What My Child is Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!

Bright Stanley by Matt Buckingham
I recently discovered a series of books called Tiger Tales and they are really fun. I love the bright and colorful pictures and the whimsical stories with a variety of adventures and different animals and characters. The stories in the "Under the Sea" series are so fun, like this one. Stanley one of the brightest fish in the ocean, yet one day he loses his school. The story follows him on a journey to reunite with his bright fish friends.

Diego's Arctic Rescue by Erica David
My son enjoys Diego's adventures and I like what he learns about the environment and caring for the animals in it. In this book, a mother polar bear gets separated from her cubs due to the ice melting. Diego finds a way with the help of a Beluga whale, his friend Dora and others to rescue the baby polar bears and return them to their mother.

M is for Monster by Mike Wazowski
My son watched Monsters Inc for the first time recently and was thrilled when we found a book from the movie. This one is an alphabet book written by one of the characters. I watched several times when my son picked it up on his own and was reading through the alphabet on his own.

Nova the Robot Builds a Friend by David Kirk
J has been getting into robots lately and the Nova books are really fun. This book is all about shapes. On each page, he has to identify which shape Nova is looking for and then Nova adds it to his robot. Nova ends up making a dog robot when all the shapes are put together.

Planets Around the Sun by Seymour Simon
I'm teaching J about the planets and he is fascinated by them! After a little search at the library, I found this great book. A very simple look at the basics about the planets in our solar system. We love the pictures too.

This is the Day by Nancy White Carlstrom
This is a ZonderKids book based on Psalm 118:24 (This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.) Each day of the week in the book brings another realm of God's creation to be thankful for. The pictures encourage an appreciation of nature and all that God has made and also teaches the days of the week.

Tiberius and the Friendly Dragon by Keith Harvey
This is the second Tiberius book we have come across now. Tiberius is a cute little mouse who has adventures with a friendly red dragon. In this adventure, the people in town are afraid of a scary red monster living on the edge of town. The only one who volunteers to investigate is Tiberius the mouse. What he ends up finding instead of a scary monster is a new friend. It teaches such a lovely message about the value of friendship and reaching out to those who are lonely.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Hedgehog by David Kirk
This is another cute robot book with Nova the robot. In this book, he's created a little hedgehog robot but he has long spikes that have electric current. All the hedgehog wants to do is cuddle with the other robots, but each time he tries he gives them a big shock! Nova has to find a way to help and after re-wiring him, he's finally able to cuddle up to his friends.


Thanks for visiting!


Here are links to a couple other fun book reading link ups:





As an affiliate of Amazon, I will receive a small commission for any books purchased from the links in the widget above!

What My Child is Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!

Corduroy Lost and Found by B.G. Hennessy
We found a new Corduroy book and like this one just as well as the others. In the story, it's Lisa's birthday and Corduroy is beside himself that he doesn't have a gift for her. He goes on a journey early in the morning while still dark and ends up getting lost. He's found by a kind man running the neighborhood newstand and have a happy birthday reunion. Very sweet story.


The Dinosaur Who Lost His Roar by Russell Punter
My son is really into dinosaurs and this one was fun for him. Sid is a dinosaur that likes to have fun. One of the things he most likes is scaring his other dinosaur friends (Spike, Ross and Ollie) with his loud roar. He ends up losing his roar with a soar throat and once recovered, wants to apologize to his friends only to find them missing. He then saves them from being eaten by a giant T-Rex by using his giant roar to scare him away.


Mama Panya's Pancakes, a Village Tale from Kenya by Mary Chamberlin
This is a book that J liked and I fell in love with. I love sharing books with J that expand his knowledge of other cultures. The pictures are wonderful illustrations showing village life in Kenya. Another part I like is the end of the book which has several pages of detail about Kenya. For example, one section describes life in Kenya and another section has descriptions of the insect, animals and plants with their swahili names. In the story, Mama takes her son Adika to market and he guesses that she's going to make pancakes. Adika is so excited that he invites everyone they run into that they know. Mama is concerned about how she'll feed everyone, yet Adika isn't worried. In the end, each guest shows up bringing something wonderful to add to the meal and they eat and enjoy the time together.


Mary Manatee, A Tale of Sea Cows by Suzanne Tate
J has been interested in manatees lately and I found a couple good books like this one. This book tells the story of Mary and her baby Mikey. She is a 1000-pound manatee teaching her baby how to eat water plants and avoid dangers like boats. One day, the calf got closed behind a gate in the water and separated from his mom. It ends with the humans helping set him free and he happily returns to his mom having learned a big lesson.


Oliver's Vegetables by Vivian French
This was a fun book to encourage J to eat more vegetables. (He sometimes needs a little help to eat enough of them.) In this story, Oliver spends a week at his grandparents house who have
a wonderful garden. At home, Oliver will only eat french fries, but his grandfather challenges him to identify the potatoes in the garden and he can eat them. But he has to eat what he finds. He ends up finding carrots, spinach, rhubarb (yum), cabbage, beets, peas until he finally finds the potatoes. On his last night there, he finally enjoys some french fries.


Otter Play by Nancy Luenn
J liked to read this one a lot. He loved the otter story. As the story unfolds about a little otter family, it mirrors a little boy and his family. The boy wakes up and streches, and the otters wake up and stretch. The otters slide down into the water, and the little boy slides into the water in a boat with his parents. As his parents fish, he watches the little otters fishing. He eats his apple as the otters eat the fish they caught. When the day is over, the otters crawl back into their burrow and the boy crawls into his tent with his parents. I love otters.


A Pony Named Peanut by Sindy McKay
J picked this book out by himself, and although it looks like a grade school book he really liked the story. The story is written in the format of a young girl's journal. She spends the summer with her Aunt Molly out in the country instead of with her Aunt Rachel in the city. She has a very pouty attitude in the beginning which slowly turns around when her Uncle gets a new pony from the shelter. He has her care for the pony and she grows to love him. I love this part of the book, since I love horses myself and she learns everything from hoof cleaning to lunging to mucking stalls. The best part is when she finally gets over her fear and learns to ride him. She ends up having a lovely summer.



Thanks for visiting!


Here are links to a couple other fun book reading link ups:




As an affiliate of Amazon, I will receive a small commission for any books purchased from the links in the widget above!

What My Child is Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!

Corduroy, Lost and Found by Don Freeman
We love the Corduroy books and this was another good story. In the story, it's Lisa's birthday (Lisa is the girl who owns Corduroy the teddy bear). Corduroy wants to get her something special and ends up getting lost. Luckily, he is found by Mr. Gonzales at their newspaper stand who keeps him up on the shelf knowing someone lost him. Lisa is thrilled when she comes by and finds Corduroy and they get a giant lollipop from the owner.


Does a Sea Cow Say Moo? by Terry Webb Harshman
We have been enjoying a DVD called "Wild Animal Baby" where J learned there is a cow that lives in the sea, the manatee. I have been looking for good "sea cow" books and this one was OK. J really loved when I read it, but it was a bit goofy in that an alien comes to earth and this boy Jack has to help him. He wonders "why some names in the sea are the same as on land" like a school on land, and a school of fish or a horse you can ride versus a horse in the sea. I'm also still looking for a good picture book just about manatees.


Gingerbread Fred by Nick and Claire Page
My son still loves anything Gingerbread, so I picked up another gingerbread story. The pictures are great and J liked naming the different shapes on Fred like his triangle nose and circle cheeks. It teaches a good lesson about listening to your parents and being humble, and since it's emphasized that he's a tasty cookie, my son isn't spooked that he gets eaten at the end by the fox.


The Littlest Dinosaur by Michael Foreman
My son really loves dinosaurs and I like finding cute dinosaur stories. This one was a cute one. The main character is the tiniest little Triceratops ever who finds that even though he is small, he can still be significant. He also helps a giant Brachiosaurus learn that he's not just big and clumsy, but he has a purpose too.


Roly Poly Pangolin by Anna Dewdney
I didn't know what a pangolin was, so this was a good learning book for me too. A Pangolin is basically a scaly anteater that can roll into a ball to protect itself. This pangolin is very scared venturing out in his world until he meets another pangolin, and he finds out how much fun things can be when done with a friend.


The Sparrow's Easter Song by Michelle Medlock Adams
I purchased this book based on how good it looked online and I'm so happy that we did. I wanted to find a book on his level to help him understand Jesus' death and the Good News of His resurrection. My son loves this retelling of the Easter story. The story is of Jesus' death on the cross as witnessed by a little sparrow as he spreads the "Good News" of what he saw to all these other animals. The illustrations are wonderful.


Tippy, Tippy, Tippy Hide! by Candace Fleming
This book was a bit goofy, but I really like rhyming books so we've hung onto this one form our library for a few weeks now. The story is about an old man (in my opinion a grumpy one) who hunkers down inside to wait it out until Spring. The little bunnies he fed carrots come begging yet he refuses to share his house with them. He ends up blockading the house so well that when lovely Spring comes, he can't get out! Some lines in the book remind me of Goldilocks, as the bunnies sneak into his house and he'll say "some bunny's been....(in my chair, in my bed, etc)".


The Water Hole by Graeme Base
I loved this one mainly for the pictures. The main story line is that the water hole keeps shrinking, it finally disappears, but then it comes back when the rains come. This book is beautifully illustrated and we love that it's a counting book (1-10).


Thanks for visiting!


Here are links to a couple other fun book reading link ups:




As an affiliate of Amazon, I will receive a small commission for any books purchased from the links in the widget above!

What My Child is Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!

The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone by Stan and Jan Berenstain
J is fascinated by dinosaurs, especially digging for bones so when I saw this one I thought he'd like it. It is a fun little story about the museum curator finding out that the T-Rex is missing a large leg bone and the museum is opening for exhibit and they have one hour to find it. So the Berenstain bears and their hound dog Snuff are on the case. They have their detective hats and magnifying glasses and go on a hunt. They end up finding the bone buried out in the yard with paw prints all around; and the culprit their hound dog Snuff!



Goodnight, Little Monster by Helen Ketteman
J really enjoys books and stories about monsters, and I make sure to find ones that are fun and not scary. This is a great bedtime story, all about a little monster being put to bed by his mama. The book starts off with the monsters howling at the moon. Next, the little monster has a bath. He is dressed in cute little spider pajamas and has a bedtime snack of worm juice and baked beetle bread (eew!). He brushes his fangs, he has a bedtime story and then before hopping into bed they make sure no scary children are lurking underneath. The illustrations are great and very creative like a night light made out of a eyeball held in a claw. Very cute and fun monster stuff.



The Great Kapok Tree: A tale of the Amazon rain forest by Lynne Cherry
On one of the blogs I visited, a mom had a list of green books for kids. (Sorry, I can't find the link now!) The Great Kapok tree was on the list and available in our library. I think it's very important for J to be aware of what's happening in our environment and how to protect it so this book was definitely along those lines. It's a wonderful story about a man who comes into the rain forest and starts chopping down this huge, wonderful tree in the rainforest. He then gets tired and takes a nap. While he's sleeping, he's visited by all these different creatures of the forest who whisper in his ear the many different reasons why he should not chop down the tree. It was very compelling to read and I love that it ends with the man deciding to leave the tree alone and he decides to leave behind his ax in the forest.



Happy Birthday, Good Knight
This was our second book in the Good Knight series. In this book, the good knight joins up with the little dragons again. They bring him a problem that they need help to get a birthday gift but have no money. The knight tells them that the most special gifts don't come from a store, but come from our hearts and hands. He takes them to his castle to help them with their gift where they end having several misadventures like making a wreck out of trying to bake a cake; making a ruin of a hand-made card they end up gluing shut and making a mess out of a magic show they try to put on. When the knight later learns this was all for him and his birthday, he tells them they gave him the gift of laughter and they end up eating the burnt cake, opening up the stuck card and doing a little magic trick. Then the little dragons sing him happy birthday.



I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
I was interested in this book purely because of the title. I loved the title, and I thought J would like it too. When he found it in my stack from the library, he wanted to read it right away. In fact, he had me read it several times in a row each time thoroughly enjoying it. In the book, a mom is reading her son a story. She says to him, "I love you my wonderful child." He has some questions. He proceeds to ask his mom several different silly questions with my favorite, "What if I were a super smelly skunk....to which momma says, "I'd whisper in your ear, 'I love you, Stinky Face'." As I read each of these to J, he kept laughing at how silly they were with the boy musing about being different creatures like a terrible dinosaur, a smelly swamp creature or a green alien from Mars. I notice this author has a few more books in this series so I've already put I Miss You, Stinky Face on hold.



My Brother, the Knight by Laura Driscoll
Ever since we watched the movie The Tale of Despereaux which introduced J to knights and princesses, he really enjoys books about them. This was a cute story with a boy who is just enthralled with pretending to be a knight. It is somewhat annoying to his older brother and the two agree to a bet with the boy betting that he could live like a real knight for an entire week. As you read the story, there are little boxes with educational information about what a page is, what is a coat of arms and an explanation of a lord among other things. I like the little boxes that give the teaching information. They added to the story for J.



Pedro's Burro by by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
I have had fun finding books that offer a look into different cultures and we liked this one. A boy and his father are looking for a new burro (Spanish for donkey) for their family. They go to market and really aren't sure which burro is the right one. They see tall burros, small burros, light burros and dark burros. They see a burro with a hat on that comes up to the boy and pulls on his shirt. Through the telling of their encounter with this burro they see that instead of them finding the right burro, the right burro finds them!



You Say Hola, I Say Hello by Elizabeth Zapata
I continue to introduce bits of Spanish here and there to J and found this was a great book for doing that. It takes several common words like hello, goodbye, dog, sun, moon, mommy and teaches the Spanish word by using the sentence "You Say ____ and I say _____." After reading this a few times, I noticed J randomly saying a snippet from the book like "You say adios and I say good-bye".



Here are links to a couple other fun book reading link ups:

What My Child is Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!

Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
This is another chapter book we're trying out. We finished our first one (The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary) and for whatever reason J just hasn't been interested in starting the next one (Runaway Ralph). So we went and picked out a new one, Flat Stanley. I haven't seen J enamored with a book as much as this one. He wants to take it everywhere. When we get out of the car, he asks to read it while I carry him. He gets sad if we forget to bring it with us. So far, the story has been fun too.



Germs are Not for Sharing by Elizabeth Verdick
Lately, we've been focusing on germs more since we've started potty training (washing hands) and went to our first dentist visit. This book is great for teaching what to do when you cough or sneeze and when we need to wash our hands. It's a good introduction to what germs are and how some germs can make us sick.



The Great Cheese Chase by Holly Hobbie (A Toot and Puddle story)
We are having so much fun with the Toot and Puddle stories. Since J liked the first one so much, we found this one to read next. I like using a French accent while I read it, as the book takes them on a trip to France. Puddle is in search of The Chateau du Fromage (the house of cheese). Another great book.


Little Golden Book Classics: three best-loved tales (Tootle, The Happy Man and His Dump Truck, Scuffy the Tugboat)
I saw Scuffy the Tugboat on another mom's blog in the book blog hop. (Sorry, I can't remember where!) This book actually has three golden books in one and they are all great stories. J was especially fond of Scuffy the Tugboat. Tootle is a cute little story about a train that has to learn to stay on the rails. He loves wandering off to visit things like flowers in the meadow. The Happy Man and his Dump Truck is a cute tale about a man that gives rides to the farm animals. J's favorite though was Scuffy. It's the story of a little tug boat who just thinks he's destined for big things. He ends up feeling overwhelmed when he finally makes it beyond the river and into the sea. He realizes it's just too big. His little boy ends up finding him and takes him home. He finds he's most happy being a tug boat in the bath tub with his little boy. J also loves reading this one to himself. He'll say "chugga chugga puff chug!" while reading Tootle. We found an itty bitty Scuffy book and toy online that he carries around with him now.



The Potty Train by David Hochman
We're reading a lot of "potty" related books right now as we've started potty training "sessions" with J (using the book Potty Training Boys the Easy Way). This book has great pictures and is really cute. The boy wears a conductor hat and overalls and he rides the train with various animals that join him on the "potty train". I have to admit my favorite part of the book was saying "Chugga chugga poo poo!" with J throughout the book.



Roo's New Babysitter by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
(Amazon didn't have a picture of the book; just the set of My First Winnie the Pooh books)
We've been reading this one for a few weeks now. J continues to pick it out for his naps or nighttime story. This Winnie the Pooh book is about little Roo having Pooh as a babysitter. They have a few adventures like picking apples for dinner and Roo taking a wonderful bubble bath. Roo does a good job helping Pooh learn to baby sit! Pooh learns there's not much "sitting" involved.



Spring Showers by Samantha Brooke (A Yo Gabba Gabba story)
I have to admit I didn't like Yo Gabba Gabba when we visited my sister and saw it on Nick Jr. I kept turning the channel. The characters just looked so goofy and I didn't really know much about the show. Then we found a Nick Jr. DVD that had 5 stories on it, one of them was Yo Gabba Gabba. Well, J just loves it. There is a lot of singing and dancing, some counting and drawing. A whole variety of things. This book is a nice story of how the characters have fun playing outside in the rain.



Wilson and the Ice Cream Fair (Chuggington) by Mara Conlon
I am glad we found these new train stories about the trains that live in Chuggington. Unlike Thomas the Train stories where the trains seem like grumpy old men (as another mom put it), these train stories are really upbeat. They teach good lessons too like how to solve problems and work together and honor our responsibilities. In this story, Wilson gets so excited learning how the ice cream is made that he forgets he ends up not being able to get the ice cream cars to the fair in time. By asking his friend Frostini for help, he is able to finish his job well.




Thanks for visiting!


Here are links to a couple other fun book reading link ups:

What We Are Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
I really am enjoying this author, Karma Wilson. She has such wholesome, godly books. The Bear series are really fun and we enjoyed this one too. In the middle of a cold winter night, several little animals come to the bear's cave to keep warm. They end up having a fun, little party and bear is sleeping the whole time while all the noise is going on. They end up waking him up and he's a very grumpy bear, until they include him in the fun. I love the great illustrations too.


Duck, Duck, Goose by Tad Hills
Duck and Goose are best friends. One day, duck brings a new friend over to play who he is really taken with. He just loves and admires this new duck. But this duck seems a bit pompous bragging all the time about all she can do. This really wears on goose and eventually he goes off to play by himself. By the end, duck realizes life without goose isn't as fun so he goes searching him out. They end up figuring out a way to conveniently get out of playing with the other duck and are back to enjoying their old friendship again. Although this wasn't my favorite book, J asked for it over and over again. I did like the pictures, just wasn't as excited about the story.



Just Going to the Dentist by Mercer Mayer
This week we have our first trip to the dentist so we've been preparing with some books. We really liked this Mercer Mayer one. They are always fun and enjoyable and it's great that it's helping J to know what to expect like a thorough exam of the teeth, cleaning, even getting X-rays. The part we liked the most was when he entered the exam room, it reminded him of a space ship. We always have fun in these books trying to find the critter's little frog and spider friend. They show up on just about every page, and we have to sometimes search a bit to locate them.


Our First Chapter Book:
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
I got this idea from someone who posted on the link-up in the past. They were reading a chapter book to their little one and it was from Beverly Cleary's mouse series. I had found the videos for J and he absolutely loves them. I had no idea if he was ready for a chapter book, but I gave it a try. We started with the first in the mouse series and to my joy, J is really loving it. We have been doing a chapter most nights and it is really bringing out J's creativity. Since there aren't many pictures to look at, J is really getting into the story action by having an ongoing stream of thoughts as we read.


A Pocket for Corduroy by Don Freeman
We got our first Corduroy book about a month ago and have found that J really enjoys them. The stories are about a little girl and the teddy bear that she loves. In this book, they take a trip to the laundromat and Corduroy ends up getting lost and left behind. They have a lovely reunion and in the end they "nuzzle noses". J came up to me several times after reading this saying, "Let's nuzzle noses mommy!" And he'd proceed to push his little nose into my face and we'd nuzzle back and forth. Just adorable!



Snow Wonder by Charles Ghigna
This book does a good job of highlighting all the joys of snow and winter including sledding, snow angels, building snowmen, having hot chocolate and ice skating. All things that I love about winter and want to share with my son! I usually have good luck with the Step Into Reading books like this one as the stories are fun and the pictures are great.


Snug as a Bug? by Amy Imbody
I recently found Zonderkidz books through Amazon. Now I just do an Amazon search, put the book I like in my library search box online and I've been amazed how many of those books I can find in our library. This was one of them. It is a sweet little book about a boy who imagines going to bed like all different kinds of animals and critters (like sleeping in the mud like a frog). It ends with him wanting to sleep in his own little bed, and his mom thanking God for him. It also has a sweet little note for moms at the back of the book that touched my heart. It was a nice encouragement about the impact we make on the world around us as we shepherd our kids.


Sweet Dreams Lullaby by Betsy Snyder
Again, we found a lovely bedtime book. This actually came from the blog host at Mouse Reads, Mouse Grows. As this little bunny is preparing for bed, the books tells in a neat, rhyming way about all kinds of creatures prepare for the night. What's really neat is how the colors of the pages change like the way the sun sets getting darker and darker hues. Sweet little bedtime book.



Thanks for visiting!

Books We Are Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I found a few book blog hops that I like linking up to. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the buttons at the bottom to see what others have been reading!







Annie and Snowball and the Cozy Nest by Cynthia Rylant
We love reading stories about nature and wildlife and this one is special in that a momma robin comes to make a nest and raise her babies right on Annie's porch where she frequently hangs out with her big dog Snowball. I like the details of how they check the next day after day and share the changes taking place and how she shares this with her cousin Henry who also comes to watch.



Dear Dragon Goes to the Firehouse by Margaret Hillert
J continues to like books about fire men. In this book, a boy and his classroom get to visit a fire station. This book adds a little dragon that goes with the boy and J had fun pointing out what the dragon was doing. To me it was a little odd that the dragon was there, as they don't focus very much on the dragon, but I see that it's a whole book series (like Dragon Goes to the Market). But J liked that added detail of the dragon being there throughout the story.



The Frog in the Pond and other Animal Stories, The Children's Press
By far, I think this was J's favorite book this week. We seem to do really well with books that have multiple stories in them, especially stories that include animals. This one includes the title story plus Get Out of My Chair, Old Mo and One Smart Fish. The Frog story is so cute. The boy loves the frogs that come to the pond outside his house and decides to keep one for a pet. Well, the little frog gets so sad he stops croaking and won't eat anything. The boy realizes he probably misses his friends in the pond so he sets him free! Before the book told us the frog missed his friends, J said "I bet the frog misses his mommy and daddy!" J also liked the One Smart Fish about a girl Very cute.


The Gingerbread Man by Jim Ayelsworth
J really loves all things gingerbread, and this was no exception. Even though essentially this is the same story we've read in a couple other books, he still loves it and will request it. The ending in this one is a bit different, as the fox just ends up being too quick for the gingerbread and gobbles him up. There is not an ending in this book where the fox takes him for a ride through the water and ends up eventually eating him as he gets him to step closer and closer to his mouth. I found this author on one of the book blog posts last week and we have a few books of his coming like The Mitten.



How Do You Sleep by Louise Bonnett-Rampersaud
I notice I am really drawn to "going to sleep" type books lately. Gee, could it be that my son is struggling lately with going to sleep? He has always been such a great sleeper yet now he really fights the idea of taking a nap or going to bed. He'll go, but not without some huge protests. So books like these are great finds for us, as it does help settle him in with the idea of going to sleep. This book is all about how different animals go to sleep, like the bear who hibernates or the bird who sleeps in his nest and the end shares how little ones go to sleep.



Kate's Surprise by Ann E. Burg
I've made a couple selections lately based on the diversity of the kids shown in the story. This book, along with a Scholastic Video of The Snowy Day by Ezra Keats. It wasn't until recently that it dawned on me so many of our books are all pictures of Caucasians. J really liked this book. It's a sweet little story about a boy who is sick and can't go outside and play in the snow and watches with longing as his sister is playing and sledding in the snow. The best part is when Kate makes a "surprise" for her brother Pete; a snowman ice cream sundae! J especially liked that part. I just loved the illustrations too. I found out this is also part of the "Rookie Reader" book series. "These leveled books actively engage young readers, encourage language development, build fluency, and promote independent reading" I'm already finding more of them and putting them on hold for us at the library.



Snow Wonder by Charles Ghigna
This is a cute book about all the "wonders" of winter and being able to enjoy the outdoors and the snow. The little girl and boy watch the snow fall, go outside to enjoy it by sledding, ice skating and coming inside to enjoy a good book and hot chocolate with Grandma and Grandpa. It's a book that celebrates family and the winter season.



Tuck Me In by Dean Hacohen
OK, I found this book to be just adorable. It is such a simple story, yet so cute. On each page there is a baby animal with the animal being asked, "Who wants to be tucked in?" The animal on the page says, "I do!" so you take the little flap (which is a little blanket to tuck in the animal) and place it on the baby. The next words are "Goodnight baby _____(zebra, pig, elephant, etc.)!" My son also had fun reading this one to himself. Very sweet and another good "going to bed" book for us.



When I Grow Up by Caleb Burroughs
This is a fun Dora book where it has a little bit of story, but a lot of pictures. J liked that it was Dora in a fire helmet and that intrigued him. Throughout the book they look at various careers Dora and friends could have when they grow up. What I really like is that they have a seek and find activity on each page. They'll have several pictures on the side that the kids are asked to find within in the bigger picture. J loved doing this and asked for this book often.

Click the links below to see what others are reading!

Books We Are Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I found a few book blog hops that I like linking up to. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the buttons at the bottom to see what others have been reading!

Highlights of our favorites this week:

The Adventures of Old Bo Bear by Alice Schertle
It was the cover of this book that really caught my interest. It was a little boy with an upside down colander on his head looking through a (paper towel roll) telescope alongside a little teddy bear with a hat and walking stick. These two go on a some neat adventures together like a picnic in a nook under the tree branches and a trip to a construction site. The book was really cute.



Good Night, Good Knight by Shelley Moore Thomas
On the outside cover of this little book are three cute little dragons looking like they're getting ready for bed. I love getting books about going to bed since they go so well with our bedtime routine. J is at the stage now that he knows what a knight is and in this book the poor knight watchman keeps getting called out to the forest after hearing a roar, only to find out it's one of the little dragons needing some help getting to bed. This was fun to read.



Max Goes to the Nature Center by Adria Klein
I couldn't find a picture of this for the widget above, but this was another one we liked. They have a whole series of Max books and this one fit well for our vacation. We had a nature center nearby that we hiked to while J was on my back in a backpack. We enjoyed reading this book and talking about the nature center we visited; the birds and different animals that we saw.



Noisy Zoo by Sam Taplin
Occasionally, I will find a book that has sound buttons on it, as J is still really fond of them. This one has a variety of zoo animals with their sound buttons. There is not much to read, but J really liked pressing the buttons to hear the animals like the lion's roar, the dolphin's click and the elephant's trumpeting. We brought this to the pediatrician's office to entertain J while we were waiting. I think we entertained the staff too.


Out Came the Sun; A Day in Nursery Rhymes by Kids Can Press
I enjoy finding good nursery rhyme books and this one was a good find. Not only did it have many of the more well-known nursery rhymes like I'm a Little Tea Pot and Itsy Bitsy Spider and some new ones too like Higglety, Pigglety, Pop but the rhymes also tell the story of a child's day from waking up to going to bed. I also liked the fun illustrations.

Click the links below to see what others are reading!

The Books We are Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I found a few book blog hops that I like linking up to. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the buttons at the bottom to see what others have been reading!








The Donkey's Christmas Song by Nancy Tafuri
This one was really fun to read. All the animals are attending to Jesus in the manger by offering their voice in song. The donkey hesitates to sing thinking he has such a horrible sounding voice. It wasn't until he was the last animal left that he is encouraged to sing and gets a sweet response from Jesus that he realizes he too can make a joyful noise.


Elliot's Fire Truck by Andrea Beck
J has been really enthralled by this book. I learned about Elliot Moose on another blog and one was really perfect. Elliot Moose has his fire truck and he's wanting to play rescue but each friend he comes upon wants to ride on the fire truck. So Elliot lets them ride on the fire truck until he ends up needing a rescue himself! I love all the cute little animal friends and the fun they have in this book.


Eight Enormous Elephants by Penny Dolan
This is a short little book about eight elephants that make one doozie of a mess in the house. They comes in one by one and just trash the place. They are way out of line until little mouse starts getting them in line having them put the house back in place. We liked the fun rhyming and pictures. The mouse does seem a bit bossy so when I read his parts I always said "please" first since we're really working on that with J.


Excuse Me! A Little Book of Manners by Karen Katz
This is a book I found a long while ago when I first started to understand the idea of learning manners. This book was adorable and it really had an impact on him. Especially for saying "excuse me" when he burps! Since please is the one he is has the most trouble with, I thought getting this book again would be a fun way to reinforce it.


God Loves You Very Much by Cindy Kenney
This is the first Veggie Tales book that I've read. Carisa over at 1+1+1=1 had a Veggie Tales Christmas book on her blog so I went to find that at our library but they had this one instead. J really loves it. I get to do a bunch of different voices like Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, Junior the Asparagus and the Gourds. I've gotten pretty good at imitating them. It's a great message for him too.


Jingle Jingle by Nicola Smee
Recently, I found out about this book which is a follow up to Clip-Clop. We read Clip-Clop last year and liked it and I thought this would be fun with its winter theme. It is a cute story about a horse who takes his friends for a sleigh ride through the snow. They even get a little daring as the horse wants to get in the sleigh and they attempt sliding down a hill. They all take a little tumble. But they have a blast and want to do it all over again.


Mouse's First Christmas by Lauren Thompson
We loved Mouse's First Halloween and this one we enjoyed too. I really love the colors and the illustrations. The story is about mouse as he explores the home discovering the various delights of Christmas like Christmas cookies, jingle bells and presents.


Wake Up Engines by Denise Dowling Mortensen
J loved Good Night Engines so much that I decided to get the counterpart. He seems to like this just as much. This is another rhyming book which is so fun for me to read. In it the book describes the sights and sounds of the morning commute with pictures of cars, trucks and even airplanes.

Click the links below to see what others are reading!

The Books We are Reading

One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I found a few book blog hops that I like linking up to. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the buttons at the bottom to see what others have been reading!







Dream Snow by Eric Carle
I think this is our very first Eric Carle book we've read. I've seen his books around, but this is the first one we picked up. I'd have to say this was J's favorite one to ask us to read this week. It could have had something to do with the little button at the end that plays a few notes of music. (He is really into button pressing lately!) This is a cute book about a simple farmer who cares for a barn full of animals every day. One day, he falls asleep and wakes up to the first snow of the season right before Christmas. He realizes this is real snow, not "dream snow". He gets his winter gear on (and looks very much like Santa) and goes out to decorate a tree right outside the barn. When he's done decorating he shouts, "Merry Christmas!" and then you push the button. They have cute overlays on top of the pictures that are like a covering of snow. That was interesting. Overall, it was pretty cute and very simple.



The Gingerbread Man by Eric Blair
J is really fascinated with all things gingerbread right now. He loves this book with its cute illustrations and the timeless story. We made gingerbread cookies this past week and he had fun playing with the cookie cutters like toys. We picked ornaments off the tree at the YMCA to buy gifts for those in need and he picked the gingerbread ornaments. We also found this great Richard Scarry you tube video of The Gingerbread Man. He just laughed every time the little gingerbread talked. Here's the video link: The Gingerbread Man. This is a cute one.



Good Night Engines by Denise Dowling Mortensen
This is a very sweet bed time book that we are enjoying reading. Every other page rotates between a boy playing with his toys that have engines and scenes of real engines. I really liked the illustrations and the colors, especially the pictures with sunsets in them. It is also very simple without many words and a good one to prepare J for going to sleep.



Here Comes Diego phonics reading program books 7-12
by Quinlan Lee
J is really enjoying Diego on DVD lately where they do all different kinds of animal rescues and focus on environmental issues related to animals that are endangered or threatened. So it was no surprise that he really likes this book that has 5 different short stories in it. He also liked to hear this one several times throughout the week. It is such an easy reader that he was also able to "read" it to me. It was incredible to hear him tell the story by looking at the pictures and remembering what was happening on each page. I am also an animal/nature lover so I love sharing that interest with my little one.



One Snowy Day by Tammi Salzano
I was drawn to this book by the picture on the front of a cute little penguin in a hat standing next to an igloo. It is a board book, which I rarely get nowadays, but it is also a counting book which is really good for J. I like to point to the pictures and have J count with me on each page. He enjoys that and makes sure I do it if I forget.



One Snowy Night by M. Christina Butler
So we went from One Snowy Day to One Snowy Night and I thought this one was adorable. This book started out with a hedgehog who gets a beautiful red hat (the present drops out of the sky) but the hat doesn't fit so he wraps it up and gives it to his friend Rabbit. The hat continues to go from animal friend to animal friend (Rabbit to Badger, Badger to Fox and Fox back to Hedgehog). The hat just doesn't seem to fit anyone until the fox but then Fox finds the hedgehog buried in the snow and very cold so he puts him into the hat. It's then the animals come together and decide the hat should belong to hedgehog. I shared with J this reminds me of what God says to us, that as we give it shall be given unto us. Oh, it's also a touch and feel book and the hat is a beautiful red color that is fuzzy to the touch. We liked touching the hat on each page and talking about how soft and fuzzy it was.



Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner
Last winter, we read Snowmen at Night but I found out they had a Christmas one so I got it from our library. I love the way the illustrator makes the evening lights and Christmas decorations seem to sparkle and glow. It's another cute story about how the snowmen celebrate Christmas when no one is watching. They all gather together in the square and trim the trees, eat cold treats and dance and play together. The author has even hidden different objects on each page that J and I tried looking for. We found the little mouse just about every time, but the other objects weren't as easy to spot. This was a nice book for the holiday season.


Spot's First Christmas by Eric Hill
I found out first Spot book (Where's Spot?) at our local thrift store and had no idea how much J would like it. The one from the thrift store is missing just about all the flaps, but he still loves it. I often would catch him reading it on his own, so I found a Christmas one from the library. He hasn't been into this quite as much, but it is still a cute one about Spot and his daddy getting ready for Christmas together.

Click the links below to see what others are reading!

What My Child is Reading Blog Hops

I found a great blog hop that highlights the current books we are reading with our kids. J and I don't usually focus on a theme. We go to the library often and I just pick books that he would be interested in that also have a good message or lesson.

Click the link below to see what others are reading!

Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson
I really liked the illustrations in this book and that it rhymes. It's about a bear whose animal friends wake him up to celebrate Christmas. Poor bear is so tired that on each page his friends are doing all they can to keep him awake while doing all kinds of activities to celebrate Christmas. It does have a brief little glimpse of Santa which is perfect for us that he isn't a big focus. We are teaching J about Santa by learning about St. Nicholas but our tradition centers around it being the birth of Jesus.



Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig
I was smitten with this book the minute I saw the photo; a picture of a cute little elephant dancing. It also uses rhyming which we both enjoy. They have several different animals in the book, one on each page. They have you guess which animal it is that is making those tracks and dancing and then they give the answer, like this: "Creepity! Creepity!/Lots of purple feet!/Who is dancing/that creepity beat?" On the next page is a smiling caterpillar and the words: "Caterpillar's dancing/on creepity feet./Creepity! Creepity!/Happy feet!" This was probably our most popular book of the week, and the one I liked reading the most.



Let's Talk About It: Extraordinary Friends
by Fred Rogers
I haven't talked much to J yet about people with special needs but it's been on my mind. This book gave me a good way to introduce the topic and start explaining to J things like what a wheel chair is and why someone might need one. I like the way he encourages kids to reach out and make friends with all children and tries to dissipate any concerns or fears they may have.



The Little Drummer Boy by Kristina Rodanas
We read this book as part of our Advent calendar time. J gets to open a door to the Advent calendar each night and gets a chocolate while we pick a scripture to read and discuss more about the celebration of Jesus' birth. One night, he wanted to read this book as our focus. Since it's one of my favorite Christmas stories, I was all for it. The idea of the book is wonderful in that the author simply uses the words of the song for the words on the pages of the books. I love the life-like illustrations and what picture the illustrator chooses to go with each part of the song. I sang the words and then gave a little explanation of what was happening on each page. This was a great book to use for our Advent time.



Rescue Bunnies by Doreen Cronin
This book looked interesting and I thought it would be similar to Richard Scarry's pig fireman. It was a bit different. It is a team of rescue bunnies and Newbie has finished training and is ready for a real rescue. While they were waiting though, newbie's job was sorting the spice rack. OK, that was a bit odd. They end up getting a call to help a giraffe who is stuck in a mud hole on the savanna. It had a little bit of a scary part when these mean-looking hyenas come and the chief makes it known it is their safety first and they need to leave the giraffe. Newbie refuses and ties himself to the giraffe. The hyenas end up leaving and the rest of the team helps Newbie and they free the giraffe. This one was a bit quirky with some of the things mentioned and then they threw in some silly movie quotes that only adults would get like "You had me at hello" (Jerry McGuire) and "You can't handle the truth" (A Few Good Men). Not bad, just a little different.



The Sleepy Little Alphabet; A Bedtime Story from Alphabet Town by Judy Sierra
I got this book a few weeks ago and thought it was adorable. It took J some time to pick it out as what he wanted to read. It was so cute. In this book the grownup capital letters are trying to get their little lowercase letters to go to bed. It's sort of a lullabye book. The illustrations are really cute and on every page there were objects to name starting with the various letters too. The little letters get more and more tired as the book goes on until they finally fall asleep with the letter Z (zzzzzzz).



Want more book reading fun? Click below to visit the other book blog carnivals where I enjoy linking up:

What My Child is Reading

I found a great blog hop that highlights the current books we are reading with our kids. J and I don't usually focus on a theme. We go to the library often and I just pick books that he would be interested in that also have a good message or lesson.

Click the link below to see what others are reading!

Disappearing Desmond, Anna Alter
This book is really precious. Desmond has a knack for hiding and blending into the surroundings and not being noticed by others .... until he meets a little bunny named Gloria who spots him right away wherever he is. He finds himself coming out of hiding to play with Gloria and they do all sorts of neat things together. Then Desmond finds another little one who also likes to hide and starts bringing him out. It is a sweet book with a message about friendship. I saw this book on one of the blogs I visited during the book blog hops, but for the life of me I can't find out where it came from :( I wanted to give some credit for our inspiration to pick it up.



The Little Drummer Boy (musical book), David Mead
The story of the Little Drummer Boy has always been special to me. I am touched by the simplicity of his gift to the baby Jesus, using his own gift of playing the drums. So when I saw this book in a post on a blog I follow (The Iowa Farmer's Wife) I knew I wanted to get it for J. I did not read the story beforehand to know that this is an all-new version with a new song too. At first, I was disappointed but then after about the 10th time the song was played and my son was loving it, the song has really grown on me. The story is pretty similar in that the boy gets to use his gift of drumming to calm the baby Jesus. This is a nice Christmas book.



O Little Town of Bethlehem; A Pageant of Lights (musical book), David Mead
This is another Christmas favorite that I found when buying the Little Drummer musical board book. (I got both of them for around $4 a piece including shipping.) We have been reading this almost every night now and J loves the music and how the book lights up. On the last page after the story part, they have the entire song and I always sing it to him. Daddy was reading it to him one night and was just reading the words on that last page and J insisted that he sing it!



The Pine Tree Parable, Liz Curtis Higgs
This book is from the same author who wrote The Pumpkin Parable from an earlier post I did. I love how these books have a bible verse to go with each page of the book. I feel like as we read, these tiny seeds of God's word are being planted in his heart. It reminds me of Isaiah5 5:11: So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. This is a touching story about giving to others and being a blessing to those who are in need. It centers around a family that owns a farm and they sell Christmas trees. The focus is on one special pine tree that the mother wants their family to enjoy year after year so they put a "Not For Sale" sign on it. Until the year when the tree is fully grown and just splendid and a very poor family comes that really can only afford a tiny little broken tree yet their sweet little girl falls in love with the giant pine tree. The farmer's wife ends up deciding to give this family the tree and blesses them without having to purchase it. A wonderful lesson on giving to others.



The Scarecrow and the Spider, Todd Aaron Smith
I have had this book on hold at the library since way before Thanksgiving and it finally came. Even though we're moving into winter, this book has such a wonderful lesson that I am holding onto it for a bit. This is the story about a sweet scarecrow that is a little bit odd looking so he finds it hard to make friends. He ends up wandering and meeting this sweet little spider and they form a friendship. The author uses this friendship to illustrate how God is our ultimate friend and when some little boys threaten to pull apart the scarecrow, again we learn how God is watching over us and the little spider is used to scare the kids away.



Time for Bed Elephant Small, Sally Grindley
This is the perfect little bedtime book for my little guy. It used to be that all I had to do was say, "It's time for night night" and J would get his blankie and nuk and we'd head upstairs together to start our bedtime routine. Nowadays, he doesn't want to go to sleep and says, "I'm not going night night." The blessing is he doesn't throw a tantrum or anything, he just states that like a fact. Eventually, I'm able to get him to pick out the special books he wants to read for bed and that helps get him moving. So this book is perfect in that this little elephant doesn't want to go to bed. During the process of his mom finding his blankie, reading him a story and tucking him in, he falls fast asleep.



The Tiny Seed
I read the summary of this book and knew this would be a good learning tool. J has been afraid of the wind lately (yes, the wind). One time when I asked him why he was afraid, he said he didn't want to blow away. And he was serious! This book has been great for working on the idea that God made the wind for a reason and there is a useful purpose for everything. So I used this book to highlight the good things about the wind. Like how the blowing and blowing of the wind sets free little seeds so they can blow away and land in a place where they can go on to become new flowers, new plants and new trees. He liked this book and I enjoyed its illustrations. He seemed responsive to what I'm trying to teach in it too.



Want more book reading fun? Click below to visit the other book blog carnivals where I enjoy linking up:

What My Child is Reading & Other Blog Hops

I found a great blog hop that highlights the current books we are reading with our kids. J and I don't usually focus on a theme. We go to the library often and I just pick books that he would be interested in that also have a good message or lesson.

Click the link below to see what others are reading!

Countdown to Thanksgiving
This was a good counting book in addition to being about Thanksgiving. It was a cute story about one family's Thanksgiving celebration and what goes into it.






















Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks
I liked this Thanksgiving book in that it does a good job of teaching different things we can be thankful for. It is a short and simple little book.






















Humpty Dumpty and Other Rhymes
We got this book from a friend, a beginning Mother Goose book. J really seems to like the rhyming in it and asks for it a lot. It has a couple I knew like Humpty Dumpty, Little Jack Horner and then some new ones like Little Jumping Joan a jumping rabbit and Little Davy Dumpling. We really liked reading one called Horsie, Horsie where the animals are dancing. I would read this rhyme over and over and J would laugh.

















The Berenstain Bears' Bedtime Book
These books continue to be a favorite and I like finding different versions of them. This one took nursery rhymes and made them bear rhymes like The Three Little Pigs and the Bad Cub or Goldibear and the Three People. We would pick one or two a night to read.
















YUCK! That's Not a Monster
J is in a stage where he's having fun with monsters. This one is a cute little story about a monster baby that hatches from an egg but he is not at all like his brother and sister. His siblings are spiny and prickly while the baby is soft and fluffy. The story is a little bit backwards as it comes from the perspective of the monsters and they see cute and fluffy as not desired monster qualities. It changes at the end when they fall in love with him.


Want more book reading fun? Click below to visit the other book blog carnivals where I enjoy linking up: