Friends by Eric Carle

Friends by Eric Carle

Rating: 3.5 stars

Should children's books (specifically, picture books) end with the two characters getting married?

This is the question that is bouncing around my head.  My star rating is arbitrary.  What's more important: will this book provide an interesting, worthwhile conversation between my children and myself?

I'm getting ahead of myself--it's something I do so very well, it's hard not to do!  But let me explain this new Eric Carle book to you, in case you've not seen it before…

With minimal words and bright, welcoming illustrations on big, oversized pages, Eric Carle introduces a simple friendship between a boy and a girl.  The boy, who also serves as the narrator, has a good friend.  They do everything together!  They play together!  They dance together!  They hold hands, they tell each other secrets.  They are best friends.

Then, suddenly, the girl disappears.  The reader is not told why; for better or for worse, we're left to guess.

"…and they got married."

And the boy-narrator decides: he must find her.  The biggest chunk of the book illustrates his search--he climbs tall mountains, swims through cold rivers, gazes up at the starry night skies actively searching for his long, lost friend.  He walks across a field of flowers and must sense her prescience because the bouquet he gathers up in this pretty field is given…to her.

And then they get married.  (Okay, as you can see from the picture, they are still kids and are wearing dress-up clothes.  But STILL!)

Hmm.  I would have been happier without that final page.  But wait: is this book written not for 4-6 year olds but 40-60 year olds?  Do I want Lorelei and Ben to Kiefer to look at their pals today and say to them, also today, "I'm going to marry you!"  That sort of schoolyard talk is already present, I guess.  Do I want to add to it?  Or should I start the conversation about what sort of mate they should look for?

A friend is a very good start, indeed.  I read a book last year that urged us parents (especially us children of divorce who are now parents) to start talking with their kids early about what sort of person makes a good friend.  And to urge those kids to choose deliberately when they choose a friend.  What I tell my kids is this: Choose a person who makes you laugh, who is kind to you, who genuinely cares for you--not just your physical whereabouts like the boy in Friends but also if you're happy or sad, and what you want to be when you grow up.

Tricky business, this friend-finding and partner-pairing.  I guess starting earlier is better.

But maybe we could wait for the tween years (at least!) to begin talk of the whole wedding day with the poofy white dress?

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!

Locomotive by Brian Floca

Locomotive by Brian Floca

Rating: 4 stars

I checked this book out easily before it won the Caldecott; after the gold seal shone brightly on its cover, there was a long waiting list both at the library and at the bookstore.  Here's a tiny secret: When I first checked out Locomotive, I didn't read it.  I don't know if any of my kids did.  So we returned it without having read it.  It happens…what can I say?

But then the Caldecott team deemed it worthy of a win, and it became wildly wanted.  We were number 60 on the waiting list!

Finally, it's our turn with the library's copy of the book and we all understand easily why it is Caldecott-worthy.  The book is a huge lap size picture book, with illustrations that resemble a wide screen TV.  Somehow, Brian Floca created a hundred masterpieces in this big, long book--masterpieces of illustration, not just beautiful pictures, but pictures that tell a story of a long-ago way of life.

Slowly, slowly the engineer drives--
the train is so heavy,
the bridge is so narrow,
and rickety rickety rickety!

After a brief show of how the rails were built, we see the iron horse chug up to the station.  In familiar prose, where Floca writes directly to you ("She pulls her tender and train behind her, she rules up close, to where you wait, all heat and smoke and noise.")  That noise of the train jumps out from the page at you with larger and fancier font than the rest of the words.  We, the readers, follow along as one family (a mother and two children) travels from east to west; we also observe and learn all the different people required to run the train smoothly.  Because, of course, it takes a team.

There's a whole lot that works in this book for me and my trio: The illustrations are spell-binding.  Floca's research shines through on every page: from the close-up details of the gaskets or that coal car to the historical map of the United States that shows the path of the train.  (I am curious how many pictures he took of real-life trains to take back to his studio with him.  Surely thousands…)  The family we see travel on the train are excited throughout; we experience what they experience, including going to the bathroom, (which was definitely a highlight for Ben in the book) but not when the train stops!  For there is "no plumbing here, there is only a hole in the floor."

The facts taught in the book easily earn my approval: and not just the team members' roles and responsibilities…  That's important, but so are the little, anecdotal things: For example, the switchman's job is dangerous; the train cars lurch and slam up against each other quickly.  They say "You can tell he's new to the job if he still has all his fingers." Or the mighty Sierra Nevada that "rise like a wall on the edge of a basin" requires an extra engine to pull the train up and over them.

Through the night the engine runs.
Those up late hear her whistle,
her wild and lonesome cry.

The ending works for me, too.  I love it: the mother and two children arrive to their father, who came out west before them.  There's nothing like a homecoming to warm your heart at the end of a story!

What doesn't work for me are all the words.  Oh my gosh even I am thrown off by all the dozens of words on each page.  Lorelei sat and read the book quietly in one sitting but Ben couldn't sit through the whole thing, despite his normally curious mind and the gorgeous pictures that go along with it.  Even I found myself skimming it.  My eyes were more interested in the illustrations than the words.  Because of the number of words, this book is better for an older age group--first grade or older.  It would be great to read right after finishing a chapter book from the same time period, such as Little House on the Prairie or Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Still, it is a masterpiece despite my silly gripes.  If there's a locomotive enthusiast in your family--of any age, your son or your mother or your grandfather!--this is a book for him.  Or her!

What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry

What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry

Rating: 5 stars

A new thing: Throwback Thursday!  Here's an oldie but greatie...

The fact that I've been reviewing and recommending children's books for four years and have not mentioned this book is a crime.  I confess to it.  Right now. I am very sorry; I have been negligent in my duties. I will put myself in time out all day long (with a big stack of books beside me...oh happy day).

Truly, this is a must-have for any three-ish year old child.  Right now, at 2 years and 9 months, Kiefer can't get enough of the book.  Just like Ben couldn't get enough of the book when he was that age.  I sat with Ben just like I now sit with Kiefer, reading each story again and again and again, talking about the water wheel in this story, the special ladder to rescue Huckle in that story... I love the book still.  Which is a good thing, because I'll probably read it to Kiefer again later today.

from A Voyage on the Sea

I like all of the stories, but the priceless-ness is in the pictures: Scarry adds in a hundred little details in his illustrations, which means your child sees something new and different each time they read the book.  Oh--and a note on reading this book: because the illustrations are so intricate, reading isn't necessary to really understand what's going on.  That makes it an excellent choice for pre-readers like Kiefer.

Hopefully your childhood included this magical book.  If not, let me explain a little more about it so that, at the end of this post, you can immediately order it for any 3-ish year old child in your life.

The book is an oversized lap book, and is divided into seven or eight different stories.  I will challenge myself to remember them so I don't have to sneak into Kiefer's room to get it (he sleeps with this book; that, my friends, is book-love):

• Everyone is a Worker 
• How to Build a House 
• Fireman to the Rescue
• How to Mail a Letter
• A Day in the Hospital
• Where Wood Comes From
• How a Road is Built
• A Voyage on the Sea
• Where Bread Comes From

The best illustration in the whole book!
From How A House is Built

Each story is just a handful of pages long, and it uses animal characters to tell the story while also teaching the little reader about the topic.  Ben and Kiefer both love the house building one best--and that's my favorite, too.  I love the step-by-step explanations and the detailed pictures that go right along with it.

At the very least, check this book out to remember a bit of YOUR childhood.  At the very most, order it from your favorite bookseller to share the magic with your favorite reader.



P.S.  Many, many thanks to my godmother Andrea, who gave me this book seven years ago at the book-filled baby shower my sister threw for me.  I can't believe we still have the original!

Mapping Penny's World by Loreen Leedy

Mapping Penny's World by Loreen Leedy

Rating: 4 stars

The other morning at school Ben had an "outdoor day," where his class spent the entire morning outside.  All the things they normally did inside were simply done on the school playground and various other places.  I found out maps were a big part of the morning when he came home and asked me if there was a compass on my smartphone.

The next day I sent in this book with him to class--we had looked at it a few times at home, but I thought his teacher might want it as well.  I try hard not to be annoying and suggestive with books, but I sometimes I can't help myself!

This educational book introduces the importance of maps, the different kinds of maps, and how to draw and read maps to young children.  It does all of this in a storybook format, with a young schoolgirl as a narrator and her Boston Terrier Penny as a cute diversion from the teaching that is going on.

Lisa's class is making maps--which are, her teacher explains, "a picture of something from above.  It's like flying over that spot in an airplane."  The class draws out the school on the blackboard (remember those?), completely with a title, key, symbol, scale, compass, and labels.

Lisa and Penny decide to map out her bedroom, and then map where Penny hides her hidden treasures out in the yard. They map the route to Penny's friend's house, then the local park where Lisa rides her bike and Penny rolls in the grass.

The book ends with a map of the world, where a hopeful dotted line shows a map of where Lisa would like to travel one day.

The book is a great reference for parents and teachers to teach their kids how to draw a map--of their bedrooms or yards or communities.

This is San Francisco by Miroslav Sasek

This is San Francisco by Miroslav Sasek

Rating: 5 stars

I know I have said it before, but I really like to provide Lorelei, Ben and Kiefer books about places we're going to visit before we actually get there.  Whether it's a baseball game or art museum, dairy farm or Washington, D.C., they like to know what they're getting themselves into.  Or, because I prefer to deny them the luxury of opinions at this young age, they like to know what I am getting them into.  Yup, that's a bit more accurate!

So it was with our recent trip to Northern California.  My husband travels there for work from time to time, so he got for the kids this classic travel book about a year ago.  They've loved it ever since--at first, only because Daddy got it for them, but then they realized the pictures were really cool.  They quickly realized that this city called San Francisco was very different from our sleepy ex-burb town in Northern Virginia.  And finally, they loved it because they knew we were going there for Spring Break.

Steep, steep hills!

This book is vintage cool--even though your kids will have no idea what you're talking about if you tell them that, you'll know it by flipping through the pages.  Sasek was born in Czechoslovakia in 1916, and worked for Radio Free Europe in the 1950s before he began working on his "This Is..." series--his first was This is Paris.  This is San Francisco was first published in 1962, and reprinted in 2003.  Like the other books in the series, it is true to its original within the main pages, but has updated information in the back of the book.

For your child, the book is like a tour of the city without leaving your lap.  Lorelei was fascinated with the crazy angle of the streets in the pictures, and was delighted to find that the streets really are that steep (even after trudging up them to check out Lombard Street).  Ben loved the Golden Gate Bridge best, and for months he'd find it on our placemat map.  He was so thrilled to see it from afar, then actually go over it last week!

Kiefer and I on steep Lombard Street...
he got a deal, I got a workout!

There are a lot of words in this book, which makes for a long read and therefore best for kids older than 4, but the pictures are so engaging that younger kids will get wrapped up in it, too.

Sasek's "This is" series is good to know about.  We've given This is Washington, D.C., to friends of ours who, like us, live near D.C.  But there are a bunch more--London, Paris, New York, Rome, Texas, and more (click here for complete list).  They make great gifts for kids who are moving or traveling to one of these areas.

Reading plus exploring (whether that's traveling a long distance or some place right down the road) is a great combination.

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein

Rating: 4.5 stars

I am not a perfect mom.  Of that I am sure.  Lorelei's hair is usually unkempt, I still haven't gotten to the bottom of Ben's itchy bottom, and Kiefer once handed me a steak knife I left hanging out on the counter.  But I do pat myself on the back when it comes to getting my kids into books:  They love books.  I can't yet say "They love to read" because Ben and Kiefer are still working on reading.  But it will happen soon, as things do when your kids are so little.  Soon is, like, this afternoon...for most things, at least.

Reading in the car...

One specific reading-related thing I'm proud of: getting our kids in the (good, lifelong) habit of reading in the car.  We don't need no stinkin' DVD player!  (I am very fortunate that no one has carsickness in our family.)  From a very early age, Lorelei had a basket of books at her disposal in the car.  She has the same routine today as she did two years ago: Climb in the car, grab a book, start reading.  Thanks the continued supply of books and her fantastic example, Ben and even Kiefer do it now, too.  A few weeks ago I taught Lorelei and Ben the ol' Peace Corps rule: Always Bring a Book (ABAB)!  Now they often chant to each other "ABAB!" as they to the shelves before a longer car trip.

Makes me smile...and wish I was in the back seat reading with them rather than driving!

A few weeks ago my husband planned a fun family outing to Luray Caverns in Virginia, a two hour drive from our house.  After some rounds of "ABAB!" the kids climbed in and this is what Jonathan and I saw from the front seats.  Granted, Ben and Kiefer read for 30-40 minutes versus Lorelei's 90 minutes of the drive, but...every minute of peace and quiet in the backseat is one more peace- and quiet-filled minutes in your day!

Lorelei and Ben often grab Shel Silverstein poem anthologies before getting in the car.  We have all three: A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and Every Thing On It.  The poems are mostly short- or medium-length, and each has a funny and/or bizarre picture alongside that amuses Ben too.  Once they sat on the sofa, each with a volume.  They flipped the pages and, every 4.2 seconds called out, "Look at this one!" and giggled wildly at the other's illustration.  I was thrilled to have them playing so happily together (read: without me), but they were so cute and funny that I kept walking from the kitchen to the family room to look at them.

The pictures make the anthologies good choices for pre-readers and early readers, and the poems are good for stronger readers.  Lorelei still doesn't get all the jokes; she loves, loves, loves when I sit with her and read a few poems and explain the jokes to her.  (Who doesn't like being in on the joke??!)

I'll end with a poem (that is actually from Where the Sidewalk Ends) that my sister often read to me when we were kids:

For Sale 

One sister for sale!
One sister for sale!
One crying and spying young sister for sale.
I'm really not kidding.
Who'll start the bidding?
Do I hear a dollar?
A nickel?
A penny?
Oh, isn't there, isn't there, isn't there any
One kid who will buy this old sister for sale,
This crying and spying young sister for sale?

(I think I had nightmares about this illustration.)

P.S.  Yes, I know that Shel Silverstein looks a little creepy on the back cover photographs.  But we don't hate on bald people around here!

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.

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!

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!"

Wow! America! by Robert Neubecker

Wow! America! by Robert Neubecker

Rating: 5 patriotic stars

Confession: I'm an Army brat.  Because of that, and because I lived abroad for several years as an adult, I really love and appreciate America.  And I've been to 47 of the 50 states. (Rhode Island, Arkansas, and Alaska, in case you're wondering.)  And when I was little, my parents made the wise decision to really focus on discovering our own country.  When we moved to a new place, my parents would make a point to visit lots of touristy places as well as plenty of out-of-the-way spots.  That meant that when we lived in Hawaii Dad would drag us to Shark's Cove instead of just going to Barber's Point where all our friends would be.  And when we did go on a vacation that didn't involve visiting family back in Erie, Pennsylvania, we went somewhere amazing in this great country. 

And we drove to nearly all of our destinations (except in Hawaii, where inter-island flights called "hops" were the way to go).  Our first stop?  A bookstore.  Hmmm...I was a reader as a child and now my children are readers...

We came across Wow! School! last week at the library; a smart librarian had propped it up on top of the stacks and we picked it up and shoved it in our overflowing, very heavy library bag.  All three of us fell in love with it, especially because Lorelei will start --gasp!-- preschool in the fall.  I'll review that book later...  We ordered Wow! America! the next day and picked it up this morning (when the sitter didn't show up.  Grrr). 

I am in love, love, love with this book!  This is one we might have to buy.  Maybe I'll just suggest to the grandparents that this is a great book...hint, hint... Enter sheepish grin here.

Izzy, the star of all the books in this series (Wow! City! is next on our list), is in all the pages, with her yellow Labrador, too.  And in this book, her little sister Jo.  They scamper across the country.  For me, it was like a journey into my childhood--we moved around a whole lot, plus my husband's from Louisiana and lived in New York City for almost a decade.  So the New Orleans page and the New York page came with an extra story with them.  Then the Grand Canyon, which I've never seen.  It opens up to a third page!  And the cowboys page...well, I do love me a good cowboy book, and I'll take just one page if that's all I'm given.  And the Washington, DC, one is great because we live nearby and my husband works even nearer by. 

And, coincidentally, we leave for Missouri tomorrow, so the pages for the Mississippi River were appreciated and timely.  Finally, my husband and I are going on a leaving-the-kids-with-Grammy trip to the Rocky Mountains, so...wouldn't you know it?  There's a page for the Rocky Mountains!  I couldn't have asked for a better display of the U.S.  Bravo, Neubecker, and thank you for this great one.  I hope more people find it and appreciate it as much as we do.

I just took a bunch of pictures to let you see the great illustrations for yourself.  It is a really great book, with a lot going on, with minimal words so kids like Lorelei who are learning to read can focus on just a few at a time.  Go buy it!  Go check it out!  Trust me! 

10 Minutes Till Bedtime! by Peggy Rathmann

10 Minutes Till Bedtime! by Peggy Rathmann

Rating: 3.5 stars

You'd think this would be a bedtime book by the title, but the illustrations are much too exciting for that. 

The little boy in the picture is about to go to sleep; his father yells how many minutes to go from the next room, where he's reading the newspaper with his feet up.  While he counts down, there's a sudden and inexplicable hamster party.  Hamsters parade along the sidewalk into the little boy's house, to his bedroom, and even to his bathroom.  They turn his bathtime into a pool party!  He plays with them, reads to them, and marvels at them until his eyes are too droopy to stay open, and then they all leave.

There is so much going on in each picture that this book is one we rarely read together.  Instead, I hide it until we go on a long car trip or on an airplane.  In the picture, Lorelei studies each picture carefully on our way up to Baltimore yesterday.  She, and even Ben to a lesser extent, is just amazed at all the activity in the book.  The counting is a fun addition; 1 to 10 is no problem, so she traces them with her finger as something extra to do. 

And--look closely at the picture--do you see a screen in our car?  Nope.  That's right: Let's put our hands together for keeping TVs out of cars so that our kids actually (are you sitting down?) look out the window and talk with us while we travel and read a whole lot and then read a whole lot more.

A better travel book than a bedtime book!  A good one to pick up before your next journey.