On the Bookshelf: Books for Winter

Winter is ending soon, so I thought I'd better get up some of the seasonal books we've been enjoying over the past few months. 

The Hat by Jan Brett
I like this book, Jen is not so fond of it.  It's a little long for The Bean, which I think is a part of the issue Jen has with it.  I really like Jan Brett's illustrations, but do think they appeal more to the young child (age 4+) than they do to babies.  I think this is one we'll have to grow into. 

When Snowflakes Fall by Carl R. Sams and Jean Stoick
The photos in this book and the Winter Friends (below) are lovely.  This book is about various animals preparing for the coming of winter.  The Bean finds it interesting, and gives us a curious look, when we do different voices for the animals. 

Welcome Winter 
This is a pretty simple little touch-and-feel book.  The Bean likes touch-and-feel books, so it was fairly high in the rotation of winter books on our shelf this season. 

Guess How Much I Love You in the Winter by Same McBratney
I think this is a really sweet book.  Some may take issue that Big Nutbrown Hare says Little Nutbrown Hare belongs to him, but it doesn't bother me.  The characters have a playful and loving interaction throughout the story and I think that's the underlying tone.  The Bean will listen to this one, but again, I think it's one he'll probably enjoy more as he gets older. 

Zoe's Snowy Day by Barbara Reid
This is in the "Zoe" series.  The text is quite limited, but the plasticine pictures are quite unique.  There's a lot going on in the pictures to point out and name to your baby. 

Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
Jen and I both LOVE this book.  There's something about the old fashioned artwork and story that is just so appealing.  It's a bit long for The Bean, but even if he doesn't want to sit still for the whole thing, we read it anyway.  :) 

Winter Friends  by Carl R. Sams and Jean Stoick
As I mentioned above, the photos in this book are lovely.  It's a simple story with lots of animals to point out and make the noises for.  The Bean seems to like this one too. 

What are your family's favourite books for winter? 

On the Bookshelf: Books for Valentine's Day

So, it's been a long, long time since I did an "On the Bookshelf" post, and I intended on posting this last weekend, you know, before Valentine's Day, but I suppose it doesn't matter much as we all love our little ones year-round, not just on February 14th. 

Won't You Be My Kissaroo? by Joanne Ryder
This book was a birthday gift from a friend.  It talks about the different kisses that can be given through the day.  We like giving The Bean lots of kisses when we read it to him.  

You Are My Sunshine by Caroline Jayne Church  
Illustrations accompany the lyrics to the song.  I often sing You Are My Sunshine to The Bean, so I kind of like this one for that reason.  My big complaint about this illustrator (she also illustrated the following two books) is that almost all her drawings are of Caucasian children.  There's one black child in this book, but if it weren't for the hair, it'd be hard to tell.   

How Do I Love You? by Marion Dane Bauer
I really like this book.  It features vibrant illustrations of a little girl and goes through a list of similes comparing various things to how the reader loves their baby.  The last line reads, "I love all that you will be, and everything you are."  Very sweet.     

I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak 
Another cutesy book saying all the things the reader loves about their baby.  This one features a little boy.  Kinda' nice for us mamas with boys.  

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
I've heard people say how much they hate this book because Big Nutbrown Hare seems to have to one-up Little Nutbrown Hare each time Little says how much he loves Big, but I still think it's cute.  I also like that it features male characters.  When my dear friend had a baby boy via surrogate, this was one of the few books I found NOT featuring a mother with their baby.   

I Love You by Karma Wilson
This book tells babies about all the things the reader loves about them.   Unlike the books illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church, this book clearly features babies of different ethnicities.  I like that. 

Hugaboo, I Love You by Hans Wilhelm
At a year old, The Bean is a little young for this book since the pages are thin and easily rip-able.  We haven't read it too many times.  Each page has a fold out of a different animal giving their baby a hug.   

Peekaboo Kisses by Barney Saltzberg
This book was a gift from a friend.  It was one of her daughter's favourite books when she was small.  It's cute.  Each page has a fold out "peek a boo" featuring a touch-and-feel animal.  The last page has a mirror and reads, "Peekabook, I see... YOU!"  My biggest complaint is that almost each touch-and-feel page is faux fur and  I prefer it when the pages have different textures.  Still a cute book though.

What are the favourite love/Valentine's Day books in your home?  

On the Bookshelf

Here are The Bean's bedtime books for this week:

Goodnight Moon
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
First Words
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
Big Red Barn
The Pigeon Loves Things That Go!
Everywhere a Moo, Moo

First Words didn't seem as interesting as Farm did last week, even though it's a very similar book.

Goodnight Moon is such a classic, I feel like I don't need to describe it. I really liked Big Red Barn, also by Margaret Wise Brown.

Jen loves Dr. Seuss, so Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? is one that she read The Bean a couple of times during the week.

Going on Bear Hunt is the song illustrated. It's okay, but not a favourite at this point. Jen thought it was too long.

Again, Everywhere a Moo, Moo is just the song Old MacDonald. I like that it uses actual photos of animals in it. I'm finding that's something I'm quite partial to... not so much in stories, but in the touch and feel style books and ones about everyday objects and whatnot.

The Pigeon Loves Things That Go! was short and funny. Nothing spectacular, but something to get a little chuckle out of.

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I've decided that rather than make this a weekly feature, I'm going to post monthly and only include books that we really liked or that are particularly fitting for the season. Please continue to share your children's favourite books. I love getting suggestions! (One of the parents of a student I taught last year just gave us a baby gift of a bookstore gift certificate that is burning a hole in my pocket!)

On the Bookshelf

Here are The Bean's bedtime books for this week:

Whistle for Willie
That's Not My Truck...
Farm
Chicka Chicka ABC
You Are My Sunshine
Baby Faces
The Gruffalo

That's Not My Truck and Farm (both touch and feel books) and Baby Faces were all big hits. They aren't long and managed to hold The Bean's attention. He LOVES looking a the Baby Faces book. I think we might end up getting another similar book since he seems to enjoy this one so much.

I liked You Are My Sunshine, because it's a song I sing to him often and the pictures are sweet.

Whistle for Willie and The Gruffalo didn't go over so well... while we enjoy the stories, they are too long for our boy when he is tired. Mommy didn't like Chicka Chicka ABC because the meaning of "boom boom" changes at the end. I'd have to say, there's not really much of a story line to begin with, but I still like the rhythm of it.

On the Bookshelf

As we mentioned a little while ago, we're trying to start more of a bedtime routine with The Bean. Included in that is a bedtime story.

The Bean has hundreds of books. Some might say that I have a bit of a problem when it comes to buying books. (Although I don't really see it as a "problem".) Before we even started TTC we had at least a shelf full of children's books; many of them from when I was young, but also a good number that I had picked up for teaching or just because I liked them.

A love of reading is definitely something we want to foster in The Bean. He'll grow up seeing us reading, and we want to make reading a part of his day-to-day as well.

We tried having a little basket of books out in the living room, where we spend most of our time, but really weren't reaching for them often. So when we decided to start a bedtime routine, we made reading a story a part of it.

Usually The Bean's quite tired and starting to fuss when we're getting him ready for bed, so most of the books we chose this week we're short... just a few lines of text on each page. Maybe not so interesting for Mommy and Mama, but about what our baby can handle right now.

Here are this week's choices:

Farm Babies
Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type
The Going to Bed Book
Click Clack ABC
Zoe's Sunny Day
Welcome Spring
Biscuit Visits the Petting Zoo

As I said, these were mainly chosen for their brevity. All are board books, so we don't have to worry about The Bean ripping the pages. They also have bold artwork or photographs, which seem to capture his attention. Welcome Spring and Biscuit Visits the Petting Zoo are touch and feel books, which engage him just a little bit more.

Any parents out there with suggestions of books your kids have enjoyed, we'd love to hear them. Any parents-to-be, we hope this list is helpful. Feedback is appreciated, I might continue to try to do a weekly update of this sort, if there seems to be any interest. Alternately, I could post a little review of a book every week or so. Let us know what you'd like to see!

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As an aside, I just finished John Irving's newest book, Last Night on Twisted River and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys his writing (quirky characters and story lines which require just a little bit of suspension of disbelief). IMO it's up there with Garp and Owen Meany.