The Night Before Christmas – Saturday Story Spotlight

Dec 172011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, illustrated by Ted Rand
Published by North-South Books

Sometimes I underestimate Daniel. I would have thought that the length and the often complex and old-fashioned language of The Night Before Christmas would have had him squirming in his chair after just a few pages.

I was so far off, it isn’t even funny; Daniel LOVES The Night Before Christmas. We have read this so many times, now, that he knows the end of every line, and can recite the first few stanzas – not that he gets every word, of course, but most of it makes sense. I’m not sure exactly what it is, sure the Santa part is neat, but that actually seems to be his least favorite. I think it is just the whole Christmas excitement, since he is much more aware of it than he has been in the past.

Don’t be afraid to try this classic with your young children, you may just find that they love it!

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Source: Personal copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

A to Z – Saturday Story Spotlight

Jun 182011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

A to Z by Sandra Boynton
Published by Little Simon, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

Generally on Saturday Story Spotlight I only talk about books that Daniel and (or) I love. Today, though, I’m going to talk about a book that really isn’t working for us at the moment, that I thought would be amazing.

Typically we love Sandra Boynton, but her alphabet book, A to Z, just does not work for my young toddler. Daniel loves letters (like really seriously loves them), and as such, he loves alphabet books. We read them incredibly frequently, because he’s in a phase where he wants to know words that start with each letter of the alphabet. A to Z starts out strong, with an aardvark admiring, an elephant eating, and some hippos hiding. Eventually, though, it gets to uglybirds being ugly and a xylo xylophoning. In between there is a vicuna violinning, salamanders singing, and iguanas itching.

Here’s the thing when we read alphabet books. Daniel want to say every letter and every THING before I can get to it. The salamanders and iguanas confuse him enough (he calls them all frogs), but the uglybirds and the xylo are invented animals. I love Boynton’s whimsy, but I think it goes a bit too far in this book; I’m all for quirky alphabet books, but complete inventions in an alphabet book that is clearly for young children – as evidenced by the board book format – seem overly confusing.

Not that A to Z is a bad book, per se. It is certainly fun to read, and might be appropriate for much younger children who are not trying to put phonemes to letters and words, and it might be appropriate for older children who have a firm enough grasp and are able to take things less literally, but it is not a good book at the moment for my letter and language-obsessed child.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Personal copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Have You Seen My Cat? – Saturday Story Spotlight

May 142011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

Have You Seen My Cat? by Eric Carle
Published by Little Simon, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

When a young boy’s cat goes missing, he will stop at nothing to find her. He travels the world in order to to find his poor, lost, feline, asking person after person whether or not they have seen his cat and being directed to numerous other sorts of cats, mostly but not only big cats, instead.

Talk about predictive text.

Nearly every page of Have You Seen My Cat is composed of two pieces of text. The boy asking “have you seen my cat?” and responding to the proffered cats with the response, “that’s not my cat.” Perhaps this isn’t the very most exciting thing for mommy and daddy to read, but fabulous for toddlers. Daniel loves it when I read him the book, sure, we can talk about the attributes of the different cats, but just as much he loves to read the book on his own. He flips from page to page saying, “no my cat! No my cat!”

Best of all, this is a book that can grow with Daniel for awhile. Right now we’re talking about the sizes and colors of the cats, occasionally naming them for his benefit, but we can continue to talk about the different kinds of cats out there. Until then, though, I’ll cherish the calls of “no my cat!”

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Highly recommended

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Personal copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Good Night, Baby – Saturday Story Spotlight

Apr 092011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

Good Night, Baby by Denise Lewis Patrick, illustrated by Barbara Lanza
Published by Western Publishing Company

I have to admit, I was totally biased against this book, mostly on the basis of the illustrations. I really, really hate them. They are just so dated looking, I can’t handle them. I’m sure they looked great in 1993, but in 2o11 they make me crazy.

Daniel, however, loves this book and has for months and months, so I have learned to over look what I think are ugly illustrations to the numerous virtues of Good Night, Baby. First and foremost, is the quotidian routine of the whole thing. There is much for toddlers to recognize, to compare their own bedtime routines to that of ‘baby’. Everything is familiar, and yet slightly different from Daniel’s own routine, it is a book with many things he can already identify, which is comforting, while still providing new things for him to question and ask about.

That’s why Daniel likes the book. Here’s why I like it. First of all, Baby is relatively gender-neutral, as is everything in Baby’s room. There is perhaps a slight hint towards things being blue, but a very light blue, nothing so much that Baby couldn’t be a little girl. Patrick was very studied in not having any gendered pronouns relating to Baby. Secondly, both Mommy and Daddy share pretty equally in Baby’s bedtime routine. I love seeing both parents equally involved, without a big deal being made about it.

So, despite the illustrations needing some serious updating, Good Night, Baby is really quite a good bedtime book.

Buy this book from:
Powells*

Source: Personal copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Spot’s First Easter – Saturday Story Spotlight

Apr 022011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

Spot’s First Easter by Eric Hill
Published by Putnam Juvenile, an imprint of Penguin

Lift the flap books in general are a huge hit in our house, as are the Spot books in particular. In Spot’s First Easter, Spt and his hippo friend Helen are looking for the eggs hidden by the Easter bunny.

There are lots of reasons to like Spot’s First Easter. Of course, there is the beloved familiar character, and the joy for a toddler of getting to lift the flaps and see what is underneath. Then, there’s the introduction to the idea of searching for Easter eggs, which we’re capitalizing on before a couple of egg hunts this year. Finally, there is a math component that can be added for older kids. We know right away that the Easter bunny hid six eggs, once Spot and Helen find two, how many are left? This is written into the book at the midpoint, but parents can work it in throughout the text to support pre-subtraction skills.

A great book for the secular side of Easter, although I wish it wasn’t Spot’s First Easter, since it probably will be better for most kids’ subsequent Easters.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Personal copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Will You Wear a Blue Hat? – Saturday Story Spotlight

Mar 262011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

Will You Wear a BLUE Hat?by Scholastic
Published by Children’s Press, an imprint of Scholastic

First farm animals, now primary colored outerwear. I’m starting to really dig the Rookie Toddler series from Scholastic. In Will You Wear a BLUE Hat, a little boy is being questioned by an unseen other about which of his primary colored pieces of clothing he will wear in order to go outside and stay warm.

We read this book three times just today, because it is just awesome. Daniel is making really good progress on his letters (he can identify almost all of them, and say nearly the entire alphabet) and can count to 10 pretty well, and knows lots of animal names and noises, even some shapes, so I figured the next thing we need to work on is colors. I adore Will You Wear a BLUE Hat for that.

For starters, all of the color names are printed in their eponymous color. The question (for example, “Will you wear a blue hat?”) is repeated in a sing song fashion with a great cadence, with the options shown, and then on the next page the child is seen wearing the item. It was a great conversation starter about color, we talked about all the different colored items on the page, and by the third time we had read the book, Daniel seemed quite confident about naming the color of each item.

I taught elementary school, so I am comfortable pulling out textual and pictoral elements to enrich a reading time, but for parents who are not comfortable with this, this series of books has “Rookie Storytime Tips” in the back of each one, giving clues for taking the learning experience besides just the text in the book.

I’ll be looking for more from this series, and I’m sure we haven’t read this one for the last time.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Library copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Touch and Feel Baby Animals – Saturday Story Spotlight

Mar 192011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

Touch and Feel Baby Animals by DK Publishing
Published by DK Preschool, an imprint of DK Publishing

Spring is (more or less) here, and Easter is coming up! Our local children’s museum has eggs and chicks as the new rotating exhibit, so it is definitely time to read books about baby animals.

Of all of these types of books that Daniel has so far, my favorite by far is Touch and Feel Baby Animals from DK. I picked it up in the first place mainly because of the fact is is from DK, I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by something they have put out.

Why is this my favorite tactile animal book? A couple of reasons. First of all, in addition to the baby chicks, rabbits, and calves, they also include baby elephants and even baby gorillas! I love that they move beyond the barnyard. Also, they do a great job of rich language with varied verbs and adjectives. We stroke, scratch, feel, touch, and tickle the soft, rough, fluffy, velvety, and furry baby animals.

Daniel just prefers it because he’s a big fan of tickling things, and he loves being told to tickle the baby gorilla.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Personal copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Saturday Story Spotlight

Mar 122011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Published by Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin

If there is any children’s author who gives Dr. Seuss a run for his money in the fame department, it is Eric Carle, and if there is just one book that Eric Carle is known for, it is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. After the tiny caterpillar hatches from his egg he is ravenously hungry, eating more and more each day, until he eats a ridiculous amount of food and gets a stomach ache. Soon enough, he eats a nice green leaf, creates a cocoon and, voila, butterfly!

We are big fans of Eric Carle in this house, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar in particular. In fact, Daniel’s whole room is decorated in Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric, put together by his fabulous Nana.

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baby 010 225x300 picture

We actually hadn’t read this book for awhile, but I was really glad that I pulled it back out. Daniel is really into counting right now, and he had absolutely the very best time counting all of the foods that the caterpillar was eating. That is part of what makes The Very Hungry Caterpillar so timeless: no matter what developmental level, there is something in it for pretty much any young kid.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound*

Source: Personal copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Everywhere a Moo Moo – Saturday Story Spotlight

Feb 192011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

Everywhere a Moo, Moo by Scholastic
Published by Children’s Press, an imprint of Scholastic

Despite the suggestive title, Everywhere a Moo, Moo is not the entirety of Old McDonald Had a Farm. According to some reviews I’ve seen, some readers who were expecting Old McDonald have been somewhat disappointed. Instead, each page has an animal – the cow, for example – and says, “Old McDonald had a cow. Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo, moo.” The book goes through a slew of Old McDonald-worthy farm animals: cow, pig, sheep, duck, horse.

Let me tell you, this book has been GOLDEN around here lately. We love it because it has really solidified Daniel’s naming of these basic farm animals (he was a little iffy on ‘sheep’ before) and his command of the animals’ noises (‘oink’ and ‘quack’ are now second nature). Daniel loves it because there are ANIMALS, people! Plus, he gets to interact with it, I read “Old McDonald had a…” and he gets to fill in the name of the animal AND tell me what the animal says. Plus there are pictures of real animals, not drawings, and that realism is always a plus. I think we read this every night for three or four weeks, and are still reading it occasionally.

This is a fun, well constructed way to work on farm animals. Lots of learning here, and lots of room to make it interactive for the child who is really starting to ‘get’ them.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound | Amazon*

Source: Personal copy
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

Elmo’s ABC Book – Saturday Story Spotlight

Feb 122011

Welcome to Saturday Story Spotlight, my feature where I discuss books my husband and I are reading with our son, Daniel. These are books that he, we, or all of us particularly enjoy.

Elmo’s ABC Book by Deborah November, illustrated by Carol Nicklaus
Published by Random House Children’s Books, an imprint of Random House

Over the last few months, our house has rang continually with requests (demands!) for Elmo and Cookie (Monster). We aren’t home when Sesame Street is on, but we do have a few of the dvds. Educational as those dvds may be, however, we generally prefer that Daniel not spend his entire day watching them. Luckily, he also loves books, so I have made an effort to find him some Sesame Street books, so that he can see his ‘friends’ without sitting and staring slack jawed at the TV for 45 minutes.

In general, I am sort of anti-books based on electronic media. The Disney books based on the movies I find particularly insipid – although they do have a place in enticing some of the more reluctant readers. However, as it stands now, Daniel adores books, so I haven’t felt the need to lure him to books with characters he knows from other contexts. Until, of course, I decided to fight to keep him from forming the TV habit. Of course I have always adored The Monster at the End of This Book, but I hadn’t given much thought to other Sesame Street books until Sesame Street became Daniel’s Favorite. Thing. Ever.

One of the ones we like best right now is Elmo’s ABC Book, partly because Daniel’s other current obsession is letters (he points them out whenever he sees them anywhere, and can identify about half of them by name at 19 months old. Yes, we are raising a giant nerd, and we are proud of it). It is perhaps not the most inspired alphabet book in the history of alphabet books, but it is a great one for young children who may not have the patience to sit through some of the longer, more complex alphabet books. Early on Elmo devotes one page to each letter, trying to decide which is his favorite. As the book continues, he gets somewhat less verbose about each letter, but it does lend itself to reading with an increasingly frantic voice as Elmo begins to lose hope of really being able to decide which letter is his favorite. Some of the pages do have some very good alliteration, though, and nearly every letter has a description of something that starts with and might inspire love for said letter.

This is perhaps not my favorite book, but it is a solid alphabet book offering, particularly for something based off of television characters. Besides, it most certainly is Daniel’s favorite book right now. Elmo + Alphabet = Love.

Buy this book from:
Powells | Indiebound | Amazon*

Source: Library copy
* These are all affiliate links.

Older Entries

Devourer of Books

The Night Before Christmas – Saturday Story Spotlight

A to Z – Saturday Story Spotlight

Have You Seen My Cat? – Saturday Story Spotlight

Good Night, Baby – Saturday Story Spotlight

Spot’s First Easter – Saturday Story Spotlight

Will You Wear a Blue Hat? – Saturday Story Spotlight

Touch and Feel Baby Animals – Saturday Story Spotlight

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Saturday Story Spotlight

Everywhere a Moo Moo – Saturday Story Spotlight

Elmo’s ABC Book – Saturday Story Spotlight

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