Snakes! by David Greenberg, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

Snakes! by David Greenberg, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

Rating: 4.5 stars

This book is not for the faint of heart!  If your child is already afraid of snakes, perhaps...choose another title.  And if your little reader is intimidated by a lot of big, unknown words, perhaps...choose another title.

This is a romp of a tale told by a sophisticated author whose word choice is awesome and hilarious and challenging and, for sure, different.  I'll give you a sample of what I'm talking about:

Tangled like spaghetti
Slithery and sweaty
Nesting in a heap beneath your bed.

Can you feel your mattress shaking?
Slowing they're awaking
And it's months and months and months since they have fed

What a horrifying rustle
Of cartilage and muscle
Very very slowly they unwind

Tongues abruptly flickering
Whispering and snickering
They wriggle off to see what they can find

Every stanza impresses me!  And, wonderfully, Lorelei and Ben are of the age where they appreciate the rollicking feel of the poem, and Lorelei needs to be challenged by words in this book.  She knows almost all the words she comes across in books, but this one...this one makes her realize how many fun ones there are out there!  For the child who is already reading but either isn't into chapter books (for whatever reason) or isn't ready for the subject matter of chapter books, this is a good little series of books to check out.

The other wonderful thing about this book, and others by David Greenberg (including Skunks! and Bugs! and Slugs!) is the icky nature of them.  They are so far from the clean, pink world of most princess books...I love it!

Hold on, gotta go check for snakes under my bed...

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith

Rating: 3.5 stars

 Lorelei and Ben read a Dora book a long time ago where Dora "jumps into the book" to save a princess (blech!).  But the thought of jumping into a book has stayed with them.  This is a book that I'd like to jump into.

Undoubtedly, the Caldecott team got it right when they selected this book to be a winner.  The illustrations are phenomenal, and worthy of purchasing the book.  Smith tells the tale of a boy, illustrating the pictures with bushes pruned to become parts of the story.  When the little boy steals his first kiss, the boy is actually kissing a bush cut to be a girl, leafy lips puckering to meet his.  The boy studies horticulture but goes to a world war instead ("What's a world war, Mommy?"  Hmmm...maybe wanted to wait until , Kindergarten for that one...), but happily finds a woman to marry and grow old with.  They have kids and grandkids...

And then the little boy stumbles into his grandfather, whose memory fails him now.  The grandfather is returning to one of his favorite things in his old age--gardening--and is sharing it with his grandson.  "But the important stuff," the book ends, "the garden remembers for him."

Anyone with an aging parent or grandparent, please cue the tears right about now.  Seriously!  I do hope when I'm old and gray and wrinkled I am able to celebrate the amazing moments in my life--and there have been many--in some way.

This book is not for little kids, except for the illustrations, which can definitely inspire and awe the littlest of eyes.  The older they are, the more they can appreciate the illustrations and how they show the story line.  This is a great gift book for older people, I think.  I love that some children's books are mostly for adults, and this is definitely one of them.

One Little Seed by Elaine Greenstein

One Little Seed by Elaine Greenstein

Rating: 5 stars

This is a simple little book.  Simple words.  Simple pictures.  Simple message.  You can't go wrong with it; I think it should be the base for all of us mother-gardeners who are looking for a book or two to explain the process of gardening...

Here's the whole book (I'm sure you can imagine the beautiful illustration on the corresponding page):

One little seed

Our garden, day one.

Dropped in a hole
Watered and loved
Roots unfurl
Sprout uncurls
Stretch in rain
Weed and watch
Bud bursts out
Sun shines bright
Blooms blossom
One little seed is picked

That's it, and that's all.

Why do we garden?  At our house, there are a few reasons: To save a bit of money; to become a little closer to nature; to know the origin of our food; to differentiate between vegetables grown on a vine, in the ground, etc; to have something productive to do.

But the biggest reason: to teach patience.  Good things take TIME.  And often, a lot of it.

A few weeks ago we checked out a Franklin book where Franklin's class each gets a seed from their teacher.  Their homework: plant it, watch it grow, and identify what sort of plant it is.  When they can identify it, they are to bring it back to school and plant it in the school's garden.  Franklin's plant takes the longest, but finally (of course) he realizes what it is (I can't remember!) and brings it back, happy that his plant can join all of his friends' plants.  The teacher asks them what plants need, and they chime in the same answers as we did when we were kids: water, soil, sun.

And Franklin adds: "Time!"

I was so proud--SO PROUD!--of Lorelei when she told me that she also added "time" when her teacher asked her class what plants need to thrive.  It is just so true.  We all need time to grow...  Time to get over difficult times, time to get rid of that baby weight, time to watch your garden bloom, time to get past an un-fun phase with your kids, time to learn what loving your husband really, truly means, time to understand what it means to be happy.

So, we simply garden.  And we simplly learn life lessons from gardening (and lots of other stuff).  And we simply teach our kids...  One day at a time.

Ugh! A Bug by Mary Bono

Ugh! A Bug by Mary Bono

Rating: 5 stars

I asked Lorelei what sort of party she wanted for her birthday; she replied, "A princess party!" uber-enthusiastically.

Because I'm mean like that, I said, "No."  Then I thought to myself, That was pretty mean.  Perhaps I could soften my response a bit?  I explained to her that I thought it was important to make the boys at the party welcome, and they might not be excited about a princess party.  And then, because I know how to get under skin, I used her favorite word in my next argument: "Besides, everyone has princess parties.  Let's have one that is unique."  Her eyes lit up, and she got excited.

We decided on a garden party.  Not just a fairies and tea party garden party, but a wear-boots-'cause-you're-gonna-get-messy garden party.  We bought all our vegetables and set out the pots they needed to be planted in and helped the little gardeners (aka guests) plant our own garden.  It was a lot of fun--I only wish that we had more to plant, because we had so many eager hands!

Lorelei's twin cousins at the "reading center" at her party.

Because I'm nerdy like that, we had "centers" when the kids arrived.  Both Lorelei and Ben dig centers at school, and the concept has been super useful for me for playdates or just managing a long rainy afternoon with my own kids.  We had a sidewalk chalk center, a painting rocks like ladybugs center, a bubble center, and...you guessed it!  A book center.

This book was one of the garden-themed books we included.  It is a fun book--a great rhyme--that asks kids what they do when they see a bug with a ton of questions.  For example: "If you spied a centipede slithering by,/ would you reach for a stick? Run away?  Start to cry?"  The book ends by encouraging children NOT to stick bug in a jar for they are always happier out in nature.  Thankfully Bono makes no mention of that horrible boys-always-do-it thing about burning bugs with a magnifying glass (shudder)!

The illustrations are plain and simple and great.  It makes the kids giggle, and they can find some of the bugs mentioned in the book in our own yard and woods, which is always satisfying to me.  Entertaining and educational?  That's a good book in my mind.

Because I'm cheap like that, I bought our copy for 99 cents.  That's the only downside to this book: it's out of print.  But the one we found is in fantastic condition.  (Confession: It was actually supposed to be a gift, but we liked it so much we kept it!)  If you find a used copy, it might be worth grabbing it.  But you can always get it the way we first found it: our wonderful library.  And it's even cheaper than 99 cents.

Welcome back, ... me.

I'm not sure how a year passed since my last post.  Of course, having a baby will do that to you--make you disappear from the face of the earth, only to be seen when the baby is almost walking, giggles more than cries, and totally weaned.  But the past year wasn't totally a blur.  It was full of many wonderful moments, many sweet memories, many laugh-out-loud incidents.  It just wasn't full of blog posts!  Whoops.

I'm determined to change that, and hope that there are maybe just maybe a few people out there who are reading that.  (Besides Mom.  Hi, Mom!)  I miss writing, even if this is mostly a journal to print out later for Lorelei, Ben, and Kiefer to have as a deeper scrapbook of their childhood.

I'll start writing book reviews tomorrow, but first I have to catch you up on my kiddos:

First, Lorelei turns five tomorrow.  Five!  My little bookworm started reading a few months after her fourth birthday (thanks to Mo Willems and those wonderful Elephant and Piggie books), and is now reading chapter books.  I'm actually realizing a hole exists in kid-lit: advanced books for little readers.  While the Magic Treehouse series is pretty great, it's the only series I've found that is void of sarcasm, name-calling, and older-kid issues.  If you've got some titles for me, please send them my way.  Anyway, Lorelei is the sweetest little being on earth, insisting she "loves everyone and everything."

Second, Ben is three and a half.  Since Lorelei is reading chapter books and since Lorelei is his main hero, he pretends to read chapter books, too.  When she opened up her gifts at her party, she opened two chapter books.  He immediately went crazy with excitement, asking her to borrow one of them.  Sweet Lorelei agreed, and he sat on the front steps of our yellow home "reading" the chapter book.  For about fifteen minutes.

Third, Kiefer is almost one.  Thankfully he's no longer a blob (sorry for any of you who love the newborn stage...I appreciate it, but only as a stage to greater things) and he cruises around, laughing out loud--often at himself.  It seems like all of the kids inherited my man-I-think-I-am-funny gene!  I guess they hang out with me all the time...  Anyway, he's pretty darn cute (pictures to follow) and even has his favorite book: Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb, by Al Perkins, which he "dances" to while "reading" it by himself.

So, books are still a huge part of our mornings, afternoons, and nights.  This summer we're going to take our weekly field trips one step further and add a bunch of books and an experiment or two to make it a "Science Summer" (here's to hoping...aim high, right?).  I'm hoping that some of you can follow along a week behind, using the books and activities we've read and done to guide you through a summer of fun field trips, augmented (of course!) with books.

I love feedback of any sort, so please post comments and suggestions at the end of this or any post, or send me an email...

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman

Rating: 5 stars

What do you do while nursing or feeding a newborn?  "They" (who are they anyway?) say to talk to him, sing to him, read to him.  For me, I can't keep talking.  Either a) the quiet is so peaceful or b) I don't want to add to the crazy array of sounds we are already forcing Kiefer to listen to.  So, when it's just me and him, I read to him.  My husband laughs: "Starting him early?"  You betcha! 

Even Jonathan remembers this book and, if pressed, he could probably recite some of it.  It was Lorelei's bedtime book for months.  I'd read it every night--if traveling, I'd recite it from memory.  Kiefer now gets the same book--amazingly, our original is in tact.  It survived Ben's phase of eating books.

Karma Wilson has produced a book with a great rhyme and sweet message--one that resonates with me, the youngest child: no one wants to be left out!  A bunch of animals gather in Bear's den while he hibernates, and they party all night until suddenly Bear wakes up.  They all think he's mad but in fact he just wants to join in.  They invite him to eat and play with them until Bear is the only one who is not sleeping.

Luckily, Karma Wilson has saved my kids from complete boredom by writing more Bear books: Bear Wants More, Bear Feels Scared, Bear's New Friend. and Bear Feels Sick.  They are all great, but the original is my favorite.  Kiefer will soon agree.  He just has to hear it 7,538 more times.

Elephant and Piggie Books by Mo Willems

There is a Bird On Your Head! by Mo Willems (and all the rest of these Elephant and Piggie Books)

Rating: 5 belly-laughing stars

Where have I been?  How did I not know about these books?  I guess these are two very separate questions...while I mean that in relation to this fantastic series, I guess I should quickly explain why I've been silent for these past months: 

I've been busy being pregnant and having a baby!  Our littlest guy, Kiefer, arrived last week.  He's happy and healthy and already has a good reading list under his nonexistent pillow.  Anyway, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, adjusting to a new and wonderful reality with two young ones and one newborn (and a husband and two crazy hounds).

Back to this series!  Enough about life-changing news! 

Lorelei's pal gave this to her for her fourth birthday a few weeks ago, and I was curious about it.  I had picked up one of the books in the series earlier but had not been impressed.  I don't really know why, because it blew my socks off this time!  Lorelei is starting to read--when she wants to, and whatever words she wants to--and these books are super simple.  They are written in conversation style, with text bubbles coming from the lovable elephant and pig. 

What makes this series so stellar is Mo Willems' wit.  He just gets what makes kids giggle!  Take There is a Bird On Your Head!  A bird lands on Elephant's head, and he isn't thrilled about it, but Piggie finds it pretty funny.  Then the bird falls in love, makes a nest, and lays some eggs.  This makes Elephant less happy and Piggie more happy.  Then the eggs hatch!  Elephant politely asks the bird family to move away, which they do.  Onto Piggie's head. Now the roles are reversed, and Elephant chuckles at Piggie's new nest.  Lorelei cracks up every time, and Ben does, too (though part of his laughter is definitely from my-favorite-big-sister-is-laughing-so-I-am-too-though-I-don't-know-what's-funny).

You cannot go wrong with this series!  I want to buy them all for every 4 year-old I know.  I want Mo Willems to write more of them!  They are appropriately hilarious for the age group, and a fun invitation to try to read a word or two.  Check out all of them, like we did last week!

The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine

The Story of Noodles by Ying Chang Compestine, illustrated by Yong Sheng Xuan

Rating: 4 stars

Confession: The only reason I checked this book out was to continue my current campaign for Lorelei to love noodles.

Sadly, she still just tolerates them, eating the exact number, and no more, to get past my dinner requirements.  Grrr.  At least she tries them.  This week we've tired yet ANOTHER type of pasta, selected by her at the grocery store yesterday.  That means that in our pantry we've got: spaghetti, shell-like orecchiette, bow-tie farfalle, spinach penne, colorful corkscrew fusilli, and now some colorful tubular variety.  This quest has involved several books including Strega Nona, but hasn't given me the result I want.

Sigh.

At least I found a really interesting book in the process.  This book is about the origin of noodles, which is China, not Lorelei's (and beloved Grammy's) beloved Italy.  A family in Beijing is going to make the same old delicious dumpling dish for a cooking contest until the mother leaves the boys in charge of the kitchen.  (My grandmother, who also had three boys, would have known better.)  Of course, they make a mess of things and end up making long sheets of rice, which they cut into long strips.  They enter the contest and, because the emperor had never tasted anything like that before, they win.

What I love most about the book is related to my quest.  The three boys have three different ways of eating noodles, something that I think is great because I'm always saying that there's rarely only one way to do anything.  (Sometimes Lorelei wants Ben to do something EXACTLY as she wants.)  First, there's "eating a drumstick," which involves rolling some of the noodles around the tip of his chopsticks and stuffing it into your mouth.  second, there's "sucking a worm," which means you put one end of the noodle in your mouth and suck/slurp like crazy until the whole thing is in your mouth.  Third, there's "cutting the grass," which allows you to stuff noodles in your mouth and bite off all the strands hanging out of your mouth with your teeth.  So fun!  As the messiest eaters in the family, Ben and I would definitely be happy to try all of these.

(By the way, if you've not gotten cheater chopsticks for your kid, they are so fun!  We have these.  Lorelei is a pro, though they frustrate Ben a bit.)

So this is a good book for a bunch of different reasons.  There's a whole other culture to explore (and the illustrations are definitely Asian in the best way), the origin of the best carbohydrate known to man, and techniques to eat those wonderful carbs.  We look forward to reading Compestine's other books--after checking out this book, I realized she wrote The Runaway Wok, a recent book that we really like.

Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman

Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman
Rating: 4.5 stars

Barbara Lehman has churned out a bunch of books with super interesting drawings, and without words.  If you're looking for another wordless picture book to add to your collection or check out from the library, definitely take a look at her collection.  We've looked at most of her books, and this is our favorite.  Her others are good, especially the award-winning The Red Book.  But they are better for a slightly older crowd, I think; I think Lorelei will start appreciating them in another 6-8 months or so.

Why read wordless picture books?  Here are a few reasons; a child can:

• "Read" a book all by herself, without any help from a grown-up
• Create a new and unique story each time they "read" it
• Adds her own words to the story, thereby practicing vocabulary and sentence structure
• "Read" the book TO you (I like to pretend that Lorelei has to read a book to me before I go to sleep, so she covers me up with a blanket and chooses a book to read to me.  Win-win situation!)
• Practice if-when and sequencing concepts

This book is a really good one, and shows the tale of a little boy who seems lonely on a rainy day in a big ol' mansion without any siblings or playmates.  He finds a key and realizes it unlocks a treasure chest which has only a ladder inside.  He climbs down and walks through a long tunnel, then surfaces on a little island where the sun is shining a group of smiling children are smiling, as if waiting for him.  They play together until the sun goes down, and the boy returns to his own cold house for dinner.  The next day he returns to the treasure chest and ladder, and meets the group of children in the tunnel--they were en route to find him.  He's overjoyed to bring them to his house, where they play together happily.

Super cute!  Unless your child is an only child and you live in a mansion when it rains all day, of course.  Then it might hit a little too close to home, and your child might be sad that there is no key, no treasure chest, and no group of kids waiting on the other side of a secret tunnel for him.  Then it might be a little sad. 

Polo: The Runaway Book by Regis Faller

Polo: The Runaway Book by Regis Faller

Rating: 5 (is 6 possible?) stars

All right, regarding me wanting to add a sixth star, there are definitely some better children's books out there--this is not our for-all-time, no-joke-about-it favorite book ever.  BUT the creativity in this book just knocks my socks off!  I'm really, really impressed and just am thankful that my kids and their budding imaginations can be inspired by this Regis Faller guy.

In case you're reading this from some warm place, it's been cold here in the US.  Really cold.  Northern Virginia usually has mild winters with 2 or 3 snowstorms that provide 3-8 inches with each storm.  And you can almost always count on a few random warm "relief" days during each winter month.

This year?  Not so much.  Today was the second day we reached 50 degrees since early December.  It has been C-O-L-D.  And then, last week, we got 8 inches of snow dumped on us.  School closed for three days, then we had a weekend, followed by two teacher workdays. That's SEVEN days home, in a row.  With temps so low it was tough to go out for longer than 15 minutes.  Add to that a case of pink eye (Lorelei) and strep butt (Ben).  Yes, you read that right.  Who knew it could appear in a place other than your throat?  Well, now you know.


Polo reads his book, before it gets snatched away!

 But we survived.  Thanks to the 47 books we checked out from the library the night before the snow fell!  We almost hit our 50 book limit!

What books do you want in your house, on your shelf, when you're snowed in?  This is actually a fun and useful question to me these days, in a nerdy sort of way of course.  And, getting back to the book I'm supposed to be writing about, this book is THE BOOK you want.  Actually, next time you see your local weather people ringing the alarm bells on a storm, just order up all of Regis Faller's books so you have them.  They are all wordless and so interesting--sometimes touching on Alice in Wonderland bizarre--and kids can "read" them by themselves.  About once a day, Lorelei would spend 5-10 minutes with this big book on her lap, following Polo with her finger, sometimes telling the story out loud to herself, or to one of the big sleeping weimaraners next to her.

Here's the thing about all the Polo books--they are all great, but this one and The Adventures of Polo are the longest by far--maybe three times the length of the others--so they make the best purchases if you're going to buy one for yourself or as a gift.

Beth's Post: Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies

Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies

Rating: 4 stars

Have you ever wondered where bats go on vacation? They go to the beach, of course, just like you and I! Only when they go it is dark, so they need “moon-tan lotion” and raid the snack bar for insect snacks. It sounds much cuter when you read it with rhyming couplets.


They still participate in all of the regular beach activities, like surfing and digging in the sand, and it is a really creative and fun to read book. The pictures are fun but a little dark and younger readers might have trouble paying attention to the darkly portrayed bat fun.

We received this book as a grandparent present, after visiting the “beaches” of Tacoma, Washington with them at their home. They quickly learned from our Florida- and Hawaii-spoiled children that the cloudy, cold, clam filled murky shore was “NOT A BEACH” in no uncertain terms. They had fun finding and sending us Bats at the Beach, which portrayed the beach a little differently but with just as much fun. It only took a few minutes to convince the kids to roll up their jeans, put back on a hat, and wade out into the water to crab little crabs and spitting clams like all the other kids.

Beth's Post: Inch By Inch by Leo Lionni

Inch By Inch by Leo Lionni

Rating: 4 stars

Out of the library of Leo Lionni books we own, my daughter chose Inch By Inch to read tonight. Always happy to read a book with beautiful illustrations and a happy ending, I cheerfully agreed. This Caldecott Honor Book was published in 1960 and still is just thrilling enough for a two or three year old inch worm loving child.


The inchworm is able to convince a hungry robin that he is useful in measuring all of the birds. He is able to measure long enough to measure the song of the nightingale inch by inch until he inches himself out of sight. It’s the perfect length and subject matter for “one more book” before bed.

Beth's Post: The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Rating: 5 stars

Eric Carle is a master at combining beautiful illustrations with thoughtful stories and subtlety engaging children in life science subjects.


Our copy of The Tiny Seed is worn with years of reading, the binding taped in several spots and a bold, “JULIA” written in the first page to mark that we are never, ever getting rid of this book. My kids loved looking at the pictures and were mesmerized by the story as toddlers, pages were used with tracing paper to copy the trees and flowers, and now that they are great readers they still love picking it up and reading it to me.

A tiny seed, smaller than any of the others blows with the strong Autumn wind and flies by the sun, over icy mountains, the ocean, the desert and drops down to a perfect grassy spot only to narrowly avoid being eaten by a bird. It rests in the soil through the long winter nights, and grows to astounding heights in the spring. In the end, autumn again, it releases its tiny seeds in the wind.

I hope that you will get to experience this beautiful book, but you can’t have our copy, we’re still reading it.

Welcome, Beth!

I have to introduce Beth, someone to whom I often refer because she and her two kids are even bigger readers than we are.  Because her two kids are a few years older than Lorelei and Ben, she always has The Best books to suggest to us.  I've asked her to add some of her own reviews directly rather than what's happening now:

Me:  Beth, have any good books to suggest?

Beth:  Oh yes!  (Enter 10-15 titles here.)

Me:  Thanks!  (Now I go off and read them and write little reviews of the books and the tales of us reading them.)

Now you'll get them from Beth, herself!  And her illustrious daughter Julia, and her sweet son Ryan.  I'm sure pictures will follow sooner or later...but if I wait for them, this post might not actually be posted till August.  Of 2012!

The other big reason why I truly do need Beth's expert help is (drum roll, please), there'll be another baby in our house in a few months.  Ben and Lorelei (and me and Jonathan, too) are expecting a baby brother in early May.  Hooray!  I'm just going to go out on a limb and predict that I'll be a bit busier than I even expect as of this moment.  The fuzzy late nights of newborn-hood are fuzzy to me now...I think the reason we decided to try for a third child is because my brain forgets the bad and remembers the good.  I think I'm lucky for this...we'll see!

So, welcome Beth (and Julia and Ryan, her small but big helpers)!

Kate

My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz

My First Chinese New Year by Karen Katz
Rating: 5 stars

Bottom line up front: this is the best explanation of Chinese New Year that we've found.  I'm curious if there are other books people have found to explain the holiday, one that is mostly foreign to us but one that we're very curious about.

Ever since we read The Runaway Wok a few weeks ago, Lorelei has been very curious about Chinese New Year.  I'm super excited about her interest in anything cultural--as a former Peace Corps Volunteer I'm all about introducing cultures other than our family's American, Polish, Cajun cultures.  I've found a place to take her on 12 February, so I'm hoping she doesn't get freaked out by the loud drums and fireworks.  But you never know until you try! 



Gung Hay Fat Choy!

 Anyway, back to the book, which is one of the Chinese New Year books on our shelf to help prepare us for our little field trip.  Karen Katz's books are simple; every time I read them I wonder why I didn't think of that.  But they're also sweet, and the drawings are just the same--simple and sweet. 

But this one is a more than simple and sweet--it's actually a really great introduction to Chinese New Year because it outlines all the different customs within the holiday--customs like sweeping your house (to get the bad spirits out), decorating the walls with red paper (for good luck), purchasing plum and quince blossoms (to remind us new things can grow), and getting your hair cut (to start the year all fresh and new).  There's lots more packed in there, too, and each custom has an illustration to match that helps explain the custom, visually, to the little readers.

If you're a teacher, My First Chinese New Year is a great educational tool.  Karen Katz also has written My First Ramadan and My First Kwanzaa, too, in case you're looking for a complete, introductory set to lesser known holidays!

ABC's by Charley Harper

ABC's by Charley Harper
Rating: 4.5 stars

I only know a little about artist Charley Harper and his very neat, very fun illustrations.  I've seen the match-up game version of this simple ABC book in Anthropologie, my favorite clothing store ever, so I give him posthumous props for finding his way into their stylish doors.

Ben especially loves this book, and it's inspired him to say a few new words--just basic stuff like "bird" and "dog."  Hey, I'll take that!  I don't know what happened to X, though...instead of a cool bug or animal like the rest of the letters, there are a bunch of water bugs and you're supposed to find all the Xs.  This confuses Lorelei and Ben a bit.  Anyway, we can get over that minor foible.  We also trace the letters with our fingers, and we love the front and back flaps with all of the smaller images clustered in tightly together. 

We got ours from the library, but this is a great birthday book for a first birthday--what library is complete without at least one ABC book?  Our other favorites, which include more text than this one, include Dr Suess' ABC and LMNO Peas by Keith Baker.  Love those!

Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen

Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Rating: 4.5 stars

Any "So You Think You Can Dance" fans out there?  I admit that I watch a few too many reality TV shows, and this dance show strikes a chord from my show choir (insert chuckle here) past.  I'll spare you the details of jazz hands and glittering outfits.  Debbie Allen, the author of this book, is a judge on the show and is a famous dancer (so I hear from her on the show).

Even if you don't watch the show, the book is good and the illustrations are gorgeous.  But c'mon, what picture of a ballerina doesn't reach out and grab you?  Doesn't a young woman stretching her legs in an impossible position while balancing on her toes just take your breath away?  If you agree even half-heartedly, then you'll like this book.  Or the little girl in your life will love this book.

Sassy's a young dancer from California who is mercilessly teased for being so tall.  She towers above all the other dancers, and her teachers complain that they can't find her a dance partner to match her height, so she never dances in any of the recitals.  Then, her dance class finds out that there's an opportunity to dance in Washington, DC, for the summer at a prestigious school.  She's not sure she should try out, but she does--in a look-at-me yellow leotard, standing in the front row.  She gets the attention of the Russian instructor for that, but soon holds his attention with the way she moves.

I admit that the picture where she, and only she, makes the cut brought me to tears.  The expression on her face is a mix of shock and awe (in a wonderfully childish way) at herself and her potential, finally recognized by someone important.  She suddenly belives in herself.  She is SO proud of herself, as is her big brother, who is the leader of the pack who teases her about being tall.

This is a beautiful book, and definitely a great one for a little ballerina's library.

Minerva Louise (Review, Part I) by Janet Morgan Stoeke

Minerva Louise (Review, Part I) by Janet Morgan Stoeke

Rating: 5 funny stars!

You know Amelia Bedilia, right?  Well, this is the toddler/preschooler version to take-it-at-face-value literalist Amelia Bedilia.  Amelia Bedilia books require a bit of cultural literacy, or sometimes just a broader range of experience, than most 3 or 4 year olds possess.  Minerva Louise, on the other hand, takes things just as literally, but the situations are a whole lot more obvious, and therefore a whole lot funnier, to little ones like Lorelei.  And Ben, too, but I'm not sure if he laughs along just because his beloved big sister is nearly snorting her milk next to him.

Here are the ones we've checked out, read, and loved so far:
 

Minerva Louise.  The first, the original.  Minerva, a simple-minded hen, can't help but explore the sweet home next to her coop.  She thinks a cat is a cow and is looking for more friends to play with while absentmindedly walking past the man and woman of the house.  She finds a rubber duck and tries to convince him to play outside.  It's a good warm-up to the chicken, but the other books are better.

Minerva Louise and the Red Truck.  Guess who loves this one best?  That's right, Ben.  Minerva Louise goes to play in her favorite red truck.  She finds lots of "toys" (tools!) and a table and chairs (flower pots!), which she uses to have a tea party (the hammer "sitting" in the flower pot is chuckle-worthy).  Then the red truck zooms off, and she sees a lake (no, a pool!), farmers working (no, golfers playing!), and a barn with a hat (no, a church with a steeple!).  She likes the ride but is happy to be home.

Minerva Louise and the Colorful Eggs.  Pretty cute Easter book, though it's more of a Springtime book than anything religious.  Minerva Louise loves the colors of Spring (I type as there is still a thick blanket of snow outside...oh how I wish the colors of Spring were here!), and watches as the farmers play outside.  Minerva Louise starts to find strange colored eggs all around, and tries to sit on them to warm them up.  She gathers her friends to help because there are too many for her to sit on by herself, and some "are so cold they're turning blue!"

 Minerva Louise at the Fair.  Minerva Louise trots down to the local fair after seeing the fireworks from afar.  She checks out the house of mirrors, wondering why the chickens she sees (her reflection) don't want to come over and play.  She thinks that the barn (the carousel) is magnificent and, when she's tired at the end of the night, she hopes that the hen house hotel is just as beautiful.  She's too sleepy to notice that that hen house is actually housed with bunnies, but she snores next to them till her little farmer finds her in the morning and takes her home.

Bridges Are To Cross by Philemon Sturges

Bridges Are To Cross by Philemon Sturges, illustrated by Giles Laroche

Rating: 5 stars

I LOVE how this book turns bridges, something that one could look at as pretty ordinary, and shows how extraordinary they really can be.

The book is, obviously, about bridges; it's not exactly a story book, but does have enough words on each page that describe the pictures enough to make it better for younger audiences than, say, a DK book on dinosaurs.  Each page shows a gorgeous illustration (see below) that draws the little reader in to that particular bridge.  Struges' text, just one sentence, explains how this bridge is unique.  Some examples:

• Tower Bridge (London, England): "This bridge lets boats float under the road."
• Segovia Aqueduct (Segovia, Spain): "And this one brings river to the city."
• Engetsu Bridge (Takamatsu, Japan): "This bridge was for the shogun to cross to find the quiet of his garden."

  

  "This bridge is very old and very new. 
  It was built long ago, but is always being repaired and rebuilt."

  
• Ponte di Realto (Venice, Italy): "And this one's for ordinary people to cross, to shop, or just watch gondolas."

Under the main text, there are a few sentences that go more in-depth, providing a bit more information.  They are always fascinating, and spark some really great conversation--from "Let's find this on the globe!" or "Is that far or near us?" or "Have you or Daddy ever been to this bridge?"

Giles Laroche is pretty neat himself.  He makes this elaborate paper collages that somehow, magically, turn into the background and foreground of these cool structures.  (The Brooklyn Bridge one is the most impressive, I think.)  I can't imagine how long it takes him to do each one!  He says that he likes to create pictures of faraway places; he is often is inspired by how own artwork to then travel to that faraway place to explore.  I love that no matter where he travels or hikes, he always has a sketchbook in hand.  I am really looking forward to exploring more of his work in books like What Do Wheels Do All Day? and What's Inside?


This book is an inspirational treasure.  Check it out (or buy it) today!

Oh No, Gotta Go #2 by Susan Middletown Elya

Oh No, Gotta Go #2 by Susan Middletown Elya, illustrated by Lynn Avril

Rating: 4 stars

Yup, there's a sequel to Oh No Gotta Go, the cute story of a little girl who drinks too much juice and suddenly has to go to the bathroom NOW.  When I saw there was a second book, I was curious if it was just another situation in which she'd have to pee or if, as the book hints, this one wasn't about pee but about poop.

It's about poop!

Lorelei chuckled the whole time through this book, and while there's a lot of Spanish that Lorelei, who thinks she's already fluent, liked, it was the slang and easy innuendos that I liked teaching her through this book.  We don't say "#1" and "#2" in our house, but it's definitely a good thing to know.  Bathroom cultural literacy, if you will.  Ha!  As her stomach gurgles and churns, there's a picture of a volcano(cleverly, the street that they're walking next to is turned into a lava-gurgling, about-to-erupt volcano), so it was fun to tell Lorelei that the author and illustrator are saying that her stomach is like a volcano and she needs to sit on the potty before she explodes in a less desirable place.

This might be a little too much potty talk for your family, but we really liked it.

(By the way, in case you were worried, she makes it.)