My Thoughts on Last Week's Library Loot

Here are my thoughts on the books we had out last week:

My Visit with Periwinkle by Alison Inches, illustrated by David B. Levy (Ready-to-Read: Level 1)

- I'm not a big fan of Blue's Clues and I'm also not a fan of many Ready-to-Read books.  I should probably post a post about that sometime.  Anna likes Blue's Clues right now and she enjoyed the story.  Blue is expecting Periwinkle to visit and he makes a list of things he needs to do to prepare for the visit.  This would be a good book to use to introduce the idea of making lists to help you remember things you have to do.

Big Sarah's Little Boots by Paulette Bourgeois, illustrated by Brenda Clark (Canadian Author)

- we actually had this book out before and enjoyed it so we both enjoyed reading it again.  Part of the appeal to us is that Sarah is the name of one of my children.  In the story Sarah has outgrown her favorite rubber boots and is not too pleased about it.  I love the story, and I also love the illustrations.  A great book to share with a child that is having trouble with letting go of some things that he/she has outgrown.  

A Summertime Song by Irene Haas

- I love this book!  It's a very whimsical story about a little girl that gets an invitation from a frog to go to a birthday party and ends up with a very special surprise.  I love the ending!

Olivia and Her Ducklings adapted by Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Shane L. Johnson (Ready-to-Read: Level 1)

- I like Olivia a little better than Blue's Clues but I'm still not a fan of these Ready-to-Read books.  In this story Olivia makes friends with a family of ducks and they end up following her home.

Where is Baby's Beach Ball? by Karen Katz (a Lift-the-Flap book)

Anna liked this board book.  It's a great book for toddlers but even almost 5 year olds like to lift flaps.  :)  The baby has lost his ball and you have to lift the flaps to help him look for it.  This actually ended up being one that we revisited a lot and Anna could almost read the whole book totally by herself by the time we brought it back.

Spot Goes to the Farm by Eric Hill

- this is actually another lift the flap book, but it's not a board book.  Anna enjoyed this one too.  Spot searches the farm for the animals his dad wants to show him.  It would make a good addition to a unit about animals and could be used to review the names of animals and their babies.

What a Treasure! by Jane and Will Hillenbrand

- a cute story about a mole that is digging for treasures and finds all kinds of things that are treasures for other creatures before he finds a treasure for himself.  Could be used in a social studies lesson talking about how what is a treasure to one person may not be to another.  This is another book we revisited a lot.  It has many repeated phrases.  Whenever I spot that in a book I make a point of pointing out the repeated phrases while I'm reading them and after I while I just start the phrases and get Anna to finish them.  I love how she gets into saying the phrases with expression.  She was really doing well with reading the repeated phrase by the time we brought the book back.

The Stuffed Animals Get Ready for Bed by Alison Inches, illustrated by Bryan Langdo

- nice bedtime story book.  A little girl tries to settle her toys down for bedtime.  We liked the rhythmic, rhyming words as well as the story.

A Second Is a Hiccup: A Child's Book of Time by Hazel Hutchins, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton ( Canadian author and illustrator)

- love this book.  A great book to use in a discussion of time and comparing the length of time between seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. Could be used for math and social studies.  A very nice book.

Boy in Motion: Rick Hansen's Story by Ainslie Manson, illustrated by Renne Benoit (Canadian author)

- I wondered if this one would be too old for Anna but it wasn't.  It tells the story of the life of Rick Hanson.  I enjoyed learning more about his childhood and what made him who he was.  Could be used for social studies to talk about famous people and also about the challenges people in wheel chairs face and how they are just as normal as anyone else.

Furious George Goes Bananas by Michael Rex

- this was a funny story, a parody of Curious George. It tells the story of an ape that keeps selling to different people but the ape keeps escaping and the man keeps finding him and selling him again. Could be used in a literature lesson to discuss parodies and the likeness and similarities of the stories.  This is another book that we revisited.  There were a few repeated phrases in this one too that Anna really enjoyed reading on her own.

Sleepy Cadillac: A Bedtime Drive by Thacher Hurd

- a good bedtime story.  A boy climbs aboard the sleepy cadillac and drops into dream station on his way to pajama land before being deposited back in his bed to sleep.

Read Me a Story: Canadian Favourites (5 different authors)

- this is actually a collection of 5 books by Canadian authors.  I love introducing Anna to Canadian author and we had already read books by a couple of these authors.  The site I've linked the title too has a great description of the book and you can also read excerpts from it there.

Blue's Checkup by Sarah Albee, illustrated by Ian Chernichaw
- in this story Blue is nervous about having to go to the doctor for a check-up but he gets through it just fine.  A nice book to share with a child that might not be looking forward to a visit to the doctor's office.