Recent Library Picks

We've gotten in the swing of a more regular trip to the Library with Susie to choose books.  I don't really want to go more frequently than every 2-3 weeks because sometimes it takes half that for her to warm up to a book!  So far, she has grown more and more fond of each pick from the library after the first week and a half -- even if she loved it right away. :) So I feel like I am more equipped to rate her library picks near the end of their stay in our home than I was at the beginning. 

Though we don't always get out our library books each day, we do read some of them almost every day.  Here are a few that we've had for a couple weeks now (and will be going back tomorrow) that she really has enjoyed:

1. Curious George and the Puppies -- gotta admit, even though this tops the chart of her faves, I personally am glad that we did eventually have to take it back.  She loves George, she loved the puppies and the "OH NO!" part of the book when he let them all out.  I could see how much she loved it, and though George and the puppies were quite cute, the story about him visiting the animal shelter was rather BORING. :)  But not to a one-year-old!!  So we read it 17 times a day. . . at least, probably. . .


2. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss -- this book is loooooong.  Don't get me wrong, she loves it!  She especially loves the first 8 or so pages, which she nearly has memorized.  And we have certainly read all 63 rhyming pages at least a dozen times, but it really is long for this young of a kiddo.  Plus, after the first half-dozen pages, each page is a new creature/situation, and pretty much unrelated.  Cat in the Hat is about this long, but it's all one story, so probably easier to follow along (same characters each page, thus, not resetting your brain for something new).  She calls the little girl in this book "Sally" because she looks like the little girl from Cat in the Hat.  :)  One fun thing I have found is that after she got pretty familiar with this book, I could read a line or two and then pause when I came to a rhyming word and she'd fill it in very well.  

Me: "Some are sad, and some are glad, and some are very very. . . "
Susie: "BAD!"
Me: "Why are they sad and glad and bad? I do not know, go ask your. . . "
Susie: "DAD!"
(imagine her words sometimes being sputtered around her thumb, if it were close to bedtime)

3. Time for Bed by Mem Fox -- I found this in big board book edition at the library, and thought it might be a sweet book to read at bedtime.  I've always loved these illustrations -- I used to buy new baby cards with the picture of the goose and gosling at bedtime with the stars behind them: GORGEOUS!  Susie loves this book because she loves animals, and the cover has sheep, which are some of her faves.  This is also a good one for learning rhyming.  


Me: "It's time for bed, little mouse, little mouse, darkness is falling all over the. . . "
Susie: "HOUSE!"

4. Hush Little Ones by John Butler -- our librarian found this for me at our last visit when I mentioned how much Susie liked monkeys.  There is one page of a mommy and baby monkey (which is just utterly adorable), but otherwise not about monkeys at all -- however, I'm so glad she found it for us.  One of Susie's old faves is also by this illustrator, and I'm so very fond of the illustrations!  John Butler draws the animals so round and fat and furry that you want to reach into the picture and pet them. :)  For a while, each time we'd read this book (usually at bedtime, again), when we got to the monkey page, Susie would try to curl up on me like the baby monkey was curled up on his mommy.  Super sweet.