Simple Stories with Great Illustrations

I first checked out Giant John, not thinking that it was going to be great, but I knew Arnold Lobel was a good author/illustrator (The Frog and The Toad). Jack absolutely LOVED this story and I read it over and over for the 3 weeks we had it from the library. I'm not really sure why he loved it so much, but it's a simple read, repetitious and has fun illustrations.

After finding Giant John, the next time I went to the library I went back to see if there were more Lobel books that looked good. I found On Market Street. It was a Caldecott Honor Book and should have been the winner! (Caldecott Awards are for best illustrations). These illustrations are fantastic! Again, it's a simple, easy read, but you can't go too fast because it doesn't leave enough time to study the illustrations. There is an item for each letter of the alphabet and a market street salesperson is decked out in that item. Again, Jack LOVED this book and I have to read it over and over, slower each time so he has time to digest the pictures. Enjoy!

Two from Tedd Arnold

Parts and More Parts by Tedd Arnold

I really want to update this blog more often in hopes that I can help some moms out there who are looking for books to check out from the library. These two books are some of Jack's (4) favorites. They are silly, but they also teach idioms (phrases like "there are butterflies in my stomach"). It's a good platform for discussion, or the idioms can go right over the kids heads and they just think it's funny that the boy thinks he's falling apart! :)

Old Favorites

I don't want to assume anything about the people who might be looking for book suggestions for their kids, so I'm including these 2 books.  If you haven't heard of them, you might live in a bubble, but you should definitely know about them!  If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff is the first in a very cute, creative series.  The author takes a situation, "If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to want a glass of milk to go with it..." and goes through this unrealistic series of events that eventually lead you right back to the beginning of the book.  Kids love this book and it's very recitable. There is also If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Give A Moose A Muffin, and If You Give a Cat a Cupcake.  

 Another very popular series is Fancy Nancy by Robin Preiss Glasser.  I bought the first book of this series when it first came out and I was still single.  Not knowing that I would only have a boy, it hasn't mattered because he loves the books too (much to my husband's chagrin).  Fancy Nancy is an adorable girl who doesn't fit in with her very plain family. (I am definitely NOT like Fancy Nancy--more like her boring family). Although she is a bit bossy like me, she's much cuter about it. :) There are a few books in this series as well and I know I have seen Early Readers too.  Even if you have boys, you should expose them to her world because it's very fun and each book has a cute "moral to the story".

A couple favorites from the past couple weeks

This first book I think Jack has made us read to him every night since we got it.  I have to admit that the illustrations are amazing! The book, Block City, by Robert Louis Stevenson is actually a poem.  Do you recognize the author's name? He wrote Treasure Island (yes, the classic from the 1800's).  Apparently, he also wrote this poem, which illustrator Daniel Kirk put into a book.  The poem is short and sweet, but the illustrations show just how awesome a child's imagination can be when playing with blocks.  

 The second book I am not so fond of, but Jack loves.  Maybe it's because his name is in the title? Whatever the reason, I'm sharing it with you, because even if I don't like it, my three year old continues to want to read it, which means it must be good for something! This book, written by Peter Mandel, is about, you guessed it, Jackhammer Sam! If I were creative, I'd create a tune to read this too because it really is written like a song.  I think Jack's favorite part is a repetition of phrases like "atta-batta-binga-bong, atta-batta-dinga-dong".  I even caught him singing this to himself in the car once last week.  It's kinda catchy.  It's almost like a modern Paul Bunyan because the whole book is a hyperbole of what Jackhammer Sam can do with his jackhammer.  Check it out! Maybe your kids will love it too!

Books without Words

We made our monthly trip to the library today and I was reminded of some books that have been our favorites.  These books are both part of a series and neither one has any words, so it makes the illustrations that much better because they completely tell the story.  The Adventures of Polo by Regis Faller is a great story about a dog named Polo who goes on a crazy adventure that eventually brings him back to his home in a tree on an island.  It's a little long, so I'd recommend starting with some of the shorter Polo books first.  If your child is a little more advanced (or after you've read it a few times), let them tell the story.  It's pretty fun to see what they say!

 A Boy, A Dog and A Frog is written by Mercer Mayer.  He's a favorite children's author/illustrator.  This book is completely black and white, but it doesn't change the awesome ability he has a storyteller. There are details in each picture that you won't notice until you've read the story a couple times. :)

Classics!

If you haven't read these 2 classics to your kids yet, you need to! We actually read Katy and the Big Snow first because we got the book from a neighbor.  Just to give you an idea of just how much Jack loved this book, the only thing he asked Santa for last Christmas was a snow plow.  Katy is a large tractor/bulldozer who saves the town of Geoppolis when there is a very big snow storm that covers the town.  It's a fairly quick read and one of those books that you can find more detail on each page if your kids really want to delve into it.

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel  is a much more recognizable book. This is a story about how Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel (Maryanne), saves the day.  I find it interesting that the protagonists are both women (but maybe that's because ships, airplanes, etc all had women names?).  The books were published in the 1940's, so they definitely have a vintage feel to them, but they are those books that kids will never stop loving!

January Book Favorites

The first book, I'm Dirty, is definitely not one of my favorites.  We checked out another book from this author when Jack was in his garbage truck phase called "I'm Stinky" and I didn't like it, so I didn't check out any others.  But I was looking for more books for boys, so I checked it out anyway.  I think the prose in the books is atrocious, but apparently it's good enough for 3 year olds.  At least this one has some counting to 10 in it.  We have to read it every night and even though it's pretty lame, at least it's short, so it doesn't take me long.  This is one of those moments that I do what my kid wants, not necessarily what I want.

Another book I stumbled upon is Elmer.  I don't know how I had never seen or read this one before (It was written in the 60's, I believe.  But it's a great book.  It's short, cute and has a good message about being comfortable in one's own skin.  There are multiple Elmer books out there, and I'll be sure to pick them up at the next library visit because Jack loves them.

Favorite Christmas Book

This year I tried the Pinterest idea of wrapping up books and putting them under the tree as a countdown to Christmas.  I didn't have 24 Christmas books of my own, so I went to the public library and got some there too.  Jack didn't even notice which ones were ours and which were the library's.  He looked forward to opening a new one each night before we went to bed.  He enjoyed a lot of them, but the one he wanted to read over and over was this one:

The Jolly Postman Christmas

I don't even remember where I picked this one up, but I know it was before I was even married.  I just thought it was cool because the Postman is delivering the post (mail) to various characters from childhood stories (Humpty Dumpty, Little Red Riding Hood, etc).  There is an actual letter in the book and the reader gets to see what the Postman delivered.  He delivers a puzzle to Humpty Dumpty (which Jack did over and over again), a board game to Little Red Riding Hood, and other neat things.  It's a short read and really cute, especially in this day and age when kids don't actually receive mail anymore!