My Dog, My Cat, My Mama, and Me!

Yesterday we went to visit Rei. He is Maya's friend Kai's brand new little brother. Rei was born in a hot tub in the three-season porch, attended by midwives and delivered by his dad. Kai got to be there, too. Congratulations. Today's book is dedicated to you.

My Dog, My Cat, My Mama, and Me!, by Nigel Gray and illustrated by Bob Graham, is an extremely clever lift-the-flap book. It has a good rhyme scheme and teaches counting from two to four.

A little girl notices her dog is getting fat. The dog goes into a cupboard and comes out thin. When the girl peeks inside (and you lift the flap), there are two puppies. When the fat cat comes out of a cardboard box thin, there are three kittens.

When Mama is getting fatter, goes to the hospital, and comes back home thin (I know, I know, it doesn't exactly happen that way), how many babies do you think there are?

It's a pretty fun addition to your pile of 'getting-the-kids-ready-for-a-new-baby' books.