The Grass is Always Greener

Spoon wishes that he got to do more exciting things like cut into food like a knife, pick up hot things like a fork or work as a pair to pick up exotic foods like chop sticks.  Meanwhile, his friends think that he lives the grand life, scooping, stirring etc and Mama Spoon points out the wonderful aspects of his life, like bathing in a warm cup of tea.

It is a sweet and endearing tale of appreciating your own life for its positives and not dwelling on what others have.  BB was mostly interested in the happy illustrations.

Book for Both Ages

We read a lot, as you can probably already tell, but one of our biggest challenges is finding books with are interesting enough in subject for BB and manage to be short enough and engaging enough to hold LF's attention for the entire book.

We found just that in Orange Pear Apple Bear.  The plot is simple, the words are few but repetitive in a fun way which grabbed the attention of both kids (now nearly 3 and 16 months).  LF is still repeating Apple, Pear, Bear and BB thinks the rhyming and rhythm were hilarious and delights in it each time LF brings it up again.

The illustrations are simple, to the point and enjoyable.

Misbehaving Feet

 If you are up for another alternative princess tale, give The Queen's Feet  a try. This queen is in possession of a pair of feet that simply will not conform to the staid and regimental life of a queen.  She battles them as they dance, squiggle, squirm and kick, until the day when she finally comes up with a solution to please both her royal obligations and the free spirit of her soles.

We all had a good laugh reading this story and to be honest, I don't blame her feet. BB and I agreed that we would want to bust a move too, if we had so many restraints on our lives.

Whimsy, to put it lightly

If you are looking for fun, look no further than The Duchess of Whimsy.  This is a tale of a quirky, elegant and beloved Duchess of Whimsy who barely notices the boring Earl of Norm, who adores her.  Barely noticed him; that is, until one evening when an unexpected turn of events, and a grilled cheese sandwich brings them together in a fortuitous way.

Not only does the moral of the story suggest that you look further and the surface of a person, but it is also refreshing change from the run of the mill princess or romance tale and the illustrations are simultaneously beautiful, unexpected and amusing.

If you are looking for other alternative princess tales, try Princess Hyacinth

Help Tackle New Sibling Jealousy

 Does your little one struggle to share the lime light with a younger sibling. BB does and I think this book is a great way to confront the issue in a fun way.

Smile, Principessa! is the story of a small girl who is adored by her parents and is the center of the photo taking storm that we are all guilty of with our first born.  When Baby Bino (her little brother) comes along and she notices that her father takes more pictures of him she looses her smile.  Sweetly, she rediscovers it by making her brother laugh.

If you have more than one kid you might find this a helpful book.  BB thought Baby Bino was hilarious and likes to recreate the scene at the end of the book.

Simple things in life

 

Maybe I am suffering from a bit of nostalgia, but I have really been enjoying these three books for their simple stories of what seems like a simpler life where baking, gardening and self-sufficiency are important. All three stories are told with fairly plain language and illustrated with simple, yet engaging pictures.

A Garden for a Groundhog is the tale of a farming couple - at face value it is the story of planting a garden for a groundhog, however I think it does a great job of illustrating planning and growing a garden to sustain yourself and other things like weather forecasting and knitting.  I just wanted to curl up in the old couples house, like the cat in the winter scenes, and enjoy their warm house full of yummy foods.  I know, I am a bit odd like that.

This Is the Bread I Baked for Ned is a great rhyming tale of baking bread and preparing food for Ned and surprise visitors.  I enjoyed the picture it painted of a simple inviting house full of fresh baked bread and good food and friends.

Pancakes for Breakfast  I wrote about this one earlier.  This is an older story, published in 1978, but it is a good one for depicting how a person can really bake from scratch.  The main character collects eggs from the chicken coop, milks a cow, churns butter etc.   BB was fascinated by all of this, and has asked for this story over and over again and has even started helping me to narrate it.

Finding Giants

 Do your kids need to rediscover some magic in life? Where Giants Hide is a tale of a little girl who is doubting giants, fairies and all sorts of magically mystical creatures and discovers that the magic was there all along, right in her head.

I don't have much to say about this book other than that I really like the sentiment and I love the fresh illustrations.

More Wordlessness

  I posted earlier about some great "wordless" books and I never thought I would be writing so much on a book blog, where I expound on the wonders of reading to your kids, about books without words.  But I have embarked on a love affair with them lately.  There are just so many wonderful books to choose from, and I am finding that they are helping me to tell stories to my kids and have them help me in the storytelling (ok, not LF - she is a little young to help, but she loves the pictures).

Wonder Bear and Pancakes for Breakfast are our latest favs which we just happened upon at the library in the past two weeks.  I can't get enough of Wonder Bear.  The image shown above doesn't do the illustrations justice.  They are batik illustrations which tell a story of a magic hat which, when planted grows into a magnificent plant, and blooms with bear who takes the children on wondrous adventure.   It is such an imaginative story and such spectacular illustration that I felt like a kids reading it.

Pancakes for Breakfast is a cottagey tale of a woman who wakes up earning for pancakes and tells how she goes about obtaining the ingredients to bake them.  If you loved Strega Nona growing up, you will love this first wordless story by Tomie de Paola.