parental you-know-better-than-that tone of voice! 

This book is wonderfully simple: Hen does something kind for Pig, who replies "How kind!" and then Pig wants to do something kind for someone else, and he decides to give Rabbit a carrot.  Rabbit replies "How kind!" and then Rabbit wants to do something kind for someone else, and he...  It's just a chain reaction to kindness that ends up with Pig returning the egg (now turned chick) back to Hen.  See?  What goes around comes around, especially kindness.  (My mother would so agree.)

Lorelei has begun to have some, um, loquacious moments when her mouth doesn't seem to stop moving.  She likes to repeat the same thing over and over again, something that requires more patience than a deep breath or a full night's sleep can provide.  But when she repeats "How kind!" or "I want to do something kind!" I really don't mind at all.

Just a few things that I wonder about, though: How does Cow milk herself to give milk to Cat?  And did Mary Murphy decide that the first kind gesture would be giving away one of Hen's unhatched children?  I find that a little funny, but I think it's a detail that few, if any, 3- or 4-year olds would actually pick up.

L M N O Peas by Keith Baker

L M N O Peas by Keith Baker

Rating: 5 stars

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but how about by its jacket flap?  Here's a snippet from Keith Baker's bio, found on the back flap:

"Keith Baker has ten letters in his name, all of which can be found in the alphabet.  If he could be any vegetable, he would be a pea--green, round, quick, smart, easy to draw, and always surrounded by friends... He's sometimes grumpea, sometimes sleepea, but usually happea, and he hopes that someday there will be peas everywhere on Earth."



"We're dancers--and drivers round town."

 That excerpt is an example of the cleverness that can be found in the pages of the book.  What a funny genius Keith Baker is!  It is clear that he had fun with this book, and our family has had a great time with it, too.  I'm not sure why we passed it up so many different times at the bookstore and the library; we really should have checked it out earlier.  (It was published earlier this year.) 

Many alphabet books tell too much a story, and you lose the actual letters and words that go with them.  Other books don't tell any story at all, so kids whose interest in "just" the alphabet will be, most likely, less than enthused to read them.  But this is a perfect balance: Baker introduces us to the peas, and tells them of all the vocations they can be.  Some of my favorite new vocabulary words for Lorelei include: investigator, officer, parachutist ('cause the GRAND-Dad is...ok, was...one!), unique, voter, volunteer. 

The story is great.  The pictures are SUPERB!  They are just fun--the peas are doing all sorts of things, illustrating the words.  As a bonus, there's a little ladybug on each page that the kids love to find, especially the first time we read through it.  (In fact, I had to wipe down the pages because we were eating pasta while we looked, so some marinara sauce from Ben's always-sticky fingers got on the pages when he excitedly pointed to the ladybug...but I cleaned them.  Promise!) 

This is a fantastic book--one that is tempting to buy...let's see if I can sit on my hands and resist the temptation.

Beach Ball by Peter Sis

Beach Ball by Peter Sis

Rating: 4.5 stars

We went to the library last week to get some books for our fall beach trip and happened upon this one.  Since we liked Fire Truck by Peter Sis, I went to see if there were any other books by him that we might like.  How perfect to find this one!  What wasn't perfect was not realizing how great a car book it really was...until we got down to the beach.  Lorelei could have easily studied this book for an hour in the car, which would have given me only four other hours to fill with something else.

The book is a look-and-find, but not of the usual variety.  The story line which hardly exists at all is just that a little girl's beach ball gets swept up by the wind and she chases it across the beach, through all of the pages of the book.  On each page is a different theme of things you need to find.  On one page are shapes, so you can see how many triangles you can find or just how many different shapes exist.  On another page are numbers, and you count all the different things--that was Lorelei's favorite page.  On another is a too-easy maze and on the trickiest page is the alphabet.  The reader is challenged to find something that starts with each letter of the alphabet.  It's tricky and fun.  It definitely kept my interest for awhile!

This is an old-ish book, printed in 1990, and it definitely could be more than what it is--the book could be bigger and hold more, the illustrations could be more charming and/or funnier, the setting could be different in each book.  I can hardly imagine the awesome result if another illustrator got his or her hands on the idea and ran with it!  I really wish Robert Nuebecker or Rotraut Susanne Berner would do something like this...

Berenstain Bears Vacation by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Berenstain Bears Vacation by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Rating: 5 stars

We LOVE these books.  We check them out about every other time we go to the library, especially if I didn't pre-order a bunch of good books for Lorelei.  They are such great go-to books, and she'll happily read them a few times a day.  Because the words are limited and they rhyme, Ben sits through them just as happily.  The whole collection is just great--though, as I've said before, poor Papa Bear looks like a bumbling fool, though a lovable one.


Story time by Lorelei.



But I really wanted to write about this book because of the picture below.  Now that Lorelei has started preschool, she now has "story time" with her animals and dolls and brother.  (Ben is such a good sport!)  She perches herself on one of the cubes in our playroom and holds the book up just like her teacher and/or the librarian at her school.  I can't get over how cute she looks, but am more amazed at the emulation that's going on.  Obviously she likes what she sees at school, or else she wouldn't be doing stuff like this at home!  Lucky her.  Lucky us!



The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton

 
The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, illustrated by Christine Davenier

Rating: 4 stars

Shocking!  A princess book!  But, you know, I'm trying to relax a little about the whole princess thing.  I don't love it (or maybe I just wish there were more princess books about princesses who get dirty, hike up mountains, care less about their attire) but I realize that it is the first interest--of many!--that my daughter will have that I will not wholeheartedly share.  But, because she's my daughter and it's really not that unhealthy, I should and do support it.  I just hope that princes isn't replaced by goth in a few years...

Our own very fairy princess.

My sister's twin girls have this book and love it, so we checked it out from the library.  It's definitely one of the better princess books.  Geraldine tells us right away that's she's a fairy princess because she FEELS it inside, a "sparkly feeling of just KNOWING in my heart."  Cute!  She puts fairy dust on her pancakes, has a wardrobe of pink and pink-ish dresses, dances ballet, and wears wings whenever possible.  Throughout the book and with a little princess twist to each, "Gerry" teaches little axioms, such as: Fairy princesses have very refined taste.  Fairy princesses are very practical.  Fairy princesses are very supportive.

The supportive bit is my favorite part.  Gerry's best friend Delilah doesn't believe in the fairy princess stuff, but Gerry points out that she can "be whatever you want to be.  You just have to let your SPARKLE out!"  Gerry points out that Delilah sparkles while playing the trombone, and Gerry is still friends with her despite the fact that Delilah wears a lot of blue. 

I don't like how the whole princess thing is so obnoxiously predictable.  You like princesses, dancing ballet, wearing pink, things that sparkle, and stuff like that.  But...princesses can do great things too, right?  I hope so...because guess what Lorelei wants to be for Halloween...?



Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems

Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion by Mo Willems

Rating: 5 wonderful stars

Let me just assume you've read the first two of these wonderful books (if you've not, just know that little Trixie has a beloved bunny she's lost but recovered before) and tell you about the third book.  Trixie goes to visit her Oma and Opa in Sweden, taking a taxi, airplane, and train to get there.  She is drinking a glass of chocolate milk in their garden when she suddenly realizes something: She left Knuffle Bunny on the plane!  She's pretty sad, but when her father finds out her bunny is on its way to China, she tries to grin and bear it--she's "older now," though she doesn't really want to be.  But then she has a dream of Knuffle Bunny traveling to all these different places, making all these different children happy.  And she wakes up happy, ok with the fact that she no longer has her beloved bunny.

The trip ends and they head home.  They get on the plane, right in front of a screaming baby, and Trixie notices something: Knuffle Bunny is in the seat pocket in front of her!  She is ecstatic.  And then she turns to the baby behind her and asks her parents, "Would your baby like my Knuffle Bunny?"  All the parents are shocked, and Trixie is sure of her decision.  (Even my husband said, "Awwww" when I explained the book to him.)  She gives her bunny to the child, who is now gloriously happy and, even better, gloriously quiet.  And Trixie gets a letter in the mail to say thanks.

What a wonderful book about being kind and thoughtful!  This book was released just last week, and before our trip to the beach I scooted out to the bookstore to buy it for Lorelei.  My mom, a middle school teacher, and I were just talking about the horrible cyberbullying/suicide at Rutgers University... (And here I am trying to make a segueway from a great children's book to a horrible situation.  But bear with me.)  I was almost in tears asking her: What can I do?  How can I prevent this in my own community, with my own kids?  What lessons are important for me to teach our kids? 

I got to thinking, and I think there are two things: First, to teach my children--today, tomorrow, and every single day until I die--how to stop and think of other people.  They need to be thoughtful, and not just the card-on-your-birthday thoughtful.  To be compassionate and caring, even though they'll not replace Mother Teresa.  Second, to teach my children how to be strong and confident when they face the inevitable criticism their peers will throw their way.  They need to know that not everyone will adore them like their parents certainly do, and they need to have a larger perspective than the one child/group/day that is really, really bad.

This book is a tiny step in that.  How wonderful to see one of Lorelei's favorite little characters, Trixie, give her most favorite stuffed animal to a stranger when she realizes Knuffle Bunny will comfort the crying baby more than it would comfort herself.  This is a book for your shelf, not to check out at the library (though that is certainly better than passing up this gem).

To end on a light note, I mentioned to Lorelei how, one day, she'll decide she's old enough to stop sleeping with all of her guys (as of this post, she has about eight that get tucked in beside her at night).  Normally smiley Lorelei immediately frowned, with tears forming in her eyes.  I back pedaled like there was no tomorrow:  "Not tonight!  When you're ready!  Maybe when you're in college!"

Fire Engine Man by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

Fire Engine Man by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

Rating: 5 stars

We are loving these Zimmerman and Clemesha books.  The husband-wife team has three sons, so all of their books (that we've read so far) are SO perfect for little boys, including our little boy. 

Fire Engine Man, and their other book that's on our shelf Digger Man, are great simple books with the tried and true boy subjects of firetrucks and diggers.  You can't go wrong with these images on the pages of a children's book!  The stories are both told through the voice of a young boy, maybe 5 or 6 years old, and tell how he's going to be a "Fire Engine Man."  He's going to drive his own big fire engine, hook up his hose, and help the other firefighters fight the fire. 

But what makes this book (and Digger Man, too) special is the fact that the little boy has a younger brother, maybe 12 or 18 months, whom he actively adores.  He drives by his family in his big fire engine, so his brother can see him, and then invites his little brother to the fire station to visit, "because it would be safe."  There's a great picture of the big brother driving the fire truck, and the little brother in the passenger seat, in a car seat, with a bottle.  Lorelei and Ben and I always wonder if a real fire truck could have a carseat in it...I'm guessing not, but it's fun to pretend it's possible.  The end of the book shows the two brothers playing happily together, with the big brother declaring, "When my brother gets bigger, he can help."

How wonderful to see a positive sibling book!  I can't get the ones where one sibling is trying to sell off the other one out of my hands fast enough.  I don't want to give Lorelei any ideas...  Really, though, I don't think it's too much to expect that my kids are going to love each other.  Most days, at least. 

This book, and Digger Man too, are GREAT books for boys who have a new little brother in their life. 

Dig! by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

Dig! by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal

Rating: 5 stars

I don't need to say who loves this book.  Yup, that's right, our construction-worker-wanna-be, Ben.  And we found this book while Ben and I were at the library last week.  Ben was spending some quality time jumping into the bean bag chairs, which are located right next to the very end of the alphabet of children's book authors.  But what a great discovery we made with Andrea Zimmerman, and her husband David Clemesha!  They have three sons, so their books are pretty wonderful for boys.

This book is so great.  It has all the different Ben components that, together, make it perfect for him, at 22-ish months:

1. It has a backhoe on every single page! Oh happy day!
2. He has a cute dog, Lightning, who also likes to dig.
3. The main character, Mr. Rally, wears a construction hat just like Ben wears!
4. Mr. Rally does five different jobs, and at the end of each job, the text asks, "Is the digging done?" And Ben gets to shake his head as violently as possible and say, "NOOO!"  Except for the last one, when he gets to say, "Yesh!" in that very-Ben way.
5. The last job Mr. Rally does is at the zoo, which we just went to yesterday.  That made the evening's reading of this book all the more exciting.

I will add that, from Ben's mother's point of view, it has two more great things.  Though it does rhyme completely, there are two lines that appear in each job: "Dig up rock and dig up clay! / Dig up dirt and dig all day!"  I think that the rhyme and repetition are helpful at this stage of development.  Also, when his five jobs are finished, Mr. Rally goes home, but does not take off his overalls and work boots.  Instead, he goes to dig in the garden--turns out Mr. Rally digs for work and for play!  How nice to show someone who loves his job so much, he happily does it at home, too.

Pigsty by Mark Teague

Pigsty by Mark Teague

Rating: 4 stars

Lorelei and Ben are good helpers when it's clean up time, but I can't wait to just say, "Ok, go clean up your room!"  My job will be to simply inspect it.  (I'm sure no nagging will be involved.)  This book is a funny look at a boy who refuses to clean his room.  It literally turns into a pigsty!

When his mother just throws up her hands and says Wendell can choose the level of cleanliness in his own room, he is ecstatic.  Even though one pig has already moved in.  Then another joins in, and Wendell still thinks it's great--they play monopoly and other games together.  But then two more join the mix, and suddenly he finds his basketball flat after it was used as a stool and his comic books with hoof prints all over them.  He decides for himself that enough is enough, organizes a swine cleaning crew, and cleans up.  The pigs, of course, move out because it's too clean, and only return for the occasional game night.

We like Mark Teague's words and love his artwork--his pictures seem big and in-your-face in a great way.  There are clever little things hidden in some pages, like one of the last pages where the pick-up truck that takes the pigs home has a license plate that reads: EIEIO.  I liked that, when I pointed out and explained it to Lorelei, she got the joke.  I'm pretty sure she got the joke (either way, I appreciate that she giggled a bit...just the right thing to do when Mommy makes a joke or points out a joke!)  I like the play-on-words lesson in this book--Lorelei understood that, literally, a pigsty is a place where pigs live.  And figuratively, it's a really messy, dirty place.  I don't know how amused I'll be when the day comes that she calls my car a pigsty, because it most certainly is most days of the month!