Choo Choo Clickety-Clack! by Margaret Mayo

Choo Choo Clickety-Clack! by Margaret Mayo, illustrated by Alex Ayliffe

Rating: 5 stars

This book is like an old friend to Lorelei and Ben.  Ok, I realize that "old" is quite relative because we're talking about a 3 1/2 and 2 year old here...but we check it out from the library every few months, and they are always excited to see it.  We've read all of Margaret Mayo's books (click here to read my reviews of her books); they have the same pattern in the poem, so it's familiar to them for many reasons.

This one is so great, especially for Ben, who is crazy about anything with wheels and/or makes sounds when it goes.  (So inspired is he by big trucks, he often beeps when backing up!)  In this book, trains speed, airplanes fly, cars drive, race cars race, sailboats sail, hot air balloons float, motorbikes rev, bikes whiz, cable cars climb, buses go, and ferryboats load.  The book ends with nightfall, which of course I love and appreciate, when all the vehicles rest (and we find them in their "resting spots" across the page).

Maybe some parents are careful with their books, but we are definitely not, despite the fact that it pains me to see a ripped page or a book shoved off a table thoughtlessly.  We believe that it's best to just hand over the books to our kids as much as possible, so they have the thrill of turning the page--or turning back a page--themselves.  These books written by Mayo are so great that theywill definitely be read again and again and again, so the sturdier the pages, the better! 

Stomp, Dinosaurs, Stomp! by Margaret Mayo

Stomp, Dinosaurs, Stomp! by Margaret Mayo

Rating: 3 stars

We love Margaret Mayo's books--we check out one or more every other time we go to the library.  I just realized that I have only reviewed one-- Roar! --so I'll get on the ball and tell you about the others we've enjoyed soon.  In honor of my twin nieces' birthday month, the dinosaur book reviews continue...to Mayo's latest book.  This one isn't her best; the rhymes just seem to be a little more forced, to trip a bit instead of roll right along.

That said, Alex Ayliffe's illustrations are so toddler-friendly that the text could be an English teacher's nightmare and the book would still be worth checking out.  I like how the dinosaurs are torn-paper-versions of realistic dinosaurs.  The brightly colored dinosaurs and their prey (never other dinosaurs, though they do fight/wrestle with each other) just jump out at you, which is great for this read-aloud stage.

This is a good vocabulary book, too.  Words Lorelei learned include: gulp, whack (good as long as it's not your little brother getting whacked...and not in a Sopranos sense!), charge (not in the credit card sense), head-but, chomp, mash (helpful when we made mashed potatoes last night), guard, trap.  Not bad, and a nice change from Lorelei's favorite-of-the-moment books, the Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious series.  It's good to have a brother, I think!