Thank You and Good Night by Patrick McDonnell

Thank You and Good Night by Patrick McDonnell
Little, Brown and Company

Rating: 5 stars

Maggie and Clement are getting into their pajamas when friends Jean and Alan Alexander appear at the door. "We're here!" they announce.

It's time for a good, old-fashioned pajama party!

They dance the chicken dance, jump on the bed, play hide-and-seek, and do yoga. As they get sleepier, they wish on a falling star, sing a lullaby, and start to yawn.

"Now is it time for bed?" the three animals ask Maggie.

"Yes," she says.

Maggie read them their favorite bedtime stories--
stories about a majestic elephant, a brave bear, and a quiet bunny.
Stories that bring sweet dreams.

They sleepwalk, zombie-style, down the hall, listen to several bedtime stories, and then Maggie prompts to end the day in a thankful way.

"Now, before we go to sleep, let's all say what we are thankful for this day," she says.

The list is wonderfully long and lasts the whole page, and ends with a good-night kiss from Maggie on their heads.

Thank you, and good night.

I am smitten by this book because although we aren't the biggest prayers, we sure are thankful, and we talk about how lucky we are all the time. Like Maggie, Clement, Jean, and Alan Alexander, we have much to be thankful for each and every day.

I hope your family does, too!

Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony

Please, Mr. Panda by Steve Antony
Scholastic

Rating: 5 stars

Once in a while, a perfect book just falls in your lap. And this book, with the adorably grumpy panda holding a box of delicious treats on its cover, is one such book.

Simple, sweet, with a fantastic message.

Mr. Panda offers donuts to a handful of different animals, but then changes his mind and takes back the offer when their responses are much too greedy, demanding, and rude.

"Would you like a doughnut?" Panda asks Penguin,

"Give me the pink one." Penguin replies.

"No, you cannot have a doughnut. I have changed my mind."

In the end, it's lemur who uses that magic word...and gets the whole box. Yum! That's what I call just desserts.

Cat Says Meow and Other An-i-mal-o-poe-ia by Michael Arndt

Cat Says Meow and Other An-i-mal-o-poe-ia by Michael Arndt
Chronicle Books

Rating: 5 stars

This is a picture book. Of that I'm certain. But it's not a traditional story--it's just an example of how to have fun with words and pictures. Ben saw it at the library and handed it to me with, "You've got to check this out, Mom. I saw it in school."

My trio and I have paged through it several times--Kiefer can "read" it by guessing the animal sound, and we all appreciate the cleverness of artist Michael Arndt and appreciate how he used the animal sound to draw the animals.

Look at how he uses "Quack" and "Glub" and "Moo" and "Oink" to draw a duck, fish, cow, and pig:

As Ben says, you've got to check it out!

Little Miss, Big Sis by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Little Miss, Big Sis by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Harper

Rating: 5 stars

If you know of any little girls who are about to become big sisters, this is The Book to get her. It is cute, it is sweet, it is funny, and it is both realistic and optimistic about a big sister's sibling experience.

Should I just stop there?

I'll go on a little more:

This book has just 129 words and has a very simple rhyme, making it perfect for the youngest of big sisters--Lorelei became a big sister when she was just 18 months, and I know she's not alone in this experience of early-sibling-hood.

After receiving the news that she, the "little miss" is going to become a "big sis," and after she and her parents rush to the hospital to have the baby, the story goes on to talk about what the new big sis can expect"

Drool. Drool. Cry. Cry. (Lullaby?)
Do not despair--I'll help care!
From there, EVERYWHERE...
Stay near crib. Help with bib. (What a sib!)

And despite the fact that the baby "sometimes takes toys" and "sometimes annoys," Big Sis "always supports.

Really, it's just the sweetest poem, and the icing on top is Peter Reynolds' fantastic illustrations. It seems like whatever he draws it's uplifting and sweet, funny and poignant.

The. Perfect. Book. for a girl becoming a big sister!

(Amy Krouse Rosenthal is such a great author--she delivers witty and fun books. Click HERE to see the list of books of hers I've reviewed. And Peter H. Reynolds, an author/illustrator, has produced some incredible books as well--click HERE for a list of his books.)

Don't Push the Button! by Bill Cotter

Don't Push the Button! by Bill Cotter
Sourcebooks, Inc.

Rating: 3.5 stars

My kids, especially 3 1/2 year old Kiefer, don't care at all that his book borrows heavily from the incredibly creative and super successful Press Here by Herve Tullet. Critical comparisons is not something Kiefer cares about when he sits down in my lap and asks me in his sweet voice, "Will you please read this book to me?"

(Shame on me that I let a critical comparison decrease some of sweetness of this moment!)

Bill Cotter has come up with a book for toddlers and preschoolers that is all about pushing that button that they shouldn't press. Anyone who has ridden an elevator with any young child already knows how, for kids, buttons are The It Thing and how pressing ALL of them is just so very fun. (And anyone with an older child knows how well they press OUR buttons, but that metaphoric button-pressing hasn't found itself in a book. That I know of.)

In Don't Push the Button!, Larry the Monster first tells the reader not to push the button that appears on the left-hand side of every double page spread. But a few pages in, he whispers, "No one is looking. You should give the button on little push."

A mischievous fellow, that Larry.

So Kiefer pushes the button and on the next page Larry is not purple but yellow. When Kiefer pushes the button again he's got polka-dots. Push it twice and there are two yellow-with-pink-polka-dotted Larrys. You get the idea. There's more button pushing and some book shaking, too, which makes Kiefer laugh.

This is a fun book for kids. Hopefully it gets all that button-pressing-desire out of them so they can leave those on the elevator unpressed...

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

Beach Lane Books

Rating: 5 stars

It's Caldecott season, and this well-deserving book is being talked about a whole lot...will it win? We'll see...stay tuned on 2 February...

All will feel something when reading The Farmer and the Clown. It's the right balance of silly and somber, though maybe it's us adults who have felt loneliness and loss a whole lot more than kids (hopefully) who see the sobering side of the message...

A curmudgeon of a farmer toils alone in his field, pausing only to watch a train roll by. When something or someone falls out of the train, he's alarmed. He drops his pitchfork and runs right over. It's a boy-clown, with a big, painted-on grin. The surly man and the smiley boy size each other up, then walk hand-in-hand to his home to eat together. When washing up, the boy-clown washes his face, washes his face paint/brave face off to reveal a sad, scared little face.

The farmer tucks the boy in his own bed and sits with him all night so the boy isn't lonely, and then does his best to cheer him up. (There's nothing quite as charming as a grumpy man humbling himself for a child.) They work together at the farmer's farm all day long, playing as well as working, clearly enjoying each other's company. Clearly lighting up each other's life.

And then, suddenly, the train returns.

They bolt to it, wave like mad to get its attention, and the clown's family is ecstatic to see him and hug him and have him back.

And yet. Now the farmer, his curmudgeon face washed off to reveal a sweet man, is lonely again.

(And isn't that the worst kind of loneliness: when you've felt un-lonely and lit up and very loved and then suddenly BAM that other person is gone and you realize how quiet and sad your life is now? And the lonely cloud follows you, envelopes you like fog?)

Because the boy-clown does go. Of course he does. Only after a very sweet good-bye with our now-sweet farmer. They wave to each other as the train separates them.

Sweetly, the farmer is not left totally alone. A circus monkey hides behind his leg, ready to surprise him after we close the book. It's a good ending, and I the reader am left with a smile. At least a half-smile, but I'm relieved the farmer isn't totally alone.

I admit: the first time I paged through this book in the fall when it was released I teared a little. It is beautiful and, like I said, well-deserving of a Caldecott.

I See Me! M is for Me

I See Me! M is for Me
Rating: 5 stars

Do you know how kids go through phases where they are obsessed with one certain thing? For example, my six-year old son can't get enough baseball--he'll read anything baseball-related, from picture books to the sports section of the New York Times. My seven-year old daughter has a "crafternoon" when she comes home from school most days, and often raids my recycling (I prohibit the dirty, messy stuff) to get new materials.

The youngest in our bunch is currently obsessed with the alphabet. Three and a half-year old Kiefer walks around proudly and loudly just spelling out his name "K-I-E-F-E-R!" He is learning how to write his name--he needs a little help sometimes with that pesky curve on the R. But he happily and seriously works on that R as if his life depends on it. Anytime he sees letters--from license plates to posters, t-shirts to the "SUNSHINE" coffee mug from which I'm sipping right now--he traces them in the air with his finger as his eye focuses on the letter.

He's going to love it!

When he sees this M is for Me book that I recently ordered from www.iseeme.com, he is going to go bananas! The cover alone will stop him in his tracks: K is for KIEFER it reads, loud and proud. That’s not the only thing personalized in this book. When he opens the cover, he’ll see himself smiling back at him. There’s no mirror involved; instead, I See Me! placed a photograph I sent to them of Kiefer on the page, complete with a short note: 

“Kiefer, This special book is filled with words that describe my hopes for you. Together we’ll read this book to learn the alphabet and all about you!”

Just like any alphabet book, there’s a word for each letter of the alphabet. But unlike any other alphabet book I’ve seen, these words are positive attributes that we all hope our children possess. Here are a few to give you an idea: 

A is for Active 

B is for Brave 

C is for Caring 

D is for Determined 

E is for Extraordinary 

F is for Friendly

To read the rest of the review, please click HERE to go to Washington FAMILY Magazine's book review section.

I See Me! Farm Friends

I See Me! Farm Friends

This review was first published at Washington Family Magazine. Click HERE for the link to that original review.

I have several I See Me! books for my very own children on our crowded bookshelves here in our home. My daughter received a customized My Very Own Name when she was born from family friends. It wasn't one we read to her often until she realized that it was, in fact, about HER with her very own name, and then she chose it frequently for bedtime and anytime readings.

When our two boys came along, we purchased for them a book from the next iteration of I See Me! books, My Very Own Pirate Tale. This book, methinks, is better than my daughter's because it is, in fact, a story. A fearless captain is needed, and a treasure map (of sorts) spells out the new pirate's name (in other words, your child's name). Both boys went through phrases of loving the book. This book as well as My Very Own Name are still available through www.iseeme.com.

These books are okay. They are just okay compared to the next generation of I See Me! books, which are FANTASTIC!

In these books, the child's name is not the only thing that is customized. Nope, it's 2014, of course, and these books have photographs of your child of choice inside the actual pages of the book. The photographs aren't slipped in (I've seen that before)--they are part of the illustration, part of the page. It's one thing for a child to hear their names out loud by a grown-up; it's entirely another (wonderful) thing for a child to see their own face jump out from the page.

I See Me! was ind enough to have three books made for this lucky Washington FAMILY Magazine reviewer--so I could hold, flip through, and review these books in order to tell you, parents, everywhere, if these are fine, worth-the-money products. And that's what I am here to tell you: they are fine, worth-the-money products! Children everywhere are sure to give the My Farm Friends personalized book a raucous standing ovation.

When you order this book from www.iseeme.com, you provide your child's name, gender, hair color, birthday, and skin color. Uploading a photograph is actually optional but I assure you: you should! Because when your child receives this book in his or her lap, the first thing she'll see is her face on the cover, instead of the farmer's face. Her body will be illustrated cuteness, but her face will be her own. The title will no longer be vague; it will be Griffin's Farm Friends or Ella's Farm Friends.

The story is, in itself, an engaging children's story, complete with rhyme and animal sounds all around. And as your child turns the pages, the farmer on each page will be your child. The gender of the farmer on the page will be what you've instructed. And the face? The image you provided to I See Me! Your child will be delighted to see her own face on every single page. For sure.

The downside of this book: It's expensive. Most board books cost $8 to $12; Farm Friends costs $29.95. This book isn't a necessary part of your child's book collection. As a lover of books, I think there are plenty more that need to be there before this one. So, is it worth it? If you can do it, I think it is. Can you request the book from a grandparent or other special family friend? At this young age, kids get intrigued by books because of gimmicks such as lift-the-flaps, surfaces they can touch, mirrors, and even photographs of themselves. These gimmicks work to create interest in books and start kids thinking: books are cool!

Little Blue Truck's Christmas by Alice Schertle

Little Blue Truck's Christmas by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry

Rating: 5 stars

Little Blue and I go way back. I mean, waaaaay back.

The original Little Blue Truck was Ben's favorite book as a baby. Because I read it to him daily, I can still recite the words and recall McElmurry's sweet illustrations that correspond with the stanzas. I can still recall having baby Ben (who turns six in two weeks! what?!) sitting in my lap and reading again and again, him flipping the pages, making the animals sounds, laughing at the change in my voice for the different characters.

I also snapped up the sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way when it was released a few years later. Both of these books have all that you want in great children's books: a fun, interesting rhythm and rhyme; sweet illustrations of neat characters; a nice moral to the story. In the first book, Little Blue helps a big, rude truck get out of the muck and, through his kind actions (rather than preachy words), teaches him that it pays to be a nice guy. In the second book, country-boy Little Blue teaches big-city traffic how to slow down, be patient, and take turns.

This third book, Little Blue Truck's Christmas, is just as wonderful as the first two. It is in a board book format, so best for ages four and under. There's some counting, just from one to five and then back down again, which is best for littler readers. Little Blue puts five trees in back to deliver to his friends, who all (wonderfully) say please and thank you as they request specific trees in the truck bed of Little Blue.

Who gets the last tree? I like this part. I think in decades past the last tree would be saved for an elderly person, someone who needs it most--and while that is fine and dandy, I think the fact that Little Truck saves the last tree for himself is an example of the "self love" trend that has been occurring for the past few years: You've got to love yourself and regard your own happiness in this life we've got, and that habit starts when kids are kids...and hopefully lasts until they are old and gray (and hopefully still very happy).

It's good to see you again, Little Blue!

Shh! We Have a Plan! by Chris Haughton

Shh! We Have a Plan! by Chris Naughton

Rating: 5 stars

Shh! We Have a Plan! is sitting on Kiefer's bed right now, and it hasn't moved very far all week. He is just crazy about it. Almost as crazy as I am about the book, which is oddly dark for a picture book.

But the hues match the setting and story perfectly: Four wrapped-up guys go out hunting for a bird in the dark. Three are serious about catching one; one is along for the ride, seemingly too young to have been left at home.

"Hello, birdie!" this little one calls out.

"Shh..." says the first guy.

"SHHH!!" reinforces the second guy.

"We have a plan!" says the last guy, who is holding something (a cage, a ladder, a big log).

Kiefer likes to then tell me what their plan is: "They're going to CATCH the birdie and put him in the cage." Or "They're going to climb up the ladder to get the birdie in the tree!"

Ready one, ready two, ready th...!

The three guys try to get that birdie but never succeed.  Finally the littlest guy pulls out some bread and attracts not just the one bird but a whole flock, including a big, mean one that does NOT want to be caught. They run for their lives!

And they decide maybe they'll catch a squirrel instead.

This is a wonderful book with which your child or student can practice making predictions, and to talk generally of having a "plan." Maybe it's just plan-happy me that appreciates that...?!

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

Rating: 4 stars

This week Lorelei and Ben are at camp.  A camp that requires a bus.  A bus that will need to be ridden every day, starting in the fall.  As a rising second grader, Lorelei has been riding this bus for two years.  She's a book-wielding, bus-riding pro.  Ben, as a rising kindergartener, is a newbie. A rookie. And Ben was nervous for his first bus ride on this first day of camp.  As he matures, the hump he needs to get over before he's comfortable and confident decreases in size, but…it's still there.

On Monday morning he came down in his pajama bottoms, a bare chest, and a very wobbly chin.

"I'm scared, Mommy," he confessed, his eyes full of tears.  I gave him a hug, told him it was normal to feel scared on the first day of anything.  I had opened the door to the deck, letting in the sounds of a spring morning fill the space in which I was sitting and writing.  "Can I go outside?" he asked.  I nodded.

We are lucky to live in the woods, surrounded by tall trees that house loudly chirping birds.  I don't know what Ben did out there with only pajama bottoms and without shoes, but he came back in ten minutes later with a smile on.

We must have some magic trees that sprinkled some of their calming magic down on my nervous Ben.  It makes me smile now, just a few days later, to remember how quick was the transformation, how trees really did help get him to a better mood. I'm grateful that somehow this book now houses this memory inside its pages.

Tap the Magic Tree is a beautiful book, about a subject we love: trees.  I snatched it right up when I saw it in the library, eager to find out more about it. Flipping through it, I saw it was most likely inspired by Press Here, the wildly successful and truly wonderful book that's been on the New York Times best seller list for--get this--144 weeks.  And that made me skeptical of Tap the Magic Tree.

But I needn't have been.  The morning after Ben's nervous bus debut (which was wildly successful!), my trio and I sat outside for breakfast, surrounded by acres of tall, tall trees, and read this book together.    I wasn't sure it would work--Press Here is a lap book for one, really, not a circle-time book for a crowd--but it did work, and really well!

Matheson instructs us to tap the bare brown tree, then tap it thrice, then tap it many times, and as I turned the pages, the bare brown tree has more and more leaves on it.  When the kids "rubbed the tree to make it warm," buds appeared.  Instructions helped us help the tree to mature the buds to blossoms and then apples, then watch the apples fall, the leaves turn autumnal colors, then fall, then make snow…  You get the idea.

It worked, and worked well.  Especially for the three younger book lovers at the table who didn't start out skeptical at all.  We watched together the magical transformation of a single tree through the seasons, including pajama-clad Ben whose own magical transformation happened just the morning before!

Some Bugs by Angela Diterlizzi

Some Bugs by Angela Diterlizzi, illustrated by Brendan Wenzel

Rating: 5 stars

This book is one, big, deliciously illustrated invitation for your kid to arm herself with curiosity, go outside, and search for some bugs.  As long as she doesn't get too close to a stinging type of bug, what's not to love about that?!

From first glance, I was in love with this book.  Wenzel's illustrations are bright and fun and he somehow gives the cover and pages a sense of movement with all these bugs. He balances perfectly the fine line between real bugs and cartoon-like character bugs.  Kids have a real sense of what the real bug looks like, but it's still cuter and more approachable than in real life.  His work completely shines here.

Some bugs click. Some bugs sing.

The story really doesn't have the rise and fall and resolution story that we hold up as The Way To Go. There's not much story at all--but that works in this concept book.  This book is simply one about a single subject: bugs (as if that's news at this point). "Some bugs sting. Some bugs bite. Some bugs stink."  The words are sparse--but we found ourselves lingering on each page to make sure our eyes saw all there was to see.

Until you get to the end, that is, and then there's a flurry of words:

Stinging, biting, stinking, fighting,
hopping, gliding, swimming, hiding,
building, making, hunting, taking,
bugs are oh-so-fascinating!
So kneel down close, look very hard,
and find some bugs in your backyard!

The final page is this, a vibrant field guide to all the bugs introduced in the book:

A great book for summer.  Pair it with a big magnifying glass and an hour or two, and you've got yourself a nice way to spend an afternoon!

Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper

Go! Go! Go! Stop! by Charise Mericle Harper

Rating: 4 stars

Anthropomorphic.  Remember that word from your school days?  That's what you call it when you attribute human qualities to anything that's not a human.  We see this all the time in children's books with animals and trucks and maybe even clouds.

But…the colors within a traffic light?  I'm impressed with Harper's imagination!

In this story "Little Green," the green circle from a traffic light, utters his first word: "Go."  (It's also his only word.)  He whispers it, he states it, he yells it as loud as he can.  And he rolls along to a construction site just as all the vehicles are waking up from their afternoon nap.  Armed with his new word, Little Green charges them with action!

"Tow truck towed terrifically.  Crane carried carefully.  Mixer mixed marvelously. Dump Truck dumped dependably.  And Backhoe waved his long arms in the air."  All is good!

But then…too much GO and not enough of anything else got all the trucks into a mixed-up, over-worked jumble.

Luckily, a stranger rolls into town.  Little Red looks around and shouts the only word he knew: "STOP!" After a little bit of trial and error, Little Green and Little Red manage the construction site by working together and taking turns.  They get some help from Little Yellow, who arrives as soon as the construction site's work--a new bridge--is completed.  Perfect timing for Little Yellow's words: "Slow down!"

(Not "Go Faster!" as I first taught Lorelei years and years ago, just to crack myself up…!)

This is a super cute book for young kids who are just beginning to recognize that words mean something.  And even better for young kids whose older siblings read but…they don't yet.  Like Kiefer!  He can, at three, see these big, bright, red STOPs and big, bright, green GOs and "read" them.  And that makes him feel good, practice a bit, and then get curious for more.

The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli

The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli

Rating: 4 stars

Crocodile and I have something in common: we both looooooove watermelon.  He chomps and slurps and bites this juicy wonderful-ness with his eyes closed, savoring every bite.  Yummmm!  I might just might do the same, thinking I am able to get in my mouth the same amount as Crocodile...

But then: He swallows a seed and totally freaks out.

He is completely convinced that there will soon be a watermelon growing in his guts.  Or vines will come out of his ears.  His stomach will stretch.  His skin will turn pink.  And he will turn into…fruit salad!

But then: He burps and the black seed pops out.  He's okay!

This is a bright, silly book sure to get a laugh the first few read-throughs.  Hopefully it'll inspire some serious watermelon eating, and maybe a watermelon seed spitting contest like my cousins and I had during the summers of my childhood.

But then: Kids these days usually eat hybrid watermelons that don't have black seeds.  Or they have one or two tiny ones that are easy to pick out.  Might there be kids out there who will pick up The Watermelon Seed and ask, "Why does that watermelon have dots all over it?"

Whatever your preference--traditional or seedless--let the watermelon eating begin!


P.S.  Ever wonder how to carve a lego out of watermelon?  Me neither, but I was impressed and amused with this watermelon-y website/blog and the instructions!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Camping Primer by Jennifer Adams

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Camping Primer by Jennifer Adams, illustrated by Alison Oliver

Rating: 5 stars

In typical Kate fashion, I purchased a bunch of books for a baby born to my husband's colleague that I actually wanted to read first.  I've been careful with the book, but I need to get this review out soon or the baby will be three years old before I get it to him!

This is another in the BabyLit series of books by Jennifer Adams, and it makes me realize: There are some good options for boys in here. I mean, some GREAT options for boys.  This one might just be my favorite of all this clever little board books!

Each page has one word on it, one word that introduces a part of camping, followed by a quotation from Huckleberry Finn that describes that word.  For example:

RIVERBANK "I laid there in the grass and the cool shade thinking about things."
RIVER  "I'd go down the river about fifty mile and camp."
FRIENDS  "We took my canoe and went over the river a-fishing."
FISHING LINE  "Then I set out a line to catch some fish."

"Everything we had in the world was on our raft."

The reader puts together these little pieces and has a nice image of what a nice camping trip might feel like--not just look like, not just sound like, but feel like.

And the images of Huckleberry and Jim with their opposite skin color but same certain stroke, same grins, same ease, same contentedness lying on the green grass…  It's just priceless stuff for some of a baby's first images.

Another neat book by Jennifer Adams.  And now I'll be going…to reread Huckleberry Finn...

Rain! by Linda Ashman

Rain! by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Rating: 5 stars

At first glance, you might think, "See?  Picture books are so easy to write."  This is a simple book--a simple idea, written with sparse words; a picture book written with, well, pictures.

It's raining.  And from a tall apartment, two characters get ready for a little walk to a little bakery.  One is a young boy, happily dressed in a hoppy frog outfit, a smile on his face, boots made for splashing in puddles on his feet.  Frog-Boy is celebrating the rain, and his excitement is contagious.  Every person with whom he interacts soon has a smile on his face.

The other character is a grumpy old man whose furrowed brow dives down deeper at the sign of the blasted rain.  "Nasty galoshes.  Blasted overcoat. Dang puddle." he complains.  His grumpiness is contagious.  Every person with whom Old Grumps interacts sobers up and gets serious.

The first page says it all...

The two meet at the Rain or Shine Cafe.  Frog-Boy bumps into Old Grumps, who spits down at him, "Watch out!"  He alone is immune to the cuteness of the boy.  But then Old Grumps forgets his hat, so the Frog-Boy runs after him.  He puts on Old Grumps' hat and mimics him.  Old Grumps realizes right then and there what he looks like.  So he takes the Frog-Boy's hat, squeezes it on his big bald head, smiles, and says, "Ribbit!"

Cheerfulness wins the day!  Hooray!

Linda Ashman was wise to write such a simple, perfect little book about something we parents rant about all the time: attitude.  Have a good one, and not only will you be light and happy, but you'll have a good effect on those you touch during the day.

A simple, sweet book that my kids and I just love.

Wuthering Heights: A Weather Primer by Jennifer Adams

Wuthering Heights: A Weather Primer by Jennifer Adams, illustrated by Alison Oliver

Rating: 5 stars

Of the six board books I've borrowed from a librarian-friend in this clever BabyLit series, this one is my favorite.  As "fashionable ways to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature," the board books are actually books on colors, counting, opposites, animals…and like this Wuthering Heights board book, weather.

The illustrations all have the same backdrop of Mr. Heathcliff's castle-like home, Wuthering Heights, and the same gnarled tree and same climb-up-me hill.  Yet each one, of course, is used to show that specific type of weather, so the sky above is either bright or stormy, full of clouds or lightning bolts.  The individuals in the picture are either basking in or hiding from what's happening above them.

And I think it's so neat.  With each type of weather, there is a sentence from the book that describes that type of weather. Not only does this provide a more sophisticated text than toddlers are used to these days, it gives us parents a nice change of pace with classic, poetic, descriptive sentences from another era, and often from our own bookshelf.  For example:

"The first feathery flakes of a snow shower."

BREEZY "The weather was sweet and warm."
SUNNY  "The place was filled with sunshine."
CLOUDY "Bright white clouds flitting rapidly above."
STILL "The mild glory of a rising moon."

I was talking about these books with someone recently and I said that I thought one drawback to them was that they seemed easy to buy for little girls, but…not so little boys.  I have Anna Karenina: A Fashions Primer in mind, mostly…  Then I looked up what other books are available and now I'm currently sitting on my hands trying not to order them to have them:

Sherlock Holmes: A Sounds Primer
Dracula: A Counting Primer
Jabberwocky: A Nonsense Primer
The Jungle Book: An Animals Primer
Huckleberry Finn: A Camping Primer

As you read these books to your little ones, it's a nice reminder that there are more things to read than board books--but that's where this love of reading all starts: board books.

Alice in Wonderland: A Colors Primer by Jennifer Adams

Alice in Wonderland: A Colors Primer by Jennifer Adams, illustrated by Alison Oliver

Rating: 5 stars

Have you heard about this BabyLit series?  They are board books--or, as their website explains, "fashionable ways to introduce your toddler to classic literature."  The first books in the series, Moby Dick came out over a year ago…I read a review of it in the New York Times and definitely shook my head at these literature-for-babies series.

I thought: Pretentious.  Obnoxious.  Is this what parents read to their babies while driving them from preschool to their Mandarin lessons?

Yup, that's what I thought.  Until I got them in my hot little hands (thanks to our librarian who, intrigued by the books and frustrated that they aren't yet part of the collection, ordered them on her own dime and loaned them out to me…it's nice to have friends in literary places!).

red hearts

I now think: They aren't so pretentious.  They aren't so obnoxious.  They are pretty genius.  They are very cute.  They are great for parent book-lovers to read to their baby bookworms.

Let it be known: I was wrong.  These are creative, cool, cute board books.  I REALLY love them!

Each book in the series is a different genre (I think there's a better word but it's escaping me right now…forgive me, I'm out of coffee…): colors, opposites, weather, even fashion (again, sounds obnoxious but I think it's done well and I'm not super girly-girly).

Take Alice in Wonderland: A Colors Primer.  The text reads:

white rabbit
black shoes
purple bottle
orange cat
blue caterpillar
brown hat
red hearts

If you're familiar with the story, the images probably jump to your mind.  And those images, produced by Alison Oliver, are fantastic--bright and clean, simple and interesting.  This book was one of the kids' favorites among the stack we've borrowed from Miss Daniella because they have read the picture book version of the story and watched the old Disney movie.  So they had fun remembering the characters and stories, and they liked how Jennifer Adams boiled down the huge story to such a simple text for little guys and girls.

Check 'em out!  I'm curious what you think.

But you can't check them out at Fairfax County Library, at least not yet…unless you want to request that they are added to the collection!  Click HERE and then scroll down to the bottom of the page to request this book, or any other.

Because You Are My Teacher by Sherry North

Because You Are My Teacher by Sherry North, illustrated by Marcellus Hall

Rating: 4 stars

It's Teacher Appreciation Week at Ben's preschool, so we parents have been baking and flowering and hugging our kids' teachers a little more often to make sure they know they are appreciated.  Maybe I should also give Ben's teachers a copy of this book…

Because You Are My Teacher is a terrific gift book.  In fact, if not for a teacher gift, I'm not sure why else you'd buy it.  The book is a list of all the places that the fictional, in-the-book teacher "takes" her class--out to sea, over a volcano, across the Amazon, down in a submarine, to name a few destinations.

If we had a schooner, we would shave our class at sea
And study the Atlantic, where the great blue whales roam free.
If we had some camels, we would trek through desert lands
To see the ancient pyramids rising from the sands.
If we had a chopper, we would soar above the cone
Of a rumbling volcano as it churns out liquid stone.

The illustrations by Marcellus Hall are terrific; they show the teacher at the helm of one vehicle or the next while also (I imagine) spewing thought-provoking lessons to the smiling children that obediently and enthusiastically follow her.

While I know that each minute of every day my children go to school won't be this picture-perfect or this adventurous, I do know that the vast majority of their teachers will give them her or his very best.  And for that--and for them--I am oh so grateful!

Our classroom is our vessel, always headed someplace new.
Because you are our teacher, we'll explore the world with you.

Thank you, teachers!

Pete the Cat: Old MacDonald Had a Farm by James Dean

Pete the Cat: Old MacDonald Had a Farm by James Dean

Rating: 3.5 stars

This book takes nearly five minutes to read.  I know that because I timed myself last night reading it.  With no kids around.  (After this review, feel free to join in a brief discussion about the state of my mental health…  Let me know if there are any useful conclusions.)  I cannot imagine how long it would take if Kiefer wanted to sing the whole thing with me.  I realize that, as a good mama, I would want to encourage this sort of engagement and musical interest.  But as a tired mama at the end of a long day, that sort of engagement and interest might push me over the edge!

And, despite the fact that there are 14 animals in it, James Dean doesn't even help me out by explaining what on earth a good mama like me is supposed to say when your kid yells out "giraffe!" or "turtle!" from the peanut gallery in the backseat while singing this song.  The nerve!

Ok, seriously.  Enough kidding around here.  This book is, straight-up, a version of Old MacDonald Had a Farm.  There are no silly twists or unexpected turns.  It's just the song, and a whole lotta verses to the song.  If you love Pete the Cat, you might not be able to resist buying it.  If Old MacDonald Had a Farm is your kid's favorite book, you might not be able to resist buying it.  Of course it's great to have a book that kids can sing to; little ones like Kiefer can "read" every single page because he knows the song by heart and therefore he can "read" along with it.

And the illustrations are, as always, wonderful.  (I'm a big Pete the Cat fan!)

But know this! Pete the Cat Old MacDonald Had a Farm is a loooong, repetitive song book.  If your child is one of those "read it again, please!" types--which we all know, and we all sort of want--you will want to pretend like the dog ate this book at bedtime.  Because you'll be saying E-I-E-I-O 42 times!  You'll be maa-ing and baa-ing and cock-a-doodle-do-ing ALL NIGHT!

Don't say I didn't warn you!



P.S.  Click HERE for a fun twist-of-a-book on Old MacDonald had a farm for preschoolers.