He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

Okay, it's time for one of those gratuitous dad posts. Our little girl's world has been pretty small thus far, but it's getting bigger all of the time. She's meeting more kids and adults, and she's just beginning to learn how to get along without Mama or Daddy. The little milestones that occur each day make me very emotional. I want to absorb everything for her, but I can't. I'm thankful that I know she has someone bigger than me holding onto her.

I'm talking about this after taking another look at Kadir Nelson's He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. It's such a beautiful book. I'm going to be keeping my eye out for this illustrator.

Amazing scenes of a family interacting with their world accompany the familiar song. We start big with a view of the heavens, then the San Francisco skyline at daybreak, then right to a boy holding a picture he drew of his family. "He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands." It just gets better from there.

I highly recommend this inspiring book to all families.

Here's our little one out in the great, big world. As my grandmother used to pray over me, "Be round about her, Lord." God be round about you, too.

Say Daddy

I've been noticing that Maya is very good at learning the words we aren't stressing and ignoring the ones we are. For example, I've been stressing the word "book" since she was, oh, two weeks old. My professional pride was riding on that being her first word. Nope. But she will walk up to us and say, "Reeuuuu," which is her version of "read".

Say Daddy!, by Michael Shoulders and illustrated by Teri Weidner, is about just this phenomenon. Each family member reads to the new baby and at the end says, "Say Daddy" or "Say Nana." But baby doesn't comply.

Finally, the baby comes out with "Book." Everyone is pleased, though Daddy just won't give up.

There is a lot of text here, so I'd say this one is a little long for preschoolers.

Here's Maya showing off her reading skills and Mama's first attempt at pigtails.

Ten Little Mummies: An Egyptian Counting Book

Ten Little Mummies, a not-necessarily-Halloween-book by Philip Yates and illustrated by G. Brian Karas, is so clever and has such a catchy rhyme.

Ten mummies are bored in their tomb so they go out for adventure. One by one they are whisked away by various incidences. "8 little mummies committed hijinks. One was arrested for painting the sphinx."

Eventually one lonely mummy returns to the tomb to find that all her friends are back together.

For your kindergarteners or first-graders, this one will help with counting and Egypt-specific vocabulary when they get to that unit in school. You know they will. Right after pirates.

The Boy Who was Raised by Librarians

Maya signed up for the Summer Reading Program at our neighborhood library yesterday, and we already have the first cupcake colored in and 30 minutes colored on the clock. I had to try to remember why we didn't sign up last year. Maya would have trounced that goal last year. This year she doesn't sit still as long, but I know we'll make it.

We've talked about narcissistic librarians before, but The Boy Who was Raised by Librarians, by Carla Morris and illustrated by Brad Sneed, takes the cake. It's the Mr. Holland's Opus for children's librarians.

Melvin is a very curious boy who lives at the Livingston Public Library. There are three very nurturing librarians there who take Melvin under their wings. No matter what question ("How many kinds of fish are in the whole world and all the lakes and all the rivers and all the seas?"), they always found the answer. "That's how librarians are."

The three librarians help Melvin in all his school projects, and when he goes on to achieve greatness, they watch from afar.

After years have gone by and the trio have aged, another curious child walks into the library. Guess who the new librarian is?

I'm welling up with tears just writing about it. What greater good can librarians provide for mankind than breed more librarians? Maybe we really are trying to take over the world.

Joking aside, The Boy Who was Raised by Librarians would make a great gift for your children's librarian. Let them know you appreciate them.

Big and Little

Maya had her 15 month check-up today. I'm happy to report that she has indeed been growing. Her height is back up in the middle of the pack, and her weight percentage is in the double digits. Her head off course is still huge, apparently. You know I look at her and I don't see a kid with a balloon head, and nobody says as such. But on paper she should be a lollipop. Maybe you're all just being nice.

Big and Little, by John Stadler, is a treatise in perception of size. A mouse announces that Ellie the elephant is going to dive into the glass of water sitting on the table beside him. Can she do it? When Ellie slips and falls, the mouse runs for cover, but Ellie falls safely into the glass.

Each page is a fold out, with the mouse shown on the outside and Ellie shown on the inside. Only on the last page of course are you shown the whole picture, and there is a lesson in perception that you can talk with your kids about.

I had thought this book would be mostly for older children, but my preschool niece enjoyed it. I don't know how much she got the end, but I asked her questions along the way, "Is a mouse big or little?" "Is an elephant big or little?" "Is a mouse bigger than an elephant?"

Edwina The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct

Our last guest reviewer is Natalia (2), who chose Edwina The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct, by Mo Willems. It is the story of Edwina, a dinosaur who everybody loves, and Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, who "knew just about everything about just about everything". When nobody will listen to Reginald's scholarly arguments showing that dinosaurs are extinct, Edwina takes an interest. She is convinced Reginald is right, but she decides she doesn't care. In the end Reginald doesn't care either.

Natalia says her favorite part is "Edwina the dinosaur who doesn't was stinky" (Note the quotation marks).

Holly Bloom's Garden

Maya and I were weeding the garden again yesterday. Maya is getting so good at finding things to do outside while I work in the garden. We make a few small concessions. I think a little dirt gets eaten each time (what my dad would call 'good clean dirt') and one of the herbs was sat upon. These are, in my opinion, small prices to pay for Maya getting to interact with nature.

I had thought Maya had found the first fruits of our labor. She saw a bright, red strawberry before I did and tried to pick it off. I wanted Patty to see it first, so we had quite a discussion about leaving it be for the time being. I was amazed. How did she know what to do? Turns out she picked and ate one the other day I hadn't heard about.

So our little garden is moving along. The family in Holly Bloom's Garden, by Sarah Ashman and Nancy Parent and illustrated by Lori Mitchell, has a real knack for gardening. The Bloom children all have foretelling names. Rosie and Bud grow big, beautiful plants. But poor Holly can't seem to make anything grow.

She goes to bed defeated. But after everyone is asleep she has an idea. She sneaks into her artist father's studio and works all night to create a big, beautiful flower garden in her own way. It's a great lesson in finding joy and satisfaction in your own strengths.

Here's our little picker in action:

Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree

So one of the next projects for our little yard is to make sure that we have an adequate climbing tree. We've got a lot of very tall bushes in the back, but only one tree. Unfortunately, the lowest branches are about seven feet from the ground. Maybe we'll have to find a way to make some steps up the trunk. Otherwise it's the cherry trees by the driveway.

The little girl in Way Up High in a Tall Green Tree, by Jan Peck and illustrated by Valeria Petrone, doesn't let anything get in her way. As she climbs she encounters a variety of tree dwellers.

One thing I especially appreciate about this book is the inclusion of some very unique animals you might not get to talk about unless you see them at the zoo. Along with the familiar butterflies, bats, and birds, our little climber encounters an ocelot, a kinkajou, and a gecko.

The catchy text gives some great descriptors, like "Way up high in a tall green tree, I spy a tree frog winking at me. Hello, tree frog. Google-eyed, tree frog. See you later, tree frog. Climb away."

At the top of the tree, she finds the moon. Climbing back down again, she finds Daddy. "Guess what, Daddy? I climbed to the top of a tall green tree!" Just as you're wondering where this little girl lives that she would see all of these animals, you find that she has actually been in her bed all along using her imagination (Are those real animals or stuffed?)

Early Literacy Tip of the Day

I read an article recently in a parenting magazine espousing the benefits of play for children. TV, Gameboys, and organized sports don't count. Kids need to use their imaginations. One of the suggestions is to take your kids outside, rain, shine, or cold. Looks like we're doing pretty good in that department.

Even babies learn this way. The author noted that when babies and toddlers drop things over the side of their high chair, they're learning. Looks like we're excelling in that department.

Dooby Dooby Moo

The theme of musical animals has a long history from Grimms' Brementown Musicians to Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Punk Farm (check out the Punk Farm website; the music is actually pretty good).

Doreen Cronin creates a winner with Dooby Dooby Moo, illustrated by Betsy Lewin. The characters you first met in Click Clack Moo are here. Farmer Brown keeps a close eye and ear on the animals in his farm, especially that crafty Duck. When he finds an ad cut out of his morning paper, he knows trouble is coming.

The ad is for a talent show at the county fair. First prize is a used trampoline. Though farmer Brown only hears snoring inside the barn, when the coast is clear, cows, sheep, and pigs practice their versions of old favorites. The cows sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star": "Dooby, dooby, dooby moo. Dooby moo, moo, moo, moo, moo." The sheep rehearse "Home on the Range". And the pigs do an interpretive dance.

Farmer Brown doesn't trust the animals on the farm by themselves (remember Giggle, Giggle Quack?), so he packs them in the truck when he goes to the county fair (convenient, no?). He leaves the critters snoring in the truck.

The cows do well. The sheep do even better. But the pigs are fast asleep. Duck steps up and does "Born to be Wild" - "Quack, quack, quack, quuuaaaaaackk!"

Do they win? Well, that when Farmer Brown listens outside the barn door he hears, "Dooby, dooby BOING! Fa la, la, la BOING! Whacka, whacka BOING!"

As always with Cronin, there are hilarious details such as footnotes and disclaimers, mice judging the rehearsals, and Farmer Brown wearing a disquise. If you're building a collection of the books in this series like we are, don't forget this one. You can have so much fun belting out the tunes.

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.

The Hello, Goodbye Window

Maya loves her days with Nana. On those days she gets to play all day, no running boring errands. Most Nana days are at our house, but occasionally Maya gets to visit Grandpa and Nana's house. They have a patio door with a huge window. Maya can look out at the back yard.

The little girl in The Hello, Goodbye Window, by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka, has a favorite window at Poppy and Nanna's house. It's the kitchen window overlooking the path to the front door. Since Poppy and Nanna spend most of their time in the kitchen, that's the window where you say "Hello" and "Goodbye".

The text describes an idyllic weekend with Poppy and Nanna. The window is good for playing peek-a-boo and making faces. The kitchen has drawers to explore, a sink for washing hands, and a table for coloring.

When it's dark the window becomes a mirror. When the lights are turned off, a solarium. The next day is filled with fun in the garden, except for nap time because "nothing happens until I get up."

The window is where you can get a first glimpse of visitors, such as a T-rex, the pizza delivery guy, or the Queen of England. Today it happens to be Mom and Dad. Goodbyes are waved through the hello, goodbye window.

The author is Norton Juster, of Phantom Tollbooth fame, so you know the writing is a pleasure to read aloud. The illustrations are quite colorful and eccentric. At first they may seem childish and messy. But a closer look shows why Raschka received a Caldecott for this one. There's quite a bit, so I recommend this book for the early grades.

Leonardo the Terrible Monster

Maya's in that cute stage that I think most kids go through. She likes to be startled. On Wednesdays we go to have lunch with Mom at the hospital and are waiting for the elevator, and Maya jumps and squeals when the doors open and someone steps out. The unsuspecting stranger usually gets a big kick out of that.

Another huge one is opening and closing the garage door. We let Maya press the button. She can't quite bring herself to press it all the way in, but when we help her and the door starts to move, she jumps up and down in our arms and yells, "EEE, EEE, EEE, EEE." It's like she's scared and fascinated all at once. We're hoping this isn't a precursor to a fascination with horror flicks.

The monster in Leonardo the Terrible Monster, by "Your Pal" Mo Willems (gotta' like a guy who names himself that for kids), learns that really scaring people is not only hard, it's not as fun. Leonardo is just no good at scaring people. Frankly, they just think he's cute. He doesn't have "1,642 teeth, like Tony." And he isn't tall or weird.

Desperate, Leonardo decides he needs to "find the most scaredy-cat kid in the whole world and scare the tuna salad out of him." He does research until he finds Sam sitting alone. After he gives his best effort until Sam cries, Leonardo feels he has finally done it.

But Sam isn't scared. He's just upset over his mean big brother (which takes a gushing full page of writing to explain). Leonardo decides that "instead of being a terrible monster, he would become a wonderful friend." Of course part of being a good friend is scaring and chasing.

We once saw a video version of Leonardo with Mo Willems doing the narration. With Sesame Street on his resume, you know it's got to be good. Willems' reading style reminds me of Shel Silverstein. I highly recommend seeking it out. Knuffle Bunny was on there, too.

Big Kid Books I'm Reading

Speaking of monsters, there's a big scary librarian in The Legend of Spud Murphy, by Eion Colfer. I've been trying out some more light-hearted books for the Guys Read book club. This one takes just a couple of hours to read, even for me.

The mother of two mischievous boys decides to take them to the library twice a week for three hours. The librarian, Spud Murphy (so named for shooting kids with a spud gun), is notorious for hating children. She forces them to sit on a carpet in the children's section (one tiny bookcase).

When tested, Spud Murphy expertly throws a book stamp across the room and nails the older brother on the head. Scared into submission, the boys at first pretend to read books, then accidentally start to really read them. Turns out they love books. When they exhaust the children's collection, they go for an adult shelf (in Indiana Jones fashion).

Spud catches them, and at first she is livid. But when she realizes why they disobeyed, she realizes she has strayed from her calling, lets them take home the book (a romance novel-they were desperate), and vows to improve the children's collection.

I was at a training session for book club leaders, and the facilitator was describing some of the extra things he did to make the clubs more fun. I began daydreaming of having a contest to see who could accurately throw a book stamp across a room at a drawing of a boy on big paper. Just then the facilitator switched to talking about discipline. He said, "One hard, fast rule is absolutely no throwing things." Maybe I'm not the right guy for this job.

Fancy Nancy

Awhile back I asked some librarians for suggestions on how to encourage Maya's creative side as she grows. One thing that came up several times was having some old clothes and accessaries in storage. Kids may use a single hat in so many different ways.

Though I'm hoping that it wouldn't lead to the tom-frillery seen in Fancy Nancy, by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Fobin Preiss Glasser. Nancy likes all things fancy, and it shows in the way she dresses and the fancy French words she uses.

The trouble is the rest of her family just doesn't get it. Seeing a poster for dance classes at the supermarket, Nancy decides to hold "fancy lessons." Nancy's folks are very supportive. They attend the lesson and even take notes.

After dressing up in the most outlandish clothing the gaudy party go out for pizza and a lot of stares. Unfortunately, Nancy can't quite carry the fancy parfait (see, French) and becomes quite messy.

After a bath and a homemade parfait, Nancy and her parents say, "I love you." Because, in Nancy's fine opinion, "...there isn't a fancy-or better-way of saying that."

I suppose 'je t'aime' would work, but oh well. A great book for your fancy little girl.

Dog Heaven

Today I took an online survey for another stay-at-home dad doing a graduate project. It concerned therapy for children. I was to imagine I have a 7 to 10-year-old child. For which issues would I consider having the child see a therapist. I answered no to the first few and worried that I would answer no to all of them (I also worried about how long the survey would be, because then I had to answer the 'why not' questions). I'm not inclined to consider professional therapy, I guess, because it's always seemed like a pretty severe solution to the things we go through in life. But a few of the situations got me thinking. There are some things I haven't encountered that Maya hopefully won't either, but should she, she may need some outside help. It was quite thought-provoking.

I like to think that books are good therapy, too. I've heard it's a good idea to read books to prepare children for difficult times in life well before they actually occur. They open the door for conversations about things like the family pet passing, or grandparents, or parents, or a friend. Then perhaps they may be prepared.

Dog Heaven, by Cynthia Rylant, and it's companion, Cat Heaven, are my favorite books about where pets go when they die. Heaven for dogs is just what the name implies-perfect. God knows what dogs need and enjoy, and he provides for them.

There are endless fields in which to run, ponds with geese to bark at, and children. There are dog biscuits shaped like cats and soft clouds to sleep on. Dogs without homes on earth are given special homes in heaven. Those that left family behind are given a chance to occasionally check in on them.

I like that God is a kindly old man dressed in farming clothes who enjoys looking after all of the dogs. Dog Heaven places a nice image in your child's imagination, so perhaps they won't miss their beloved so dearly until they meet up again.

Big Kid Books I'm Reading

This summer I'll be facilitating a Guys Read book club for school-aged boys. I've been perusing some great books. Our first is Jackie's Wild Seattle, by Will Hobbs. All the clubs in the system are doing one of his books because at the end of the summer he will be visiting the library.

I wasn't sure how Jackie's Wild Seattle would go over since the protagonist is a 12-year-old girl. We're supposed to look for books with a boy in the lead, but I think the person who chose this one may not have read it. But I think it will be ok. There are so many attention grabbers in here that I don't think the boys will mind.

A brother and sister spend the summer with their uncle in Seattle while their parents travel to Pakistan with Doctors Without Borders. Uncle Neal lost his job as an aeronautics engineer and is volunteering for an animal rescue outfit. But he isn't looking so good.

Shannon and Cody are from Jersey and were there on 9/11. Cody actually saw the second plane and is having trouble coping. When Neal is injured Shannon has to step up and do the rescuing. There is also a troubled boy there who needs a little rescuing too. Through all of this and discovering what is wrong with Uncle Neal, the kids do a lot of growing during that summer.

Jackie's Wild Seattle covers a lot of heavy issues, but I think reluctant readers will enjoy the scenes involving the rescue of wild animals. And the questions about what makes a good person or even a hero will get them thinking.

By the way, if you're in the Twin Cities area and you see a notice for a program by Dakota Wild Animals, I highly recommend that you go. They provide amazing demonstrations.

Dig!

I was telling a mom at the library the other day about Mayareads, and she gave me just about the best review you can give to a book. Her son doesn't sit still often to read books, but he will for Dig!, by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha and illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. In fact he chants the refrain often as they go about their days.

So I picked up a copy, and I can see why. Dig! has such a nice structure with tons of repetition. Mr. Rally and his dog, Lightning, have a backhoe. Mr. Rally has five jobs this day, digging a hole for the pool at the school, clearing a landslide near the ocean, etc.

At each job Mr. Rally sings, "Dig up rock and dig up clay! Dig up dirt and dig all day!" At the end of the day Mr. Rally puts the backhoe away, but he and Lightning still have some digging to do in the garden (including of course the burying of bones).

With five parts, the text is a little long, but your kindergarten-or-so-aged children will love it. After you're done reading, go out and do a little gardening, singing a merry little tune.

Who's in the Jungle?

I've been looking on YouTube for videos of people performing children's songs, because sometimes I'll read about a song that has great lyrics, but unless it's to the tune of another more familiar song, I have to make it up. I found a fun little tune called the Elephant Song by a guy named Eric Herman. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yihq8BIhL9c

Like the Elephant Song, Who's in the Jungle?, by Heather J. Gondek and illustrated by Chris Gilvan-Cartwright, is a good opportunity to help children identify familiar animals by their characteristics.

It's a Who-am-I lift-the-flap type book. The clues and the answers are all hidden beneath flaps. For example the giraffe page says, "I have a long neck. I eat leaves. My fur has spots. Who am I?" Neck, leaves and spots are all hidden under flaps with their pictures on the front. Your children can identify the pictures, then the animal.

A good interactive book for kids, especially before or after a trip to the zoo.

Caps for Sale

Another great suggestion from Carrie. Caps for sale, by Esphyr Slobodkina, is a classic tale in the traditional style that every child should get to enjoy. I've seen and heard of Caps for Sale being performed in a variety of ways-flannel board, short drama, etc. There is a lot of opportunity for interaction here.

A peddler is walking with the caps he sells piled upon his head-brown, blue, and red piled high. He is hungry and tired so he decides to rest under a tree. When he awakens all his caps are gone. He looks everywhere around him, but doesn't see his caps.

Finally the peddler looks up into the tree and sees a bunch of monkeys each wearing one of his caps. He shakes his finger at the monkeys, but they only imitate him. His shakes his fists at them; they shake their fists at him.

He throws his own cap to the ground in disgust. That works. All the caps fall around him. Monkeys are known mimickers, after all. The peddler piles the caps back upon his head and goes on his way.

Even if you have just a couple of kids you're reading to, this is a great story to act out. Grab a few caps out of the coat closet, pretend to be asleep, and have your children do whatever you do. It's a rollicking time.

Red: Seeing Red All Around Us

You know how you never really notice a particular car until you happen to ride in one, then you notice every one you see on the street. Kids are that way about a lot of new things. As they take in new information, it's great for them to point something out when they encounter it day to day. Say, for example, you just spent some time talking with your toddler about dinosaurs. When you see a dinosaur walking down the street, you may say, "What's that?" And your child responds, "A brontosaurus."

I know that's not the best example. After all, scientists decided years ago that there's no such thing as a brontosaurus. So the likelihood that you'd see one walking down the street is pretty low. But you get the idea.

If your kids are learning their colors, there is a great series from Capstone Press about all the colors we encounter in our day. Red, by Sarah L. Schuette, is one we tried out.

The text works well for a wide range of ages, because you can read a little or a lot. Infants will enjoy the large, bold images while you read. If you're reading with younger toddlers, you may want to just read the short, bold text on each page. "Red has petals. Red has thorns. Red has flashing lights and horns." Then ask questions about the rose and the fire truck they see on the pages.

For older children there are larger bits of information in text boxes on the page. "Fire trucks move fast to get to fires quickly. Many fire trucks are red so that people can see them racing down the street."

At the end of this book, you may want to go outside and find other things that are red. Applying what you read in a book to everyday life is a great way for children to internalize what they have learned.

Big Yellow Sunflower

Tomorrow Patty and Maya will go to the Friends Plant Sale in St. Paul. She's been diligently picking out veggies, flowers, and grasses. We can't wait to see what we can get to grow in our little yard. Maya loves to touch the flowers (and tear them off, of course).

I found a very novel little book at the library about flowers. Big Yellow Sunflower, by Frances Barry, is a unique book that, when you're done reading it, actually becomes a flower. As you read each page, you fold it back to become a petal. When you're all done, you have a big flower in your hands.

Each page depicts a different animal singing a little song to the sunflower throughout the stages of its life, from seed to flower. On the first, a little mouse sings, "Little seed, little seed, falling to the ground, what will you be?"

At the center of the flower, when you have all the petals opened, there is a fold-down page with instructions underneath for growing your own sunflower.

Pretty cool.

The Jazz Fly

So here's a little inside information about libraries. Every so often we need to weed our collection. This is a very difficult job, because who wants to take books off the shelf? But it has to be done. There are many things a librarian considers when deciding which books need to move on (By the way, libraries very seldom throw away books, so rest easy. Ours are either sold to raise money for the library or are donated to worthy projects.), but the most common factor is when was the last time the book was checked out. So if you want to see your favorite books always stay on the shelves, all you have to do is check it out and get your friends to do the same.

I thought to mention this because The Jazz Fly, by Matthew Gollub and illustrated by Karen Hanke, was on the chopping block, but was saved because someone checked it out recently. Which is a good thing in my opinion, because it's a wonderful and fun introduction to jazz music.

A fly cannot find his way to the jazz club. He asks some other animals for directions, but the fly only speaks jazz, and the other animals speak their own language. Finally the dog points with his nose.

At the club the band (with the fly on drums, Willie the Worm on bass, Nancy the Gnat on sax, and Sammy the Centipede on piano) must come up with a new, innovative sound or they will lose their gig.

The fly remembers the languages he heard (ribbit, oink, hee-haw, and ruff) and incorporates them into the music. It's a hit, and the new animal friends attend every show from then on.

An accompanying CD contains a musical version of the story. It's a jazz number performed by the author. He scats for the voice of the fly, and many of the jazzy words in the text are interpreted as musical instruments.

It's a bit fast, so your children may only learn the scatting parts, but that alone will endear them to the story and give them an early appreciation for the sounds of jazz music.