What Can a Crane Pick Up? by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

What Can a Crane Pick Up? by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, illustrated by Mike Lowry

Rating: 4 stars

This is a book that shows and tells all the stuff a crane can pick up.  With simple verse and bright, fun illustrations, each page shows how much or how little one of these working vehicles can lift.

That is all.

And you know what?  I love that Kiefer loves the book so much.  Every time he sees it on the new book shelf, he grabs it and puts it in our library bag.  Sometimes his grabbing is accompanied with a serious statement delivered in sweet, child-like tones: "I really luff dis book."

Can a crane pick up a crane?
It could!

Simple pleasures. Seeing one of your favorite books on a shelf at the library and getting excited that it's your turn to check it out.

May those simple pleasures last in him, may they inspire us.

And you know what? That is all.

Away We Go! by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Away We Go! by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

Rating: 5 stars!

A friend of mine suggested we read more Dan Yaccarino books, so we checked out eight of them at the library.  Overkill?  Nah!  This one isn't written by him; like our first book with his name on the cover (Trashy Town), he illustrated this one.

I LOVE IT!  I am going to buy it for a few Christmas gifts.  Wait, after some Googling I just realized that I can't find it new anywhere except here, used (and a new one that would put me back $140!  It's good, but not that good).  That's a bummer. 

But it should be available at your local library, and it's really worth checking out for your little one.  Lorelei likes it, but it is really better for Ben's age (2) or even younger.  It has wonderfully bright, unambiguous pictures that we've looked at a dozen times already.  It's just your basic transportation book, with a little guide on the back on how to use it to teach your child a few things in addition to the idea that you can go places by bike, horse, hot air balloon, etc.