220 Books: Summer is REALLY nice!

Our Weekly Favorite:

Title: Please, Mr. Panda
Author/Illustrator: Steve Antony

Summary:

"What is the proper way to ask Mr. Panda for doughnuts? Patiently and politely, Mr. Panda asks the animals he comes across if they would like a doughnut. A penguin, a skunk, and a whale all say yes, but they do not remember to say "please" and "thank you." Is anyone worthy of Mr. Panda's doughnuts?"

Why We Loved it: 

• The storyline is simple, and easy to read.
• The animals are very cute- the illustrations are well-done. And one of them made me laugh!
• The story teaches a simple lesson on the importance of saying please and thank-you. 

Other Books We Read This Week:

The Tale of Tricky Fox by Jim Aylesworth and Barbara McClintock

Mooncake by Frank Asch

Jenny's Birthday Book by Esther Averill

It's Not Fairy by Ros Asquith

My Sister's Rusty Bike by Jim Aylesworth and Richard Hull

Holly Bloom's Garden by Sarah Ashman, Nancy Parent and Lori Mitchell

Peeping Beauty by Mary Jane Auch

Too many frogs! by Sandy Asher and Keith Graves

The Full Belly Bowl by Jim Aylesworth and Wendy Anderson Halperin

210 Books: Summer is nice

I love summer! Since I’m a teacher, and I have the summers off, I get to spend all day every day with my husband and my precious little girl.

Today, instead of just stopping at the library to drop off and pick up our books, we actually stayed for story time! Emma LOVED it! (Especially touching and talking to the other babies.) If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend checking out your local library’s programs. 

Our Weekly Favorite:

Title: The Moon Over Star
Author: Dianna Hutts Aston

Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney  

Summary:

“In July 1969, the world witnessed an awe-inspiring historical achievement when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon. For the young protagonist of this lyrical and hopeful picture book, that landing is something that inspires her to make one giant step toward all of the possibilities that life has to offer.”


Why We Loved it: 

• I have a space obsession. I love everything that has to do with space- especially Apollo 11.

• Since I wasn’t alive to witness the moon landing, I’m always fascinated to hear what it was like for people who were. This book did that well.

Other Books We Read This Week:

	Title: An Orange in January Author: Diana Hutts Aston Illustrator: Julie Maren An interesting story about where an orange comes from. . . but not so interesting that I would read it again.
	Title: Barn Author/Illustrator: Debby Atwell I liked this book. It was creative how the story was told from the perspective of a barn.
	Title: In a Blue Room Author: Jim Averbeck Illustrator: Tricia Tusa This book was OK. The girl kept saying she only wanted blue things in her room, but in the pictures, there were a ton of non-blue things in her room. That was a little confusing.
	Title: Martin on the Moon Author: Martine Audet Illustrator: Luc Melanson This book really confused me. Then I thought that maybe it was trying to show what school is like for the mind of someone with ADHD? If so, they should maybe explain that in an author's note.
	Title: Monsters Love School Author/Illustrator: Mike Austin This book was cute, but not extraordinarily creative.
	Title: The Bad Easter Bunny Author: Isabel Atherton Illustrator: Stephanie Rohr I liked this book, but didn't think it was anything too amazing.
	Title: Robin’s Home Author: Jeannine Atkins Illustrator: Candace Whitman Fine, but not amazing. (Do you sense a theme here?)
	Title: Not so Tall for Six Author: Dianna Hutts Aston Illustrator: Frank W. Dormer I thought this book was difficult to follow.
	Title: Rude Ramsay and the Roaring Radishes Author: Margaret Atwood Illustrator: Dusan Petricic Oh boy, here we go. This book was so rough that I actually couldn't even finish it. So it could have an amazing ending- I don't know. Almost every word started with the letter R. Perhaps because of this, the storyline has suffered immensely.

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.