Some Favorites

  This week we were able to read a few more books from the library.  We read Are You a Cow? by Sandra Boynton.  This was a fun one to read because it was so simple in the illustrations.  Each page featured the picture of the animal that it asked about and the words were in bright colors.  As we read this book, we (really I mean me, here) made the animal sounds.  This would be a great book for an older toddler, too, and they could participate by answering the questions.  This is a silly book and was enjoyed so much it was carried all over the house.  This book is in the following categories: animals and identity/self-appreciation.
   We also really enjoyed the book We Go Together! by Todd Dunn.  This book is a great one for learning about things that might be in a set together.  Each page starts with, "We go together like..." and is a great way to show young children a simple comparison between two items.  My favorite part is at the end where it shows a mother and her son hugging and saying how they go together because they love each other.  This book is in the following category: family.

~Happy Reading!

Let's Count!

The latest trip to the library has brought some really good finds.  We have recently read, 1 2 3 Beach by Puck.  There aren't any words in this book and it is a simple counting book.  My son was captivated by these pictures.  The pictures are done in primary colors and are very simple.  As we read this book, we identified the object(s) on each page and counted.  Something that I haven't seen very often, though, was at the end of the book where it offered suggestions to parents about different ways to read and use the book.  I think this has become a favorite because every time I get the library books out, this is the one he goes to first.  This book is in the following categories: counting and in the seasons category for summer.













       

We have also been spending some time with a book called, Fifteen Animals by Sandra Boynton.  I saw this book and fell in love with it.  Every animal in this book, with the exception of the last one, is named Bob.  When I was growing up I named everything Bob, so when I saw this I thought that it was perfect for me to read to my son.  This book is also a counting book and by the end of the book you are able to count to 15, which isn't the typical number found in a counting book.  Apparently, there is also a song that goes along with this book... we might have to check it out in the next couple of days.  This book is in the categories of: animals, counting, and songs.

Bath Time, Bed Time, and More

  So this entry is a longer one, but I am reviewing all of the books that we need to return to the library at the end of this week.  Last time books were chosen at the library this was done with Memaw since I did not go on this trip and had been in the emergency room the night before.  So, these books were picked out by my son and Memaw and together.
  We started by reading, Splish! Splash!: Baby Touch and Feel by Dawn Sirett.  Each of the pages in this book are very simple and are not overwhelming with too many words.  With an opportunity to feel something on each of the pages, this book tells young children about different toys that might be played with in the bathtub.  As we read this one, we talked about the different toys that my son has to play with in the tub; some of these toys were the same as ours, but some were different.  This book is in the categories of: touch-and-feel and bath time.
  The next book we read was also in the bath time category, actually.  We read Tubby by Leslie Patricelli.  I love her books and we have quite a few on our shelf.  This was a fun book that talked about all the steps of taking a bath, up to and including taking the diaper off and being naked.  This book mentions washing some of the basic body parts, such as toes, belly button, and hair.  I really like the part in this book where Mommy dries off the baby and Daddy dries the bathroom.  Of course, the best part has to be the last page where the baby is all clean and you see the dirty dog come running into the room.  This book is in the categories of: bath time, and body parts.
  We read Bye-Bye Time by Elizabeth Verdick.  This is a great book to use when transitioning a child to stay with someone who is not Mom or Dad.  This book gives parents, children, and caregivers great ideas for learning how to cope with goodbye time.  Quite possibly as my son gets older and I continue to work, we might need to get this book permanently...  This book is in the category of: independence/growing up.
  Another book we read was, Yawn by Sally Symes.  This is a wonderful way to tell a bedtime story.  With the giant opening in the book to represent the different mouths of the characters in the book, it was really exciting to see which animal would be next to yawn.  As the story continues, the yawn is given to or "passed on" to each of the different animals that you will eventually find are the stuffed animals piled around the child getting ready to go to bed.  This book has a great rhyme and rhythm to it and definitely kept my son's attention.  This book is in the categories of: bedtime stories and animals.
  We read, Mouse Says "Sorry" by Michael Dahl.  This book is great for teaching manners and responsibility for your actions.  There are not too many words throughout this book, and I think that the author expects parents and adults, and eventually kids, to talk about what is going on in the book that goes beyond the written words.  Also in this book there is a large variety of other animals that mouse apologizes to.  This book is in the areas of: animals and self-awareness.
  The next book we read was, Little Bee by Edward Gibbs.  For those of you who are familiar with Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you See?, this book will seem very similar to that.  The only difference is that this book is one with circular reasoning.  The bee is fleeing because he is being chased by a frog, who is being chased by a snake.  This continue through various animals until it gets to the fleeing hunter who is fleeing because he is being chased by the bee.  This was a very fun read!  This book is in the category of: animals.
  The last book we read was, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes by Annie Kubler.  This book is very simple and follows the well-known song.  The pictures in this book are very sweet and simple.  On the back of the book, there is the written out melody for the song, which is fun and can help parents expand the reading experience.  My son and I didn't read this one, but sang it instead.  I suppose that is due to the fact that I am a music teacher.  We sang the song and identified each of the body parts as we sung about them.  This book is in the categories: body parts and songs.

         

Limited

So, I just found out as I was trying to create a new page that I have a limited number of pages that I can have as part of this blog.  Being an extremely new blogger... I had no idea about this.  Technically, on the last post I wanted to include Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? in the category of Dr. Seuss Books.  Because I have reached my limit, that won't be happening.  I suppose this one is fairly obvious since it is by Dr. Seuss, but that was just how I saw it organized in my own crazy brain.  I will continue to post and put books into categories, even if I don't have a page for that category.  It will just be more difficult to look for books in specific categories... unless I decide to combine some of these pages.  I am not totally sure what I want to do with this one right now, but I will need to figure something out eventually.

What do you hear?

Now that all of my son's books are on the new bookshelf, which was bought to accommodate the books from his birthday, it is a much better experience to find books to read.  Tonight before bed we read two books which both focused on sounds.  We started with Mr. Brown can Moo! Can You? : Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises by Dr. Seuss.  The version of this book that we have is from the Bright and Early Board Books Series.  This book definitely had my son's attention as each page had a new sound.  I absolutely love the use of onomatopoeia in the book and it gives sounds beyond just animal sounds.  This book is a great way to introduce children to everyday sounds.  This book is in the categories of: sound exploration.

 

The other book we read tonight was also from the Bright and Early Board Books Series.  We read The Ear Book by Al Perkins.  This book also focuses on sounds that our ears can hear.  The Ear Book also has a natural rhythm to it that is interesting to listen to.  I have to admit that I am not one who usually pays much attention to the illustrations, but these really caught my eye.  I really appreciate that these illustrations are simple and not overwhelming.  The pictures only display what the words on the page actually say.  Also, while reading this book we identified where our ears are located.  This book is in the categories of: sound exploration and body parts.

Push, Poke

A recent favorite has been from the series "Poke-a-dot!"  We have been reading the "Old MacDonald" version in this series mainly, but also have been reading "10 Little Monkeys" and "Who's in the Ocean?"  These are such fun to read.  A familiar song set with illustrations.  Of course the best part is being able to poke each of the animals and count them.  The poke spots are just plastic, but my son loves poking each and every one of these.  As he gets older we will spend more time counting each of the dots.  With each book starting at 10 and counting down, there are LOTS of dots to poke throughout the whole story.  Such a great way to work on counting down.  The focus has been on "Old MacDonald" and we were able to say the animal names and also what each of the animals say.  I normally wouldn't do all of these as one entry, but we haven't stopped reading those this whole week.  "Poke-a-Dot: Old MacDonald" is in the following categories: animals, counting, songs, and fine-motor skills.  "Poke-a-Dot: 10 Little Monkeys" is in the following categories: animals, counting, songs, and fine-motor skills.  "Poke-a-Dot: Who's in the Ocean?" is in the following categories: animals, counting, and fine-motor skills.

   

Some Animals...

We really have been reading over the last couple of weeks.  Things have been so busy and crazy that I haven't had a moment to post what we have read.  One of the favorites during this last week was the board book, "Mouse Paint" by Ellen Stoll Walsh.  The board book is a much simpler version of the original story and focuses on colors, without overwhelming young children with a plot to follow.  This book is so much fun and is a great way to explore the primary colors and how they can make other colors.  My son especially liked the part where the mice "...swirl and mix, and mix and swirl..." the paint.  As we read this part we tried to move along as if we were also mixing paint.  This book is definitely in the category of: colors and animals.

The other more popular choice this last week was "Old Bear" by Kevin Henkes.  This was a wonderful way to introduce the concept of seasons to children.  The bear had slept and dreamt that he was going through each of the seasons.  By the time the bear really woke up, it was only the spring after his long winter hibernation.  I think this book was also a great way to help children understand that different animals have different lifestyles, where some hibernate during the winter and others may not.  The illustrations in this book were very colorful, but were still simple enough to see the main idea of the picture.  This book is in the following categories: animals, seasons.

There were other books from the library that we had during the last couple of weeks, but I have to admit that they were really not winners on my list.  I would post about them, except that I have already turned them in and they didn't make that big of an impression on me. 

Hopefully this next week I will be more on top of this posting business.  We now have LOTS of books from my son's first birthday that we need to read and add to our list of Children's Books.