I Sure Am Glad To See You, Blackboard Bear

This is one of those books that is so adorable in its illustrations, so appealing to the eye, so lovely in concept... BUT.... as a parent, this is not the type of book I like to read to my child. I understand that there are many kids who need to deal with bullying in their lives, and hopefully this is one book that will help them. (I'm not sure how, but perhaps that *is* the target market here.) There's a bit too much focus here on "getting back" at the other person, I think, that might not be helpful at all to those kids who need some good solid advice -- or even just comforting -- on what to do when other kids are being mean to you. Sigh.

To Catch the Moon

I'd say "Eh, don't bother," but this book does have an element of cuteness about it which may be attractive to some kids/parents. Certainly our toddler liked it enough to ask that it be read to him several times. I think he also likes that big brother Paco's name is in it. I *think* the message is that some things are better appreciated from afar, or that we need to think our actions through to make sure we'll be okay with the consequences.... but these may be messages that a toddler won't appreciate.... yet. For that reason I'll say this is more suitable for older kids and leave it at that. (The illustrations are somewhat reminiscent of Babar.)

Fifteen Animals

We first "met" Sandra Boynton when hubby and I were dating. He introduced me to Boynton greeting cards and our courtship/dating months were peppered with Boynton cards and gifts. Naturally we bought Boynton board books for the kids when they were born. Twenty-plus years later, Boynton hasn't lost any of her charm. This board book which introduces counting to little ones oozes with Boynton's trademark cuteness AND silliness. It's one of the first books that our toddler has "memorized" and he loves "reading" it to us, except for the last page which is a bit challenging for him. I won't tell you what it says, you'll have to get the book! :)

Back to Blogging Books!

Now that we've got a toddler, it's about time we got back to blogging books!  Nino, 2 3/4 loves loves loves books, has loved books almost from Day One.  He has certainly progressed from chewing on books, to being able to sit still for one word per page, to actually listening to several paragraphs per page -- all in the span of 2 years.  Amazing, this process of learning to read.  So far we've raised four great readers, and looks like this fifth one is well on his way.