200 books: Airplanes, naps and so many chickens!

It’s been a while! Basically, we’ve been on vacation, hanging out on the other side of the country, and we didn’t bring any library books with us. The reason for this decision was twofold:

1. SO MUCH LUGGAGE! If it had just been my husband and me, we would have traveled with two small suitcases. With the baby: We checked 3 suitcases and a car seat base. We also checked a car seat and a stroller at the gate. My husband had a backpack as a carryon, and I had a diaper bag. Oh yeah, and a baby. There was no room for anything else!

2. I had no guarantee that the books would ever make it back to the East Coast. As it was, we left two plastic dinosaurs on the first airplane, a ball in the rental car, and various pacifiers and socks throughout the great city of San Francisco. Library books wouldn’t have stood a chance. And while I do love to support my local library (ahem, with my overdue fines…) I prefer to return the books eventually rather than pay for them.

Our little reader enjoying Chinatown: 

Anyway, we’re back, and we’re reading like crazy! We’ve started a new nap routine that includes reading a story before each nap, and another before bedtime. That adds up to 3 books a day, or 21 books a week. (Although we often reread favorites before bedtime, so it’s actually more like 14 new books a week.)

Which brings us to the third point. SO. MANY. CHICKENS! Check out the books below, and I think you’ll see what I mean. ;)

Our Weekly Favorite:

Title: Bunnies!!!

Author/Illustrator: Kevan Atteberry 

Summary:

“Story time for little ones has never been this exciting! When a friendly monster spots a group of bunnies in the woods, his delight is contagious! And when they're gone, how he misses them so! With bright illustrations and a simple text, this is the most fun type of read aloud and one that mirrors most every toddler's emotional life.”

Why We Loved it: 

• The text is simple
• The pictures are clean, colorful and fun
• The expressions on the character’s faces are priceless, and tell their own stories
• The monster in this story is HILARIOUS! He seriously acts just like a toddler. He had me laughing out loud throughout the entire story.

Other Books We Read This Week:

	Title: Hen Lake Author/Illustrator: Mary Jane Auch My biggest problem with all of the chicken books (other than the sheer volume of them!) was the silly egg-themed puns that littered each story.
	Title: Eggs Mark the Spot Author/Illustrator: Mary Jane Auch The story of a chicken who can lay eggs that have paintings on them... a little ridiculous for me!
	Title: Chickerella Author/Illustrator: Mary Jane Auch and Herm Auch I personally didn't enjoy this book too much. I'm sure the collages took a ton of time, but it seemed like the storyline was created just to showcase the pictures. . . which were pictures of dressed up chickens.
	Title: The Plot Chickens Author/Illustrator: Mary Jane Auch and Herm Auch This was my favorite of the chicken stories, mostly because I thought it would inspire kids to write their own stories.
	Title: The Buk Buk Buk Festival Author/Illustrator: Mary Jane Auch and Herm Auch This one wasn't my favorite. A story about an author who is discriminated against because. . . she is a chicken. It was just a little too unrealistic for me.
	Title: Superchicken Author/Illustrator: Mary Jane Auch and Herm Auch This story was actually pretty funny. A great way to start a discussion about the importance of reading!
	Title: Bantam of the Opera Author/Illustrator: Mary Jane Auch By this point, I was just a little tired of chickens!
	Title: OH NO, Little Dragon! Author/Illustrator: Jim Averbeck I thought this book was cute, but not extraordinary.
	Title: Dream Something Big Author: Diane Hutts Aston Collages by: Susan L. Roth  Although I probably wouldn't read it again, I thought the story was interesting. It made me want to visit the real Watts Tower.