Am I the only one that walks into the library with my littles and wonders, "Ah! What should I pick out for my kiddos?" (Besides the obligatory Maisy mouse books, of course.)
It never used to be an issue. Me and the wee girl would sit in the board book section, pulling out books one by one... perusing... reading... putting one back and finding another...
Then her brother came along - and of course - she grew out of board books (mostly). Now when we walk into the library it's full-on monkey management trying to keep the little dude from either breaking all the computers or pulling all the books off the shelf. Meanwhile, the wee girl is keeping herself busy at the touch-screen computer that lets her paint or "play with letters" (as she says) - but she's no longer picking out any books. Basically, this means I need to have some books in mind if we're going to walk out of the library with something other than Maisy.
(By the way, I'm not really bagging on Maisy. She's great... in her own way. Just trying to expand my daughter's interests!)
So I was really excited to find this
LinkUp hosted by A Gentle Mother! Yay for inspiration! Hope you'll find some too... let's get to it.
The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots - by Beatrix Potter
I was so excited to find this book! It's a story that Ms Potter wrote, but never published - probably because she never finished the illustrations for it. So the quirky Quentin Blake filled in for her and then Helen Mirren did the audio recording for it, and voila! Instant classic (if you ask me).
Pumpkin Soup - by Helen Cooper
We've been loving this story of a trio of animals who each have their own special role to play in making their nightly meal of pumpkin soup. All is bliss - until the duck goes and messes things up by demanding to do squirrel's job. The illustrations are fun and the tale of how they all fall out and then come back together again seems perfect for this stage in life, where the wee girl and her brother are also constantly falling out and coming back together again.
Knitty Kitty - by David Elliott
I grabbed this book on a whim, and it has ended up being a really sweet book, perfect for bedtime. Knitty Kitty knits hats, mittens and scarves to keep her kittens cozy on a winter night - but nothing substitutes for the coziest thing of all... This is very much a seasonal tale really best for winter weather, so I think I'll check this out again come December.
Thanking the Moon - by Grace Lin
Two of our good friends are part Chinese, so whenever we see books from Grace Lin we typically check them out. This one was perfect for October as the Mid-Autumn Moon festival is celebrated in September/October (this year it was apparently September 15th but next year it will be October 4th - so let's see if I can set a reminder to check this out again next year!). My little girl is now obsessed with moon cakes - but, apart from driving down to Chinatown in SF, I'm not sure where we'll be able to find them. Ideas, anyone?
Make Way for McCloskey
Since the wee girl is learning about the letter D at preschool, I thought I would check out "Make Way for Ducklings" as a tie-in. Alas, all the copies of "Make Way for Ducklings" were taken at our library - but this one! The added bonus was that it contains "Blueberries for Sal" which I had never heard of before, but since becoming a fan of the
Read Aloud Revival podcast, have not stopped hearing about. So it was a great 2-for-1. I can see this one landing on our Christmas wish list....
And that was it for this week! Oh... except for these:
of course. :D
What did you pick up at the library this week? Alternatively, what are you going to pick up next time you're there? Please share!
