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!

4 Books We Have Enjoyed This Month

 The Very Clumsy Click Beetle is part of Eric Carle's "The Very..." series.  I had never heard or read this one before, but it was really cute (just like his famous The Very Hungry Caterpillar).  The end of the book makes clicking noises which is fun for the kids.  The illustrations are great and the predictability of the text makes it fun to read with the little ones.

 We got "Room on the Broom" by Julia Donaldson because it was one of 2 left in the Halloween section at the library.  This is a really cute book!  The premise is that various animals ask the witch if they can ride on her broom.  She says yes, but it gets so full that it breaks and they all fall out of the sky.  A dragon comes to eat the witch, but she is saved by a mysterious swamp creature (i.e. all the animals together in a disguise to scare the dragon).  I thought it was a fun Halloween book and not scary at all.

 I didn't know "Two Little Trains" by Margaret Wise Brown was a classic when I checked it out.  I just saw trains in the title and thought a boy would like it!  The illustrations are really well done.  They have a Chris Van Allsburg feeling about them.  Very simple text, repetition and cadence make this book a fun one to read.  I think it was originally written in 1947 or something like that.

This last book "Iggy Peck Architect" was Jack's favorite of the bunch.  The illustrations have a vintage vibe (kinda like If I Built A Car) but in a different way--more 1920's than 1950's.  Anyway, the story is about a boy named Ignatius Peck who loves to build buildings from the time he was in diapers.  When he gets to second grade, his teacher forbids any architecture in her class and he is bored to death.  They go on a class picnic and something happens than enables Iggy to save the day (I won't spoil it for you). The whole story rhymes which makes it fun to read and the illustrations capture the young audience!

One Tractor A Counting Book Author Alexandra Siy

This is a very short book (it only counts to 10), but it is super cute and Jack memorized it during the 3 weeks we had it.  It was a long time ago, but I can still remember the first page, if that's any indication to you.  It's rhyming and counting and is also about a kid's imagination.  (I guess I'm starting to see a pattern here!) There's ships, planes, pirates, bikes, trains, all the things a boy loves playing with.  The illustrations are great, as you can see from the cover.  I highly recommend it!

If I Built A Car, Author Chris Van Dusen

This is a really cute book about a boy and his imagination.  It has a cool retro/vintage vibe and is all about a kid riding in the back seat of the car imagining what kind of car he'd build. The car has a swimming pool, instant snack bar and is able to be a boat, submarine and rocket.  It sounds pretty cool to me!  Jack loves reading this one and it's not because the main character's name is Jack.  Another thing I like about it is that it rhymes. The reading teacher in me loves to read any book that rhymes because I know it helps children develop phonemic awareness.

Monkey with a Toolbelt, Author Chris Monroe

This is a very fun read.  Author/Illustrator Chris Monroe does an excellent job of putting lots of details on each page to make it interesting to see what's going on.  Depending on your child's interest level, you can delve into each picture, or just read the text and go quickly through each page. (I do the latter, mine's only 3). It's kind of like a comic book, but not the super hero type.  There is a sequel called "Monkey with a Tool Belt and the Sea-side Shenanigans".  We actually found that book first.  I doesn't matter the order you read the stories as they are completely unrelated.  She also wrote "Sneaky Sheep" and we enjoyed that story as well.