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.