Goodnight Moon

Like you need me to tell you anything about Goodnight Moon. We have two copies, and I'm sure you have more. But I have to tell you this story.

We've been reading Corduroy and Goodnight Moon religiously twice each day for a couple of months now, right before sleep. A long time ago a professor advised that I should always tell the name of the author and illustrator of each book I read. So I do. Why not?

Well, Nana babysat last night. When we came home she said she picked up the two bedtime books and read the title, "Goodnight Moon". Maya immediately said, "Marget Wi Brown, pictures Clem Hud." Which is her translation of, "By Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Clement Hurd."

She always waits to show off to the new guy I guess.

Speaking of bedtime, here's how I found Maya the other morning. How does she sleep like that?

Who Am I?

Last week at Jammies Storytime I had to give an apologetic look over to the librarians when we sang a song about Two Little Dinos, "...one named Quiet and one named Loud". This week when we sang it as Two Little Kittens, we left that verse out.

Maya got a little loud in the library herself when she figured out the book/toy Who Am I? (a novelty book by Begin Smart Books). It doubles as a mask with two eye holes in the middle and handles on the edges. Each page has a different animal face. Just hold the book up to your face and make a noise.

When Maya found the cat page she began running around the library, "MEOW! MEOW!" Thus our quick departure (of course we checked out the book and took it with us).

Now Maya did have trouble figuring out that she needed to point the kitty away so others could look at it. So at home we tried it in front of the bathroom mirror. That worked well.

Here's a picture of Maya in another disguise. See if you can guess which piano key plunker she is.

Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?

Well, were in that stage when Maya pretty much wants to read one book, and one book only. For the last couple of months it's been Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?, by Eric Carle. She asks for it by name; "More Brown Bear, Brown Bear."

It's no wonder. This simple book has it all. There are, of course, animals. And there's repetition that Maya's already picking up on. And she's even just getting started on learning her colors with the end pages. In fact, Maya often forgets to read the book, choosing to just point at colors.

Oddly, aside from bear and dog, which were the first animals and animal noises she learned, Maya is really taken with the teacher. Before the holidays we were in a bookstore, and she started to say, "Teacher, teacher." Sure enough there was a poster of Brown Bear, Brown Bear showing the teacher.

So, I now can join Nicole in saying I have a side gig. Next week I'll start doing a pajamatime storytime at our neighborhood library as a volunteer. Patty and Maya showed their support by sewing for me a beautiful felt night cap. Now I'm off to find some bunny slippers.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

Well, I think we now have another genuine favorite. Maya is getting to the other end of her stage where she cannot sit still long enough to read even the shortest book through. There are a few that really hold her interest, like All About Ama (see below) or a new pop-up of The Wide-Mouth Frog.

But Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, by Mem Fox and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, is the grand champion. Maya pulled this book off the bed and asked me to read it for her (Patty says she did the same with her the other day). So we read it. Then we read it again. And again. And again. Four times in all. I tried other books a couple of times. But we kept coming back to this one.

And something I noticed was that she seemed to be really concentrating on the illustrations. The spreads are indeed lovely, and the babies (Maya says, "Baby" when she brings us the book) are pudgy and cute.

The text is very sweet and engaging.

There was one little baby
who was born far away.
And another who was born
on the very next day.
And both of these babies,
as everyone knows,
had ten little fingers
and ten little toes.

The formula repeats itself several times introducing more babies two at a time. With each new pair, all of the previous babies look on as they show their digits.

The final baby is special. This baby is your own. And besides ten fingers and ten toes, this baby gets "three little kisses on the tip of its nose."

I think Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes is growing on me, too.

The Cuddle Book

Maya added "achoo" to her vocabulary today. Grandpa sneezed twice and scared her. So he and Nana made a game of it, so that now whenever anyone sneezes, Maya say, "Atoo." Cute, huh?

Here's a cute book I've got to get back to the library tout suite because it's overdue. The Cuddle Book, by Guido van Genechten, is petite and adorable. The text describes how different animals cuddle.

Monkeys cuddle gently
and turtles cuddle slowly.

And in an homage to carrying your baby:

For kangaroos,
cuddling is easy
(because they are always so close)...

But it's not always easy:

...porcupines have to cuddle very carefully!

Have fun asking questions about why do you think that is. What do you know about crabs that makes cuddling so hard?

BTW, everybody say congratulations to Nicole, who is doing her first paid storytime tomorrow. Good luck.

Hush Little Baby

So I like the melody of Hush Little Baby, but I've always been bothered by the words ("Daddy's gonna buy you"). Have you felt the same way? Well, luckily Sylvia Long has. Her version of Hush Little Baby I really like.

I'm going to assume she would be happy to have you sing this to your child instead of the materialistic one, and that you will want to go out and get the book with the pleasant illustrations once you read it. Here's a sample of the song:

Hush little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's going to show you a hummingbird.

If that hummingbird should fly,
Mama's going to show you the evening sky.

Isn't that great? I once tried to change the lyrics myself when I was rocking Maya to sleep, but mine were too snide, especially when I got to diamond ring. Long's words are so gentle.

The image of rocking a baby to sleep, singing a lullaby is one of those that brings up feelings of warmth, peace, and love. But we all know sometimes bedtime can be anything but peaceful. Maya, like all babies, is so beautiful when she's sleeping. But occasionally she sprawls herself out like a drunken frat boy. Here's a photo of my little cherub sleeping.

Good Night, Little One

Good Night, Little One, by Salina Yoon, is a lift-the-flap book with great repetition and lots of animals your little one will enjoy.

Each page asks about where a different animal sleeps. You lift the home to see the baby animals inside. "Where do ladybugs sleep? Under flower petals, with pollen to eat." "Where do zebras sleep? In tall grass nuzzled with the herd."

When your children are wanting to know everything about animals, this will be a fun book with lots of information to talk about.

Whose Baby Am I?

Maya has been adding to her list of animal noises she can make, though we still cannot coax her to do them on demand. Every so often she surprises us with a new one. Her first was the bear. She would growl when we turned to that page in her animal book. Then she imitated the dogs in the neighborhood. Now she moos like a cow.

She seems to prefer books with photographs of animals to ones with drawings. However, Whose Baby am I?, by John Butler, has such realistic paintings that I think Maya will like this one.

And the animals are so soft and cuddly looking. Each pair of pages asks "Whose baby am I?" Then you turn the page to see the animal baby with it's mother.

This is a good one for beginners, as the proper names for the various animals is not given. For example, the author writes, "I am an elephant baby." He doesn't use the word calf until the very last page where all of the animals are shown with their proper names.

There is also a matching page toward the back with all of the baby and mother animals. So this book will grow with your child for awhile. While not a board book, the pages are tough enough for little hands.

And did I mention the adorable pictures? Look for it at the library and see for yourself.

Bears

At over a year, can you believe Maya still doesn't really take to stuffed animals or dolls. Just puppets really, especially if they make noise. She doesn't have a blankie or stuffed animal she wants to hang onto. Weird, huh?

Bears, by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, is an homage to teddies everywhere. Is has a short, simple text, composed mostly of words and phrases that rhyme with 'bears'. "On the stairs", "Collecting fares", and "Millionaires".

The big draw for Bears is the illustrations. Everybody's favorite monster boy is the main character, and he spies bears everywhere doing everything. There are so many details to point out. You can talk about what individual bears are doing or what expressions do they have on their faces? And there are bears and bear faces to find in unlikely places, such as the lamp, the wallpaper, even the moon.

For babies, Bears is a nice, quick read. For talkers, this is a good book for rhymes. For preschoolers, it's a great sit-and-talk-about-the-pictures book.

Baby Shoes

We've been really enjoying putting in our garden and working in the yard these last couple of weeks. Maya does, too. Yesterday Patty was bold enough to let her tool around by herself (keeping one eye on her to make sure she doesn't eat too much ground clutter). This morning Maya had dirt under her nails. Pretty cool.

The baby in Baby Shoes, by Dashka Slater and illustrated by Hiroe Nakata, likes to get dirty, too. Unfortunately, her new white shoes take the hit.

As the story goes on her new clod-hoppers go from "White shoes. High-jumping, fast-running, fine-looking shoes!" via the park, sidewalk chalk, new yellow lines on the road, and a few other hazards, to "...speckled, spotted, polka-dotted, puddle-stomping, rainbow-romping, go-go-going shoes."

As you can see, Baby Shoes has some wonderful language. I'm sure you will enjoy reading it aloud. And there is an important lesson here. Always buy those baby shoes second-hand.

Ollie

If you've been following the series of tiny books by Olivier Dunrea, first there was Gossie. Then there was Gertie. They learned to be friends and share.

In Ollie, we're introduced to a new friend. Ollie spends most of this book as an egg. Gossie and Gertie are waiting impatiently for their new friend to appear. But Ollie is defiant. He doesn't want to come out.

Instead he rolls around in the hay, across the yard, and under the sheep. "I won't come out!" he says from inside the egg.

Gossie and Gertie try a little reverse psychology. And it works. "I'm out!" says Ollie.

These are quick little reads for very young children. And the ducks are as adorable as they've ever been stomping about in their little red and blue boots.

Hello Hello

Maya loves those guitar players. And her favorite of all is Dan Zanes, formerly of the Del Fuegos. Don't let the crazy hair put you off. He makes wonderful CDs that children and adults can enjoy. They're funny and catchy, but not corny. He uses original songs and traditional numbers that parents can really appreciate. On his website he says when his first daughter was little he decided to make the children's CDs he wished he could find.

Hello Hello is a book and CD. The book, illustrated by Donald Saaf, is a picture book version of the title song. The CD has that number plus four others. The music and lyrics to all five songs are toward the back of the book. The illustrator is also a musician who sings and plays banjo and mandolin on this and other Dan Zanes CDs.

Did you catch that? Banjo and mandolin on a children's CD. Also accordion, guitar, and upright bass. How does all of that sound to you? To me it sounds like music Maya and I both can appreciate.

A Good Day

Kevin Henkes has been around a long time and produced some wonderful books. He's even had a few for older kids that I've enjoyed. Last year's A Good Day is a very simple book for the youngest of readers, though it's not a board book.

There a three sections to A Good Day. In the first, four young animals are having a bad day. Little yellow bird has lost a tail feather, little white dog's leash is tangled, etc. However, things turn around. Little orange fox finds his mother, little brown squirrel finds a large nut, etc.

Lastly, as a bonus, a little girl is happy to find a yellow feather. I would like to have seen all four animals represented in the last part, but perhaps that would have been a bit contrived.

The art hearkens back to classic children's books from the thirties and forties, just with more color than those typically used. It's quite homey. You may not care for the shortness of the text, but try it out and judge for yourself.

Boom Boom Beep Beep Roar!

We've discussed before how making different sounds can actually help infants eventually distinguish words. I can't imagine this is restricted to animal sounds. Babies hear all kinds of sounds throughout their day, and they are all important.

Boom Boom Beep Beep Roar!, by David Diehl, is a board book of pictures and sounds. There is real variety here. The hammer goes Bang Bang, the kitten says Purrr, and the motorcycle says Vroom Vroom. Finally all of this noise wakes the baby, who says Waah.

A good, simple book to share with your baby or toddler. Eventually they can make all of the sounds with you. Be sure when you see one of these things in real life, you point out the sounds they make.

Big kid books I'm reading

I've been reading some very good children's novels lately, and it occurred to me that some of you might be interested in some good books for older kids. I just finished Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis. This is his third book to be honored by a Newbery committee. In the past The Watsons go to Birmingham also received an honor, and Bud Not Buddy won the medal. He's a wonderful writer with a great voice.

Elijah of Buxton places a fictional young man in a real place, a settlement of free-blacks in Canada near the Michigan border where runaway slaves could go for refuge. Elijah is the first free-born citizen in Buxton. He is sensitive, which troubles his parents, but he is also very resourceful.

Elijah becomes involved in a life-or-death situation attempting to help a friend free his family and has to steel up his courage to do something great. I highly recommend it, or any of Curtis' other books.

My Babies

The second book in our 'hide and seek' Special Double Issue is My Babies, illustrated by Caroline Davis. Again no author. Apparently words just magically appear in some board books.

This is a different sort of lift-the-flap book. The pages are two-ply, with folder-like tabs to lift the top layer to reveal a picture underneath. It's not what Maya's used to, so it may take a few readings for her to know what to do.

The baby sees many animals and asks, "Who's hiding?" Behind each grown up animal is a baby animal. Lastly of course it's the baby who's hiding behind a blanket on Mommy's lap.

Hide and seek books may be contributing to Maya's new 'look-at-that' voice. A few weeks ago she found her question voice, where her babbles rise in pitch at the end. Now they crescendo in the middle, the way ours do when we tell her what's under the flap.

Find the Piglet

Our Special Double Issue theme for yesterday and today is 'hide and seek'. Maya and I have been enjoying two new board books with this theme.

The first is Find the Piglet, illustrated by Stephen Cartwright. This is one of those Usborne books that is sort of mass produced (note the absence of an author), but I'm a sucker for those adorable little animals Cartwright draws.

Piglet finds himself everywhere but where he is supposed to be. He's chasing chickens, hiding in the hay, or investigating a pail. My favorite scene is the cows waiting for a drink of water at the trough while Piglet has a little swim. Finally we find that he has found his way to his pen for a well-deserved nap.

A Book of Hugs

Hmm...two hug books in a row. Could have been a double issue.

Maya picked out some of her own board books at the library today while I was perusing picture books. Actually she picked out all of the board books, and I hung onto a couple while I was putting them back.

A Book of Hugs, by Dave Ross and illustrated by Laura Rader, is a primer on hugs. Different types of hugs are identified ("Brother Hugs - Usually called a Buddy Hug"), and sometimes additional words of wisdom are imparted ("Note: A circle of Buddy Huggers is called a huddle."). There are Mommy Hugs, Daddy Hugs, Tree Hugs, Hurt Hugs, and Good Night Hugs.

In the end we are told, "All hugs are wonderful, but the best hugs of all are...I-Love-You Hugs."

The illustrations are of animals playing all of the roles described in the text. I especially like the big elephant daddy.

I don't know if hug books qualifies as a genre, but I sure am enjoying them lately. I hope you are, too.

Daddy Hugs

Hey, another daddy book. I know, there are a lot of them out there, but I can't help but get excited. And Daddy Hugs, by Karen Katz, is really touching. It's helped me to pause and think about all the little moments that Maya and I have throughout the day. It's easy to just plod through the day, trying to get this and that done between naps, feedings, and diaper changes. Every so often I need a reminder to slow down and take the time to interact with Maya during even the mundane activities (well, maybe not naps).

Daddy Hugs is a counting book, from one to ten. "One 'I'm so glad you're my baby!' hug", "Two teeny, tiny finger hugs" and so on. The best part comes when I get to say, "I love you!" ten times.

And the book ends with a good night hug, making this a great bedtime book. Maya and I used to read after her bottles. But now that she's moving on to solid foods, bedtime is becoming our reading time. So a good night book is a welcome addition to our repertoire.

And moms, don't be jealous. There is also a Mommy Hugs.

Fleecy Chick

Maya received a few books for her birthday. One is a bit out of the ordinary. It is a completely cloth book. Fleecy Chick (had to look up the name on the publisher's website) doesn't list an author, but the illustrator is Patti Jennings.

Contrary to what I've been saying about Maya not liking soft, fuzzy things, she does like this book. However, she doesn't exactly snuggle with it, which seems to be it's intended purpose, any more than with her other board books.

Another upside is that when Maya chews on Fleecy Chick, it doesn't eventually begin to shed little bits of paper material. So it's certainly as good as a board book.

Charlie the Chick tells us some of his favorite activities, including pecking, flapping, and hiding. But most of all he loves to cuddle.

So for your cuddly baby, look for this type of book up near the check-out of your local independent bookstore.

Big Bears Can!

Yesterday we watched Maya and her big cousin Addy play and swim together. They're not quite old enough to get into any real trouble, but we try to guess who, if either, might grow to be the instigator of mischief.

In Big Bears Can!, by David Bedford and illustrated by Gaby Hansen, it's Little Bear that brings on the trouble. He asks if big bears can do some of his favorite things like jumping on the couch or swinging on the curtains. Uh Oh. By the time Mommy gets home the house is in shambles, and Big Bear is in trouble. It seems at first as though Little Bear is trying to coax Big Bear to make mischief, but he feels very bad and wants to make it up to Big Bear. He comes up with something that big and little bears can do to feel better.

A really nice touch (no pun intended) in this book is that all of the bears are a little bit fuzzy. If your child, unlike Maya, likes to feel soft things this feature is a nice treat.

Maya had a wonderful birthday, by the way. Right now she's sleeping it off. Hope everything is well with you.