Week 8: The Big Kick-Off

Our Weekly Progress: 

Not all picture books were created equal.  There are some very dull books out there! However, there are also some hilarious, heart-touching, and just plain good ones. My goal is to help sort them out by reading every book in the children's section of my local library, rating them as I go.  Hopefully, I'll uncover some treasures, and be able to share them with other parents who love to read to their kids as much as I love reading to mine. 

It all started when my daughter, Emma, was born 8 weeks ago. In order to avoid going stir-crazy, I started visiting the library two, sometimes three times a week.  We were reading an average of about 20 books every week.  

Then I started thinking... at this rate, how long would it take me to read every single book in the library's picture book section? I love a challenge, so I decided to find out.  On Saturday, I checked out the first 10 books in the A section, and off we go!  I started this blog so that I could share our journey, and the great books that I'm sure we'll discover along the way. 

Our Weekly Favorite:

Title: I Can Do It Myself!

Author: Diane Adams

Illustrator: Nancy Hayashi
Rating: 5 stars

Summary: "She can do a lot all by herself- make her own bed, peanut butter her bread, and even play the trombone while she stands on her head. And if anyone should even consider offering to help her, Emily Pearl reminds them, 'I can do it myself!' But while there's a lot that Emily Pearl can do all by herself, sometimes- like at night, when it's starting to get dark and it's time for bed- it's nice to have someone else there."  

"Parents will be amused by the first stirrings of independence depicted in Diane Adam's cheerful, rhyming text. Children will enjoy Nancy Hayashi's endearing depictions of Emily Pearl's creative attempts to do things all by herself."    

Why I Loved it: 

• Emily Pearl is a very likable and impish character who will remind a lot of parents of their own little monkeys.
• The pictures were hilarious!
• I liked the way that the text rhymed.
• The story was funny, but the heart-touching ending surprised me by making me tear up a little bit.  Definitely worth a re-read!

Other Books We Read This Week:

Title: Dave & Violet

Author and Illustrator: Sarah Adams
Rating: 2 stars
Cute story, but not enough of a plot for me

Title: The Show-and-Tell Lion

Author: Barbara Abercrombie

Illustrator: Lynne Avril Cravath

Rating: 3 stars
Teaches a good lesson about fibbing. Cute.

Title: Song and Dance Man

Author: Karen Ackerman

Illustrator: Stephen Gammell

Rating: 1 star 
I didn't think the plot of this book was too impressive.

Title: Dear Peter Rabbit & Yours Truly, Goldilocks

Author: Alma Flor Ada

Illustrator: Leslie Tryon

Rating: 2 stars
The idea was cute- characters from different stories all writing letters to one another.  However, the plot were predictable and a little bit boring.  Very little happened that you wouldn't have expected if you are familiar with the stories of Goldilocks, Peter Rabbit, and the 3 Little Pigs. 

Title: Friend Frog

Author: Alma Flor Ada

Illustrator: Lori Lohstoeter

Rating: 2 stars
This book was OK, but I didn't find it particularly interesting.

Title: Quacky Baseball

Author: Peter Abrahams

Illustrator: Frank Morrison

Rating: 2 stars
This book had a lot of "baseball talk" and not too much else.

Title: Conversations on the Ark

Author: Michelle Medlock Adams

Illustrator: Lucy Corvino

Rating: 3 stars
This was an interesting take on the story of Noah's ark: from the point of view of the animals.  I liked that the entire story rhymed. 

Title: Ready or Not, Here Comes Scout!

Author: Jill Abrahamson & Jane O’Connor

Illustrator: Deborah Melmon

Rating: 3 stars
This book teaches a good lesson about how to play nicely with friends.