The Snowy Day

The Snowy Day

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is well-known as a classic book.  Like Caps for Sale, this is a book that I never got to experience in childhood.  That's sad, because The Snowy Day is wonderful!  I had heard of the title, and checked it out from the library.  Now having read it, I must get a copy for our family, urgently... I am clinging to our borrowed copy and don't want to give it back!

The Snowy Day tells a simple story about a boy's day exploring and playing after a snowfall.  He has wonderful experiences -- making footprints, dragging a stick, shaking snow off a tree, watching a snowball fight and putting a snowball in his pocket to save for later.  He goes home and tells his mom about his day, reflects on his experiences, and the next day, goes out in the snow again,  bringing a friend to join in. 

It's a lovely story.  What I love most about this book is that it captures so well how children explore and experiment with simple things. How interesting snow is!  How wonderful to make footprints and snowballs!  It's great to feel, explore and enjoy natural wonders like snow. Reading The Snowy Day brings back the wonder and simple pleasures of childhood. 

Peter, the main character in The Snowy Day, is black.  As Dr. Seuss says in The Sneetches, you would think such a thing wouldn't matter at all... but it is notable, even in 2009.  I was reminded if how hard it can be for black children to find examples of people who look like them at Christmas when I searched unsuccessfully in local stores for a black baby doll -- very frustrating!  Having a main character with dark skin makes this beautiful book even more special.  

Machines at Work

Machines at Workis another one of Byron Barton's books that our family loves.  Like all Barton books, Machines at Work features bold and simple full-page illustrations with bright colors and straightforward, simple phrases.  Machines at Work is dedicated to construction equipment -- it's filled with bulldozers, steamrollers, cranes, excavators, dump trucks and a crew of male and female workers that put in a hard day's work building a building, from demolition to construction.  

At first I loved Barton's Trainsmore, and so did my kids, but Machines at Work will now always have a special place in my heart because my two-year-old started repeating the phrases after I would read to him, and hearing my little peanut say things like "Build that building" and "Dump that rubble" in the sweetest little child voice was heart-melting. I'm going to remember it every time I see this book.

Machines at Work will be a quick, classic favorite of any child who loves construction equipment and all things machines.  Our family has this in the hardcover format, it is also available as a board book.

Machines at Work

Machines at Work Board Book

St. Nicholas Day

....is tomorrow, December 6. I just finished up wrapping two gifts for the boys -- a Schleich Nativityand a board book, Christmas in the Manger. (I also wrapped up two Byron Barton board books for my two-year-old nephew's birthday -- Trucks and Trains.)

It will be our first time celebrating St. Nick and I'm looking forward to it. Since I love books as gifts, I expect St. Nick will deliver more books and probably more Christmas books every year. 

What are your St. Nick traditions? 

(Tomorrow is also Poetry Friday!)

Mama Mama, Papa Papa

Here is another great board book for babies and toddlers with beautiful text and illustrations. Mama Mama, Papa Papa by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by Laura Regan, features gorgeous artwork of animal parents with their babies. Half of the book shows mother animals with their young, and the book flips over to feature animal fathers with their babies.

The text is simple and soothing, with rhyming phrases beginning with Mama, Mama or Papa, Papa, and describing the sweet gentle care that parents give their children. Mama Mama, Papa Papa is a truly beautiful children's book.

Mama Mama/Papa Papa Flip Board Book (Flip Board Books (HarperFestival))

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?

I love Eric Carle books. The illustrations are so colorful and fun. Our family's first Eric Carle book was The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and it was so wonderful, I felt eager to check out his other books.

I didn't fully appreciate Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? until I was touring several preschools with my oldest son earlier this year. In one school library, the librarian read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? while she used felt cut outs of the animals and a felt board. I fell in love with it all -- the wonderful children's librarian, the book, the felt board -- everything! (Well, we didn't end up choosing that school, but it was very close.)

I picked up a copy of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? on my next shopping trip at Target. I am sad to say that we have not read it at home as much as I had hoped, and individual reading isn't as wonderful as the storytime we experienced, yet, I love the book and think it's an important part of our kids' collection. I hope to read it more with our youngest son (who currently is all about Curious George and train books), and our newborn when he arrives in a few more weeks.


I should note that Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is illustrated by Eric Carle and written by Bill Martin Jr. (who also wrote another favorite, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom).  I think of them all as Eric Carle books because the style is so distinctive.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Time for Bed

It's time for bed, little mouse, little mouse,
Darkness is falling all over the house.

Time for Bedby Mem Fox, illustrated by Jane Dyer, is a soothing bedtime board book for infants and toddlers. With gentle, repetitive phrases and nighttime illustrations of young animals being coaxed to sleep by their parents, it's a wonderful nap or bedtime read for human parents to share with their babies. I love the gentle phrases and detailed drawings of the adult and baby animals, cozy in their homes and under starry night skies.



Time for Bed

Trains!

Trains by Byron Barton became an instant favorite of both boys upon its arrival at our home. And I became an instant fan of Byron Barton. We all love the book's simple phrases and simple, bright and colorful drawings. We purchased two of Barton's books, Trains and Machines at Work. So far, the board book format is the house favorite, more durable and easier to handle. I'm so excited to have discovered this book! We love all things trains, and this beautiful board book should be a family favorite for a long time.

Trains Board Book

God Loves You

You can be short

or you can be tall.

You can be big

or you can be small.

Your size and your shape

don't matter at all.

God loves you just as you are.

We received God Loves You as a baptism gift for our oldest son from his godfather. This sweet board book, part of a series called Little Blessings by Kathleen Long Bostrom and illustrated by Elena Kucharik, gives the youngest readers a beautiful and simple message about God's love for all people.

I love giving books as gifts and loved receiving this one. It's a favorite of our boys. We especially love the illustrations, featuring a group of adorable children along with ladybugs, butterflies, puppies and kittens in settings with interesting details and pretty colors.



God Loves You is a precious board book that was a wonderful gift. It gets a lot of use by our boys and serves as a sweet reminder of our son's baptism and his loving godparents.

God Loves You (Little Blessings)

Dear Zoo - a lift the flap book

I wrote to the Zoo to send me a pet.  They sent me an......

I love pop-up and lift the flap books.  Found this gem of a book at a garage sale last summer.  In the story, the writer asks the Zoo for a pet, and each page shows a special package from the zoo with an animal inside.  It takes a while for the Zoo to find an appropriate pet --- every page holds an exciting discovery for readers to see what the Zoo has sent. 

The words and photos are simple and the drawings of the packages and the animals are delightful.  It is one of my 3-year-old's favorite books, and he enjoys announcing the name of each animal he finds inside.

Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book