Last Week's Library Loot and Reviews

Let Me Hold You Longer by Karen Kingsbury, illustrated by Mary Collier

I bawled my way through this one!  Seriously, I could hardly read I was crying that much.  It tells the story of a Mom that starts of thinking about all the firsts with her little one but ends up thinking about all the lasts that will quickly pass without her realizing it.

The King of the Birds written and illustrated by Helen Ward

I love this book!  It is a great resource for science and a study of birds.  The illustrations are wonderful!  They picture hundreds of different kinds of birds and there are numbered charts at the back of the book to help you identify each one.  The great thing is that it's not just an information book, it's also a story.  The birds have a competition to see who is the King of the Birds.  We will definitely go back to this one again - probably many times over the years.

The Wind  Blew by Pat Hutchins
We've read a few Pat Hutchins books before.  We really like the Titch books.  This is not a Titch book but it's still pretty good.  It's a story about the havoc that the wind caused one day before blowing out to sea.

The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster, pictures by Chris Raschka
A little girl shares about her special relationship with her grandparents and how much she likes the window of their house where they get to say hello and goodbye.  We thought it was kind of cute.  One quote I like from it - "You can be happy and sad at the same time, you know.  It just happens that way sometimes."

Are You Ready for Bed? by Jane Johnson, illustrated by Gaby Hansen
A mother bunny is thrilled to finally have all her babies in bed so that she can have some time to herself, but the time doesn't last long.  Cute story.  I could relate to how Mommy bunny felt.  :)

Green Cat by Dayal Kaur Khalsa
A cute story about a brother and sister that complaining about how small their room is until a green cat helps them fill it with too much stuff and when all the stuff is taken out again they realize how big the room really is.  It reminded me another story we read recently about a little old lady that thought her house was too small; I can't remember the title of it.  The rhyming and rhythm of the story make it a fun read.

Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall
A girl is all excited about being invited to a friends birthday party, until her mother insists that she take her little sister with her.  A few years later her sister is in the same predicament.  We thought the book was okay.

Anansi and the Magic Stick by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Janet Stevens
A story about a lazy spider that steals a magic stick from a Hyena but ends up causing trouble by forgetting the magic words.  Anna enjoyed the story and has been repeating the "magic words" once in a while.  I thought it was rather silly but okay.  There is a bit of word repetition on some pages that provide opportunity to draw attention to the words and encourage some shared reading.

Purplicious by Vitoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann, illustrated by Victoria Kann
We had this book out before.  It tells the story of a little girl that loves pink but is told by her friends that pink is a colour for babies.  Anna likes the story.

Stormy's Hat : Just Right for a Railroad Man by Eric A. Kimmel, pictures by Andrea U'Ren
A great resource for social studies.  It tells the story of how in 1903 a train engineer and his wife came up with the design for a hat for railroad workers.  It is not, however, a boring information book.  It is actually a very fun story with great pictures.

Nora's Ark by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock, illustrataed by Emilay Arnold McCully
This is a good resource for social studies as it is based on a real historic event - the Vermont Flood of 1927.  It's not, however, a boring information book.  It tells the story of a man that builds a house for his wife but the house ends up serving as a kind of ark during the flood.  We enjoyed it.

A Coyote Columbus Story by Thomas King, pictures by William Kent Monkman
I didn't like this book at all.  Seriously, not at all.  While I understand the point the author was making I think that the concept is more for adults or older teens than for children.  It actually might be a good addition to a social studies class in the highschool.  It could be used to start a discussion on how point of view influences the stories of history.

Anthony and  the Girls by Ole Konnecke
A cute book with just a few words on most pages, so a great book for someone that is just learning to read.  It tells the story of a little boy that tries, without luck, to impress some girls.

What Do You Want? by Lars Klinting
We had this one out before, early this year I think.  It's a cute little book that provides kids a chance to guess what comes next on each page.  Anna can actually read the book herself.  There are just a few words on each page and enough repetition and pictures clues to make it easy.  One of our favorites.

Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor by Emily Arnold McCully
A great resource for social studies or a unit on inventors or important women in history.  This book tells the story of Margaret E. Knight and how right from childhood she was inventing things.  She was the inventor of many things, including a machine that made paper groceries bags with flat bottoms.  It was a little above Anna at the moment but I could see coming back to it again in a study such as those mentioned above.