Friday, July 16, 2010

Momma, too!!

Joel has kindly granted me permission to start adding the books that I read to Gus.  (Didn't want you thinking that Gus' momma doesn't read to the little munchkin!)

Piglet and Mama
by Margaret Wild

Anybody who knows me well knows that I have always loved pigs.  (I wish I owned one...don't worry, Joel keeps telling me "no".) So naturally, I was excited to read this book.  Not only that but it is about a little pig in search of Mama...so sweet!  I loved that this book had us wandering all over the farm searching for Mama.  All of the other animals offered to do fun activities with Piglet...but Piglet wanted Mama!  How could you not love a book where the child passes up all sorts of fun stuff because they want their mom?!?  I also loved that we got to say "oink" so many times.  My little piglet giggled each time that I read any sentence with "oink" in it.  The only thing that I didn't like about the book was the the piglet was a girl...but I changed that!  There were no visual descriptors, such as a bow or a dress, indicating that this was a girl piggy...so I changed it to being a boy piggy.  And yes, I realize that Gus can't read yet, so he would never know...but I know!  Overall, I would give this little book 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Home from Granma's

Well we got back from Gramma's house and we did not get a chance to read a book at nap time. So here are the books from Thursday and Friday.

Thursday

Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born
By Jamie Lee Curtis

This is the story of a child who was adopted and wants to hear the story about her parents getting the call and going to the hospital the night she was born. This is a great book for kids who are adopted to help them understand how important their birth was and the excitement felt by their parents. I really like this book and gave it five stars, but I might be biased.

Friday
Naptime

I Love You this Much
By Lynn Hodges & Sue Buchanan

This is a story about a baby bear and his mother and how they tell each other how much they are loved. This book also came with a bonus music CD. I thought that this was a good book and I give it four stars.

Nighttime
Llama Llama Red Pajama
by Anna Dewdney

This is the story of little llama and his going to bed. He calls for his mom and when she does not respond right away he gets alittle distraught. I think that this is a great story for moms to read to thier kids as they put them to sleep I give this book a three and a half stars.

Have a good weekend Beth, Gus, and I are doing a 5k walk fundraiser for Bethany Christain Services, the adoption agency we worked with for Gus's adoption. If you would like to donate got to thier website and search for Race for Home. http://www.bethany.org/

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Aunt Annie's Birthday

July 6th

Beth and I were out with friends and so I did not read Gus a book.

July 7th

Today is Gus's Aunt Annie's Birthday! Happy Birthday to Aunt Annie. We had lots of fun going out to dinner to celebrate this special day. Two books were read to Gus today.

At Naptime we read the classic,

Put Me in the Zoo: A Book of Colors
by Robert Lopshire

This is a Bright and Early book that is from the collection with all of the Dr. Suess books. This is a classic tale about an animal that wants to be put in the zoo and the zoo says no. He then proceeds to tell the children outside the zoo how he is able to change the colors of his spots. I like this book it is a classic and is more than just a color book. It tells a story while it teaches colors. It also has a great rhyme scheme, which you would never doubt about a book associated with Dr. Suess. I give this book five stars.

Bed time after the birthday celebration:

Ten Tiny Tadpoles
By Debbie Tarbett

This is a fun book with lots of color that helps to teach children how to count and subtract. It tells the story of ten tadpoles and how as they are playing they slowly get separated doing different things. Until at the end they all come back together as frogs. I like rhyme scheme in this book also the tadpoles stick out from the page with one on each page and a cut out for the others. This allows the children to feel them. I like this book I give it four and a half stars. Not because it is bad but because not every book can be one of those classic books.

Stay tuned for our next installment.

Monday, July 5, 2010

The Fourth of July

I forgot to post yesterday, too busy celebrating the birth of our nation! Happy Birthday USA. So here are the books from yesterday and the book from today

July 4th!

Little Dragon Makes Friends
by Steve Smallman

This is a great book. It teaches kids about not judging people by their appearance. Just because someone is a dragon does not mean they are not nice. The illustrations in this book are wonderful with great color and they help to tell the story. I am starting to give books a rating out of five stars. This book gets five stars.

Baby Touch and Feel Farm
A DK Book

This is an interactive book that we read before Gus's afternoon nap. There are not many words in this book it is all about texture with patches that feel like animals fur. We have a number of books like this and I will say that this book did not impress me. I knew that there would not be much of a story with this book but the problem is that on every page is a picture of an animal. The problem is that not every picture has a texture to it. I found this very frustrating. I would look for another touch and feel book before I choose this one. I give it one star.

July 5th
We are at Granma's house and this is one of the books on her shelf.

BooBoo
by Olivier Dunrea

This is the book about a little duckling that likes to eat everything. He eats a bubble and this leads to problems. I think that this is a cute story but lacks much of a moral message. I give this book three stars.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Independence Day

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July so the the Book I read Gus tonight has an Independence theme. I guess because I am a History Teacher, I think that it is important to start Gus early.

John, Paul, George, & Ben
By Lane Smith

This is a book that discusses the founding fathers as children, with each having a specific trait. It then goes on to discuss how those traits were used to help us win our independence from Britain. The leaders discussed were John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. I liked this book, it is cute and it gets kids from and early age interested in History.

Bonus: It is summer so I also read to Gus earlier this afternoon.

If Jesus Lived Inside My Heart
By Jill Roman Lord

This is a book that discusses if Jesus lives inside each of us and how he could then see the things we do and how we learn from them. I think that this is a great book that teaches kids how to live with the Lord and to do what is right. I would recommend it to anyone.

Happy Fourth of July! Remember why this is an important day and why we celebrate it.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Been Awhile

I wish to apologize that I have not been good at this. I plan to change that and to change the direction of this blog. This blog is going to focus on the books that I read to my son Gus every night. I am doing this to track what books he has read and to comment on them. My goal is to update this daily with just a paragraph or two on the book. Today I will discuss the books that we started here in July.

July 1st, 2010

Skippyjon Jones: Shape Up
by Judy Schachner

This is a book with the famous cat Skippyjon Jones. This is a great book that focuses on shapes and helps to teach kids about them. It is a short book that is full of colors and shapes. I liked this book and Gus enjoyed it.

July 2nd, 2010

Duck for President
by Doreen Cronin

We read this book because of all the books on his bookshelf, Gus choose this one. It is the story of a duck and how he wants a better life. He journeys for the farm to the presidency, trying to find a life that is easy and enjoyable only to find that his role on the farm is what he wanted. I really liked this book it is a great story, has great illustrations, and is fun. I will say it was little long for a one year old but I think it is a great book for a little older kids.

I will hopefully have tomorrow's story for you!