Book Review: Books for Fall

With the start of the cooler weather, we decided to change out some of the books that had been in our book basket (i.e. books that are in high rotation versus those on the shelf --though The Bean and Sprout have access to all of them) and put new books on a bit of a "fall" theme.

Little Scholastic's Welcome Fall
A quick little touch-and-feel book.  Sprout is really into these right now.  Each page features a simple picture about something that you can do or that happens in the fall.  The last page reads "It's fall!  And you're safe and sung in Daddy's arms."  which can easily be changed to "Mommy's arms."

Zoe's Windy Day 
by Barbara Reid
The Bean LOVED this books when he was younger, and still seems to really enjoy looking at the pages.  The illustrations are made of Plasticine and have a lot of lovely detail.  The text is very simple, only a few words on each page, and the whole book reads like a short poem rather than a story.  There is a lot of room for discussion around the illustrations though.

Let it Fall
by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
A cute rhyming book about various fall activities.  (Also, it features a baby-wearing dad!)

Leaves 
by David Ezra Stein
A short story about a bear's first winter.  He shows concern about the leaves falling, then, growing sleepy, accepts it, and happily wakes up in the spring and welcomes the leaves back.

The Leaves on the Trees
by Thom Wiley
illustrated by Andrew Day
In addition to loving children's books I am quite well-versed in children's songs (no pun intended).  This book can be sung to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down and goes through different trees and what their leaves look like when they start to change.  As someone who is not so good at identifying leaves, I found this book to be a great resource!  I could also see using it as a reference for fall leave collecting with kiddos just slightly older than The Bean (4-7 or so).

Leaves Fall Down, Learning about Autumn Leaves
by Lisa Bullard 
illustrated by Nadine Takvorian
Definitely a "teacher book" this book talks about how leaves need sunlight to make their food, but how with the decreased sunlight in the fall how they can't do that anymore, so they start to change colour and fall.  It talks about leaves decomposing and how this can help fertilize soil.  It would probably be the most interesting to a kid who asks "why" a lot. ;)

What seasonal books are you reading these days?

Book Review: The Apple-Pip Princess

The Apple-Pip Princess
Written and Illustrated by Jane Ray

The Bean has started talking about princesses lately.  His highest complement is to tell you you are a princess, and will often assert that he is a princess too.  ("I a princesses, Mama!")  It's very sweet.  

Anyway, his fondness of princesses reminded me of this book that I bought years ago.  I was in a little independent bookstore and saw it on their display.  I picked it up to browse through and fell in love with both the illustrations and the story, so it came home with me!

The story is quite long and the language is more mature, so I'd be inclined to say it's better suited to a 4-7ish age range, but The Bean has still listened to it many times.

The illustrations are AMAZING.  I wouldn't normally post photos from inside a book, but you have to see them...

Super-detailed illustrations mixed with photo collage.  Gorgeous, right?  Also the princesses (and other characters) in the story are dark-skinned, which is rare and quite nice to see.  

And the story is beautiful too.

It's an original fairy tale about a kingdom which has lost it's queen and is falling to ruins.  The king tasks his daughters with doing something to "make their mark" so that he can choose one of them as the successor to the throne.  The two elder sisters both set out to build towers to reach the sky; but it is the youngest sister, quiet and unassuming, who uses a gift from her mother, a box full of magical items, to plan a tiny apple seed which grows along with other seeds to return the kingdom to it's former splendor.  

The story emphasizes kindness, cooperation, care, perseverance, and hope.  All lovely messages for our children.  Wouldn't you agree?

Book Review: Builder Goose

Builder Goose

by Boni Ashburn

Illustrated by Sergio De Giorgi

A good friend came to visit the other week and brought this book as a gift for the kids.  She was a kindergarten teacher for many, many years and has finely honed book-selection skills.  It's been a huge hit since the first time we read it to The Bean.

The author took familiar Mother Goose nursery rhymes and changed the words to make them fit a construction site theme... and she did a really good job of it!  The Bean is very into knowing the proper names of the various vehicles and what they do and this book includes that kind of information in a fun and easily accessible format.  After a week (on high rotation) he's already starting to memorize many of the rhymes himself.  He also really likes guessing what rhyme they've been adapted from.

The illustrations are cute, depicting all kinds of animals working on construction sites.  They're bold and colourful and has enough detail to keep the toddler's interest while Mama or Mommy read the rhymes.

My only complaint is that it doesn't tell you which nursery rhyme was adapted, and there is one that I just can't figure out!!  (Big Excavator, for those wondering.)

I'd definitely recommend this one to anyone with a kiddo who loves construction vehicles.  Probably best suited for ages 2-4ish.  :)  (Paired with a little toy truck, I think it'd make an awesome birthday gift.)

Book Review: Finding Bluefield

This one is for mommies, not kids. :)

A few months ago I received an email asking whether I'd like to be sent a novel to review.  If you know me, you know I love reading, so I quickly replied back that I would definitely be interested.  The email outlined the story as being about two women who fall in love and start a family together.  Goodness knows there is not much good lesbian fiction out there, so I was appreciative to be on the receiving end of this offer.

I eagerly waited for the book to arrive.  It was coming from California, so I expected it might take a while.  After several weeks it arrived in a transparent plastic bag with a note from the USPS.  It'd been damaged while being processed.  Fortunately, though a little crunched up, it was still readable.

I made it through the first half on our drive up to Jen's parent's place last month and finished it on the drive home, all while trying to keep both a toddler and infant entertained.  That is to say, it was a quick read and relatively easy to put down and pick up again without getting mixed up on characters or plot points.

Without giving too much away, the book is about two women who meet, fall in love, and raise a child together.  It is set in the 60s, 70s, and early 80s and historical events are intertwined throughout the story.  I really enjoyed the ideas brought forward in this book; however I found that moments that had the greatest potential for plot and character development were cut short, often skipping a few years ahead leaving things unrealized or unresolved.  I would have enjoyed it more if some of the more significant and emotional events had been fleshed out.  As it stands, I would say it's worth checking out if given the opportunity.

If anyone is interested in reading it, I'm happy to pass along my copy.  Perhaps your opinions will differ from mine.  I'd like to read your review.  In the same vein, if you have a piece of lesbian fiction you'd like to recommend, please mention it in the comments.  Happy reading!

Vetting Children's Books

I think anyone who has been reading this blog for a little while knows that I love to read.  I also love to read to our children.  I started my children's book collection well before we were even trying to conceive.  While I had the "excuse" of being able to use the books I purchased in my teaching, it was a personal collection, and not a class collection I was creating.  The collection now numbers well into the hundreds and contains favourites, both old and new.  Admittedly, it also contains some duds.

The Bean loves to be read to.  Jen (who was home on maternity leave during his first year) was amazing at making reading to him a priority from his earliest days.  Our bedtime routine includes three stories before songs and being tucked in.  Now that he's getting older, we're moving away from the board books that we pretty much stuck to his first few years, and starting to reading some longer stories.  Books we haven't looked at for a while are making their way off the shelf and into the basked beside the rocking chair.

Just the other day Jen pulled Robert Munsch's We Share Everything out.  Robert Munsch is a much loved children's writer.  He's American, but began writing after moving to Canada and though widely known in Canada, doesn't seem to be recognized across the border.  I grew up on his early books, which is likely why  We Share Everything, one of his newer books, is in our collection.

On the surface it is a funny story about two friends going into kindergarten who have to learn to share.  However, reading it a couple dozen times over the last week has also made me realize there are things I really don't like about it.  The two main characters are mean to each other.  Bullies even.  I don't want The Bean to grow up thinking that treating someone the way these characters treat each other is acceptable.  They threaten.  They yell.  They knock down block towers.  When they finally begin sharing, they share their clothes.  After swapping outfits Jeremiah comments, "My mom never gets me pink shoes" and "No other boy in kindergarten has a pink shirt."  Perhaps worse is when the teacher makes a big deal over Jeremiah's pink clothes.  The Bean doesn't seem to think pink is a "girl's colour", and I agree.  Messages like the ones in this book only bring the issue of society's ideas of what is acceptable for girls vs. boys to the forefront.  I know there might be a day when The Bean wants to throw his pink marker in the garbage, but I would like to delay it as long as possible.  If I can avoid him hearing this kind of messaging, I will.

So now I have to try to go hide this book.  Good thing we've got others to distract him with.

What are your kids' favourite books?  What do you do when you have issues with the subtext in the books you have?  

Book Review: And Then It's Spring

And Then It's Spring
by Julie Fogliano
Illustrated by Erin Stead

We picked up this book as a part of The Bean's Easter gift.  It was one that I had heard of and had been meaning to check out for a while, so I took a chance and ordered it.  I'm really glad that I did.  It's lovely. 

This is a very simple text, with a single sentence on most pages.  It is all about the hopefulness that accompanies the planting of seeds and waiting for them to grow.  It is also about patience.   

The language is almost poetic and a little above The Bean's level of understanding, but he understands enough to get the point of the story.  (I also believe it's a good thing to expose children to language that is a little above their level.  But I don't intend to discuss that right now.  If you're curious as to why ask and I'll explain my thoughts in the comments.)   

The illustrations in this book are stunning.  Simple and full of small details.  The Bean loves looking at them as I read and pointing out the things that he sees.  ("Look Mama, birds!"  "Look Mama, a worm!")  We talk about things like why the bunny is sitting next to the little carrot sign.  And the first time we read it, when we got to the last page he let out an audible "Ooh!"  Really, how can I not love the book after that?  

I'd definitely recommend And Then It's Spring to anyone with kids who are about 3-6 years old. 

(FWIW  -I just showed Jen this post and she says she likes the illustrations, but does not like the writing in this book and would not recommend it.  To each their own.)

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?  

Adult-Friendly Kids' Music

Although not particularly musical, Jen and I are very into music.  If you've read our "About Us" you'll know we met at a concert.  Attending live shows is a favourite past time of ours. 

Of  course, music was important before we met, I have fond memories of dancing around the sunroom of my childhood home with my dad to Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al."  Toronto had an all-Beatles radio station in the 80s that was on at our neighbour's house every time we went over.  I still can sing along to almost any Beatles song I hear.

When The Bean was days old we played him Death Cab For Cutie while he slept.  Now that he's older we've been looking into finding music for him that we also enjoy listening to.  I know a ton of kids who love The Wiggles, but I don't know how much "Big Red Car" -or whatever it's called- we could take.

At the beginning of the summer we read a bunch of reviews and ended up ordering a handful of CDs meant specifically for The Bean, but also for us, 'cuz you know, we've got to listen to them too.

Mind of My Own by Frances England has been a favourite.  I'll fully admit that I've found myself turning up the radio in the car when playing it, even when The Bean is home with Jen.  The lyrics are lively and positive and are on topics which are revelant to children.  Her voice is lovely and the musical accompaniment is fantastic. 

Elizabeth Mitchell's, You Are My Sunshine is another album we picked up at the beginning of the summer.  It's got a calm folk vibe and makes for nice quiet music.  I believe some of the songs are original, while others are traditional folk songs.

The Nields' Rock All Day, Rock All Night is a CD set Jen really wanted to get.  She's been a fan of The Nields since before I met her.  They used to play in Pittsburgh often and she would go see them play live.  A few years ago we went to The Clearwater Folk Festival and they were playing on the family stage.  We went over and watched their set.  It was fun!  In the years between then and now we've often joked to each other about "The Enemy Called Pants" (one of the songs they had played)... now that we have an eight month old, we know what they were singing about!  "Organic Farm" is our most recent favourite off this album.  The Nields have a distinctive sound, so I'd suggest listening to a song or two before committing to this album, just in case they aren't your thing.     

Jack Johnson's Sing-a-longs and Lullabies for the  film Curious George is an album I've had for a while.  A parent of a student gave me a copy a few years ago because we do a unit on recycling and it has a song on it called "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle".  We bought another copy for us.  We're Jack Johnson fans, so this album has been great to have. 

Recently we've been thinking about adding a few additional selections to our collection.  Maybe another Frances England CD.  I've also heard good things about They Might Be Giants.  Then there are the traditional folksters like Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie (although I don't know that I could handle a song like "Swimmy Swim Swim" any better than I could handle "Big Red Car".)  Any suggestions from other parents out there?  What do your kids like listening to?  How about recommendations for kid-friendly adult music?  Feist's 1,2,3,4?   Tegan and Sara's Alligator?

Customer Service The Way It Ought To Be

I recently had an excellent customer service experience and thought it deserved blogging about.

About a month ago we ordered three size 2 Thirsties Duo Wraps from Amazon.com.  We had been using size 1s in our rotation, but decided it was time to move a size up since we're now mainly using MotherEase diapers at home which are very absorbent and great for containing messes, but also very bulky. The size 1s weren't fitting over them very well. 

We broke the covers out a few days ago to start using them and noticed that the snaps in the rise weren't making a snapping noise when we pushed them together.  Then, when we'd pull them up over the diaper to close the waist, the snaps in the rise would just pop open.  I was annoyed.  We had been so happy with the size 1s, there was no reason to think the size 2s would be any different.  I felt like we had wasted our money on something that was defective.

Jen suggested sending them back to Amazon, but we had ordered them to her parents' address in the U.S. and it would be a huge hassle.  Then she suggested contacting Thristies directly.  Honestly I thought it would be a waste of time, but I got online and went to their website.  They had a phone number at the top of their homepage, so I called it.  After keying in the numbers to get to customer service, I got voicemail.  Ugh.  I left a message explaining the issue we were having with the snaps and fully expected to never hear back from them.

An hour later the phone rang.  It was one of their customer service reps.  She reviewed the problems we were having, apologized to me for the inconvenience, and then took down my contact information explaining that they were going to send out three new covers and to expect them within a couple of weeks (again apologizing because shipping to Canada takes much longer than it does within the U.S.).  I was shocked.  I thanked her for all her help and hung up the phone practically speechless.  Really, words cannot describe how pleased I was with their level of customer service.  It's refreshing to see a company doing things right! 

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.

Sleeping and Miracles

We've swaddled The Bean since he was practically brand new. We started off with the traditional blanket swaddle, but he outgrew our blankets pretty quickly. Plus, I never was very good at origami and it showed in my swaddling technique.

The Bean in one of my swaddles

From there, we moved onto the Halo brand sleep sacks with swaddles and I thought they were a step up from the blankets. But, the velcro on the swaddles was a mixed blessing. It kept him swaddled more tightly, however when I scooped him up to nurse, the velcro would chew up whatever skin it came into contact with...stomach, side, nipples.

Ouch.

So, we unswaddled him to nurse and then swaddled him back up afterwards which was disruptive. The swaddles worked though, so we went with it.

Between months two and three Ollie was a regular Rip Van Winkle (or maybe Sleeping Beauty) and natch we thought we were the best parents in the world getting him to go down around six p.m. and sleep all the way through until four a.m. What were these sleep troubles that other parents spoke of? Maybe we could give them a little lesson.

(Well, hello there Pride. Are you going to teach us a thing or two?)

When he turned three months old reality decided to give us a slap in the middle of the night. Well, more like several slaps. One in the beginning of the night, one in the middle of the night, and another in the wee hours of the morning. It was like our guy was reverting back to a newborn waking up every two to three hours. Ugh.

I guess we weren't super-parents after all.

So, there he was waking up constantly. Busting out of the velcro. Kicking himself awake. Running laps in his co-sleeper. Busting out of the velcro again. And keeping Allison and me from getting anything resembling a decent night of sleep.

After a couple of weeks we needed to take action. This couldn't keep happening. Allison was exhausted at work. I wasn't much better at home.

Then I remembered a friend suggesting the Miracle Blanket. We checked them out online and they were pricey compared to other swaddles (including the Halo), but this particular friend had come through with some helpful suggestions in the past, so we bit.

The first night, we learned why "miracle" was in the name.

The Bean chllin' in his Miracle Blanket

He went down within minutes. I could nurse him and put him back in his co-sleeper bassinet without getting scratched by velcro and without having to move him all around. He didn't kick. He didn't fight to get his arms free.

It really WAS a miracle.

The Bean is back to going down around six or seven and only waking up one time during the night, usually between one and three o'clock.

Thank you Miracle Blanket.

Now, what do you have for teething?

Quick PS - We still like the Halo swaddle and use it for The Bean's daytime naps, but if I could only use one it would be the Miracle Blanket.
We also didn't get any sort of compensation for this post, but if someone from Miracle Blanket wants to send us another, we won't object. :-)

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.