Sonya’s Chickens

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Carmen

I love, love, love this picture book! (And not just because we have chickens.) First of all, the illustrations are gorgeous. I grabbed this book simply because of the cover. I love Wahl’s depictions of everyday family life.

Wahl also helps children understand a little of why predators may come after animals such as chickens – and she does this in such a sensitive way. I’ve often struggled with the words to explain this to little man, but I think he got it because of this book.

Do you know of any other picture books featuring chickens and children? We love our chickens and our books! :)

Bedtime Audio Books

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Carmen

Little man has been enjoying listening to audio books while lying in bed. (This has been especially helpful with the recent time change!) We’ve downloaded some from our library, checked out actual discs from the library, received some as gifts, and downloaded some with our free Audible trials.

Here are some of our favorites. (I prefer long ones for bedtime, so I don’t have to keep coming in his room to help him pick out a new one.)

I love reading to my little guy, but it is nice to have a break sometimes!

Chapter Books for Preschoolers

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Carmen

I’ve started experimenting with some chapter books for David. I love picture books, but sometimes I get annoyed at HOW MANY BOOKS are in our library stack and HOW MANY BOOKS I have to find to return. So, I decided to start borrowing chapter books and picture book collections. Headache averted. Well, now I have to watch out for Ruby because she tries to carry these massive books all around the house.

Here are some of our recent favorites:

Toddler Books About New Babies

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Carmen

Well, baby girl will be arriving any day, so I thought I should do one more quick blog post before I take a [blogging] break.

Here are 6 books about new babies that I’ve either read to David, or plan to read to David:

Waiting for Baby by Rachel Fuller.

What Baby Needs by William Sears.

The New Baby by Mercer Mayer

I’m a Big Brother by Joanna Cole

God Gave Us Two by Lisa Tawn Bergren

You and Me by Rachel Fuller

Your Own Big Bed

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Carmen

Bedtime has been interesting around here lately. At one moment, David is excited to sleep in his toddler bed, and we can hear him saying “I’m a big boy” as he’s settling down. 5 minutes later: “I don’t want to sleep in my bed. I want my crib!” And back in his crib he goes, and we wait again for another night.

I ordered a bedtime book, and even though after one reading it has not changed David’s mind, I thought I’d still share it here. I love the beautiful story and illustrations.

Your Own BIG BED by Rita Bergstein. Bergstein compares how animals grow up and humans grow up – being carried by their parents turns into taking their first steps, etc. And then, just as some of the animals get too big for where they sleep/live, children get too big for their cribs and need to sleep in a bed.

I know that David will not be sleeping in a crib when he is 10, so I guess we’ll keep patiently working at this. . .

1, 2, 3 Favorite Counting Books

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Carmen

We haven’t made it to the library recently – the snow keeps messing with our schedule! So, we’ve been reading a lot of the books off of our own shelf, which is probably a good idea anyway.

We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania by Laurie Krebs. I love the fact that the setting of this story is Tanzania, and David loves the different animals, such as warthogs and wildebeests. I’m curious what a Tanzanian would think of the book, since it is written by an American.

Roar: A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards. A little lion cub is having trouble finding some animals to play with. Once again, David likes the warthogs.

Over in the Grasslands by Anna Wilson and Alison Bartlett. We enjoy singing this to the tune of “Over in the Meadow.” And yes, this book has warthogs as well.

In Case You Need More Christmas Books for Kiddos

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Carmen

Here are some other books David and I discovered that are not part of his Christmas countdown:

Stable in Bethlehem: A Countdown to Christmas by Joy N. Hulme. This is a simple board book – we enjoy counting the different things on each page.

Clopper the Christmas Donkey by Emily King. Illustrated in a cartoon-ish style, this book tells the Christmas story through the perspective of a donkey. I included it in this list because it’s so different from other Christmas books I’ve found.

Room for a Little One: A Christmas Tale by Martin Waddell. Cute story featuring the animals in the stable. I’ve seen this in paperback and board book versions.

The First Christmas Night by Keith Christopher. Beautiful illustrations and lyrical verse. Thanks to a friend for this book!

A Book a Day ‘Til Christmas

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Carmen

david christmas books Just for fun, I wrapped 24 books for David to unwrap in the days leading up to Christmas. Some are Christmas books, and some are winter-related. (Don’t tell David, but most of them came off of our bookshelf.) It’s a good after-breakfast activity.

Here’s the list:

1) First Picture Book of Christmas Carols – illustrated by Mary McClain

2) The Christmas Story – Pingry

3) Who is Coming to Our House? Slate & Wolff

4) Baby Jesus is Here – Holley Gerth

5) Winter is Here – Weinberger & Dubin

6) One Night in Bethlehem – Lord

7) Touch & Feel Christmas – Henning

8) Jingle Bells – illustrated by Darcy May

9) My Very First Christmas – Rock

10) The Little Drummer Boy – Keats

11) Come and See – Mayper

12) The Snowy Day – Keats

13) The Story of Christmas – Pingry

14) This is the Stable – Cotten

15) The Story of Jesus – Pingry

16) The Friendly Beasts – illustrated by Ruth Sanderson

17) Where is Home, Little Pip? -Wilson & Chapman

18) Christmas in the Manger – Buck

19) A Star for Jesus – Bowman

20) A Christmas Goodnight – Buck

21) The Colors of Christmas – Phifer

22) The Christmas Pageant – Winthrop

23) The Snow Bear – Moss

24) Song of the Stars – Lloyd-Jones

The Little Hands Art Book

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Carmen

I don’t want to wait until David is 5 to start doing art projects. And although I have ideas of my own, it’s nice to find some new ideas for things to do with him. My goal is one “art” project (besides coloring and water-colors which he does frequently anyway) a week. The great thing is that I have a ton of supplies left-over from when I taught preschool.

Here’s a book I’ve been using for inspiration:The Little Hands art Book by Judy Press. It’s geared towards 2-6-year-olds. I love that the materials are simple and the projects are simple. Last week we made a caterpillar out of an old egg carton, markers, and pipe cleaners. I have the old version of the book (thrifted!), but apparently there’s a new edition out there.

Toddler Thanksgiving Books?

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Carmen

I’ve been struggling to find toddler-appropriate, culturally-sensitive Thanksgiving books. I at least wanted to introduce David to the idea of Thanksgiving and gratitude.

Here’s the best I could do:

My First Thanksgiving by Tomie dePaola. Simple, short, and nothing too offensive content-wise. I’ve always been a fan of Tomie dePaola.

The Story of Thanksgiving by Nancy J. Skarmeas. I like the ending: “Thank you, God, for our families, our food, and our homes,” but I’m not completely sure about some of the historical content.