Bedtime Stories

The chaotic pace of my weekdays is both the reason for my recent lack of posts, and the inspiration for this one.  The days whir by as every moment of the day is scheduled with something, and the routine of it all often makes me desperate for a time-out.  That time for me is bed time.  No, not my bed time....but that of my sweet Little One.  

I know that I should get her used to falling asleep on her own....that I should get things done around the house after she is asleep.....that I should make her go to bed earlier....

BUT, instead, we stay up late reading stories, cuddling, laughing, playing with her stuffed animals....and she always tells me "you're my best friend, mommy!" before she falls asleep.  Come on now, who can resist that?

I've been doing better (and by better I mean not falling asleep in her bed every night, only to wake up at midnight and crawl off to sleep in my own bed, leaving all the chores undone).  But bed time stories are still a staple for my LO who loves to read. 

Here are a few fun books we have enjoyed in the last few months that are all about this special time of the day!

Let's Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy

by Jan Thomas

  
This is a fun story to read if you're one for theatrics -- the bulk of the story is a "brave" cowboy singing his faithful herd to sleep....with a few moments of hysteria here and there!  Fun to both croon in your best cowboy drawl, and squeal with the most fearful delight, your little one is sure to enjoy your own creative telling of the story!  On top of it all, it is a cute story that hints at overcoming fears (espeically in the dark), becoming confident but not OVER confident, and to not judge a book by its cover.  Listed on the 2013 Texas 2x2 reading list.

Sleep Like a Tiger

by Mary Logue, Pamela Zagarenski (Illustrations)

 

Such a sweet and beautiful book - perfect for bed time!  I love children's books that are poetic but still great at storytelling...what a great way to introduce children to the beauty of poetry while still holding their interest with plot lines.  In this story, a little girl does not want to go to sleep (which I'm sure is about the most common theme in bedtime routines around the world).  Her parents, wisely, tell her that she doe not need to sleep, but that she should get ready for bed.  As she gets ready for bed, they talk about how all the animals in the world sleep.  The beautiful pictures perfectly illustrate the creative text, and ultimately the little girl falls asleep in her bed, just like all the animals that she has been imagining.  This book won a 2013 Caldecott Honor Award.

The Stuffed Animals Get Ready for Bed

by Alison Inches, Bryan Langdo (Illustrations)

 

One of the most elaborate parts of our bedtime routine is putting all of the animals to bed, and choosing which ones will join LO in her bed each night.  Sometimes it can be maddening, the sheer number of small imaginary creatures that my daughter feels obligated to care for (we have to put a blanket over a small bunny-shaped puzzle piece, because lately this puzzle piece has become her best friend, lovingly named "Bunny Shape.")  These creative ways in which my daughter procrastinates getting into bed are frustrating at times, but also adorable and caring in nature. 

Kids seem naturally attached to their toys, and this book is all about getting the animals ready for bed.  The text is clunky at times, and rather goofy, but this book clearly speaks volumes to my LO who loves her animals, and she asks to read it often.  I keep telling myself that there will come a day when I miss my LO kissing all of her toys before bed every night.......for now, we patiently wait for everyone to be tucked in!

Night Lights

by Susan Gal
 
This is a nice night story that is simple at face value, but offers lots of opportunity for discussion.  Each page has only a simple statement about the source of light in the picture, and the pictures show common evening and bed time activities starring a little girl and her dog.  From camp fires to street lights to fire flies to the moon, we are invited into the glowing darkness of night lights.  

As you read the story, you can discuss the pictures with your child:  what do you see?  where is the light coming from?  what is the girl doing? do you remember the last time we did that?  We also make sure to talk about where the lights in her room are at bedtime - there is your night light, there is the light from your clock, there is the light from the lamp outside your window, there is the light from the hall.  I have never noticed LO to be afraid of the dark yet, but I can imagine that this book would be very helpful in discussing light and dark with a child that has fears during the night. Listed on the 2010 Texas 2x2 list.

  

For Love of Libraries

After 4+ weeks of packing, shipping, saying goodbye, and unpacking....we have finally (mostly) settled into our new home.  It has been a grueling process, but such a relief to finally be (mostly) done!  Through all the stress and the endless mountain of boxes that need unpacked, I have tried to make room for plenty of time to explore and spend quality time with my sweet Little One.  We have made it to the zoo, a theme park, the science center.....and of course, to the Library!  

Our first family trip to the library in our new home was probably my favorite and most hopeful activity so far.  First off, the branch closest to our house is HUGE compared to our local branch back home, and it has an ENTIRE FLOOR dedicated to the kids section!  This means that when I  "SHHHH-ed" sweet LO when she first squealed in delight at all the lovely books, the librarian actually looked at me and said, "it's OK - we love it when they're excited!  She doesn't need to be quiet here!"  Not only can she laugh, run and read carefree in this book wonderland, it is also extremely well-stocked with books and toys/activities alike, which means that trips to the library will likely be frequent and highly anticipated in the years to come.  Finally, the most wonderful and coincidental thing happened on our inaugural trip to the library:  LO and I made new friends!  It reminded me so much of first meeting some of our dearest mom/tot friends back home, and it gave me great hope for the future:  a future of continued reading, a future of exciting new adventures, and a future of meeting new friends.  Oh, do I ever love libraries!!

In honor of our exceptional outing, here are some books about libraries that LO and I enjoy!

Lola At The Library 

by Anna McQuinn

 

Lola wakes up early and excited on library day, and walks the readers through her ritual of collecting up her books from the previous week, finding her library card, returning the old books, picking out the new, and all the while enjoying the adventure with her mom.  When I read this book to LO, she identifies so much with the story that she insists that it is about her.... not Lola.  "Don't say 'Lola'....that's me!" she squeals as I read the simple and sweet text about Lola's day.  Not only do I love it that LO shares Lola's enthusiasm for library outings with mommy, it also touches me that my little girl has no comprehension that she and Lola look any different - to her, they are simply the same little girls because they both love libraries. 

 

 When the Library Lights Go Out

by Megan McDonald, Katherine Tillotson (Illustrator)

  

This is a cute (albeit long) story about a pair of library hand puppets that go on an after-hours adventure to find one of their friends "when the library lights go out."  The story is very imaginative, a la "Toy Story,"  and I know that LO likes to imagine that her animals come alive at night.  There are many clever plot devices that are hidden in the dialog-heavy text, which gives the reader the opportunity to pause on every page or two to discuss.  Since there is a lot of dialog between the two friends,  it forces kids to pay attention to understand who is saying what (it also gives the reader the opportunity to practice their voice acting if they wish!). As if libraries weren't magical enough during the day, this book opens up the whole world of possibilities as to their magic at night! 

Library Lion

by Michelle Knudsen (Author), Kevin Hawkes (Illustrator)

 

This book is cherished among our personal collection and it was one of the first picture books that I started reading aloud to LO.  A Lion wanders into a library one day, and enjoys it just as much as the kids.  The Library Lion is allowed to stay, as long as he follows the rules, and he becomes a cherished volunteer and storytime attendee.  One day, Library Lion gets mixed up in a misunderstanding, and the lines between helping a friend and following the rules are blurred.  I love this story on so many levels - it is creative and captivating, but also relays a great moral tale about how sometimes you have to break the rules in order to do the right thing. 

 

Storybooks Can Teach School Readiness Skills!

I'm a firm believer that kids learn best by experiencing the world, which is why Little One and I treat every outing (from museums to gardens to shopping at Sam's Club) like an adventure worth great excitement and discussion.   And while I certainly don't read to my LO every day because I hope that she will read by age 3 and graduate from medical school when she's 15 (trust me, there's some genius out there who has done that!)..... I do value the future academic skills that a love for reading will hopefully foster in LO!

Here are a couple of particularly well-done books that LO adores for their humor and fun readability, and that I adore for the clever way that they teach important early-learning skills.

Big, Bigger, Biggest! by Nancy Coffelt

 

This book is amazing.  It teaches early quantitative skills by introducing the concepts of comparisons (for those grammatical purists out there, it is the concept of the adjective/comparative/superlative...).  We go through "Big...," "Small....," "Fast...," etc (including LO's favorite, "Slimy....").  Each concept has an accompanying animal, helping the child to conceptualize the relationships being described.  This alone is great.  Some of the comparisons can be played out using toys (Big/Small in particular).  This is a concept that we all work to teach our toddlers/preschoolers, and the book does a great job.

BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!  For every page, there is also three synonyms, making this book Baby's First Thesaurus.  No kidding, my LO loves this book so much that she may be one of the only toddlers on the planet that knows the word "Lackadaisical."  She knows how to say it, and she knows that it means "slowest" (OK, not exactly a GRE-worthy definition, but it'll do for a two year old!).  Of course, not all the presented synonyms are quite as impressive....."pooped" is offered for "sleepiest," which is especially hilarious to a toddler in the throes of potty training.  But overall, this book has really been a great springboard for both language and quantitative learning.  And LO asks for it every day!

 

Up, Tall and High by Ethan Long

 

This book is really three silly stories in one.  The book is fun to read, with silly birds in silly scenarios, and several lift-the-flap surprises along the way.  It also does a good job of illustrating the differences between concepts that young children often get confused.  The birds go through a variety of scenarios in which they show that they may be up, but they aren't tall....they may not be tall but that doesn't mean they are small.... and what does it mean to be up or down?  Since we started reading this book, I have noticed that LO asks about whether we are up or down, and if things are tall or small.  The framework of the story has clearly taught her to ponder these concepts....all in a silly story!

Mother Love

The worst part about our impending move is that my family is not together.  My husband is in one place, my precious Little One is somewhere else, and I am holding down the fort here at home base, tying up loose ends.  In keeping with the theme of my previous post, I am very thankful to all our friends and family who are making this transitional time possible for us.  But I miss my family!  I have never been away from her for this long, and I look forward to her sweet hugs and her silly kisses soon.

Some of my favorite books to read to my sweet LO are about that pure love between a parent and their baby.  LO must pick up on the love that oozes from these stories, because she loves to read them with me.  Here are some of my favorites, for the kinds of love that they demonstrate so well:

 

All of Baby, Nose to Toes by Victoria Adler, Hiroe Nakata

 

Adoring love: This book is very simple and suitable to read aloud with an infant or young toddler.  But it is perfect in its simplicity, and LO loves it still!  Each "verse" describes what there is to love about one of baby's body parts, so it's a good way to teach eyes, ears, nose, arms, tummy, legs, etc.  The text has a great rhythmic beat, and LO doesn't quite know all the "verses," but she knows the cadence and sometimes when I am telling her that I love her, she will respond to the "tune" of this story.  The baby in this story is loved and adored by a family and pets alike.  "Who loves baby?  ME!  I do!"  When we originally checked out this book, I thought it was too young.  It has turned into an every day read!

Pouch! by David Ezra Stein

 
Supportive love:  The mother love in this story is not front and center, but more behind the scenes.  I include it in this post because it is a reminder to me that one of the things that loving parents must do is to encourage independence and growth.  Joey the baby Kangaroo has a hard time leaving his mother's safe, warm pouch.  He hops further and further away with each attempt (giving the reader an opportunity to practice counting with their audience), but it takes him awhile to feel safe enough that he doesn't have to return.   This book is very fun to read with a child, and LO always giggles when we scream "POOOOOUUUUUUCH!" A great lesson that mother will always be there for support as you become more confident and learn to explore the world.

Little Mist  by Angela McAllister, Sarah Fox-Davies

Inspiring love:  Little Mist is a beautiful baby snow leopard who has never left his mothers lair.  The story is of the mother leopard showing Little Mist his beautiful mountain kingdom, and telling him all the amazing things that he will do, see and become as he grows up.  The book is absolutely gorgeous, and perfect for kids that like animals (especially mommy and baby animals).  LO picked this book up off the floor in the library and wouldn't put it down, so I checked it out without knowing anything about it.  I am so glad that Little Mist found its way to our home!  It is a beautiful and very touching story about a mother's hopes and dreams for her baby.

Meet Me at the Moon by Gianna Marino

 

Persistent love: This story is the origin of my Little One's pet name, for Little One and Mama the elephant have a special place in our reading adventures together.  Like "Little Mist" above, this book is perfect for the animal lover, with gorgeous illustrations of beautiful creatures.  Unlike "Little Mist," Mama must leave LO in this tale, making it especially poignant for me right now while I am separated from my own LO.  I love this book because it teaches that parents come back, and that they love their babies from afar.  Mama tells LO, "You are in my most secret heart."  I say to my baby:  Mommy's always come back!  I will see you soon, and I love you so much!!

Being Thankful

My break from writing here has certainly not been due to a lack of great reading adventures, but more due to the addition of new adventures in the real world.  While my sweet Little One and I have continued to read great books for the last three months, we have also been consumed with preparations to leave our home and to explore another.  Our real life "moving adventure" will be a mix of the excitement of a new place and a return to the familiar, since we will be closer to family and our hometown.

Every move is challenging, and this one is particularly bittersweet.  This place was my first great adventure with my husband - we lived, learned and loved here for eight years.  We have wonderful friends here..... we bought and cared for our first home together here.  Most bittersweet of all, our LO first explored the world here, and it is hard to drive down a street without remembering something cute that she said or did in that place.

But for all the sadness surrounding this move, there are still many things to be thankful for.  I am thankful for the opportunities that my family had here, and I am thankful for the opportunities that have and will present themselves in our new home.  I am thankful for the great friends that we have made, and thankful for the opportunity to keep in touch with many of them through this blog.  And I am thankful for a curious and adventurous LO, who I know will grow and flourish anywhere that we go.

Here are some books that I have shared with LO about being thankful.  What a great life lesson and habit to teach every adventurous mind!

Gracias/Thanks by Pat Mora, John Parra

The perfect book about thankfulness for my Texan baby!  The bilingual storyteller shares his thoughtful sentiments in both English and Spanish.  He expresses thankfulness for the mundane and the profound, with humor and insight.  His expressions of gratitude are a great reminder for adults to see the world through a child's eyes....and they are great examples for children, to show them what thankfulness means.  If you are not comfortable reading in Spanish, you can certainly enjoy the book by reading English only.  As someone who studied Spanish for a long time, I enjoy reading both languages - it stretches my mind to enunciate and pronounce correctly, as well as refreshing my memory of vocabulary and grammar (in fact, this excellent book has made me seek other bilingual story books to read aloud so that I can continue to practice!)

The Thankful Book by Todd Parr

This book became a part of our permanent collection last year for Thanksgiving, and it is has become a year-round favorite.  Reading this book before bed has become a great point for which LO and I talk about the things in her life that she is thankful for.  While it still takes a lot of prompting from me at this point, I think that she is slowly putting together the concept of how she should feel thankful for the things that she loves, the people who love her, and the wonderful life that she has.  I am thankful for this book, because it has provided a colorful and poetic way to teach thankfulness to my young child!

Silly Hats

LO is just finally getting into the concept of dress-up, which is truly an area for an adventurous mind to shine.  Of course, having an impeccable dress-up wardrobe of princess dresses and chef's outfits is fun for a kid....but I think that watching kids create their own dress-up outfits using their imagination is even better.  Lately, LO has been wrapping herself in our big, fluffy blankets on the couch and exclaiming, "Look at my princess dress!"  In her mind, swimming in large swaths of fluffy fabric makes her a princess, whether it is sparkly and looks like Cinderella or not.....and I love that.  Hats do the same magic trick - a good hat can help you imagine that you are anything!

Here are some books about hats that we have been reading lately.  One is a classic that I remember from my childhood, and the other two are classics-to-be with some dark and edgy humor that still goes over great with the kiddos.

Caps for Sale

by Esphyr Slobodkina

 

A peddler sells hats that he wears stacked high on his head, and a tree full of monkeys takes his hats while he rests one afternoon.  Ridiculous?  Yes.  But very effective story telling!  Everything about this book is wonderful for a read-aloud, which is probably why it is still so popular.  I remember loving this book when it was on Reading Rainbow when I was young, and my LO has loved it since it was given to her for her first birthday.  "Caps!  Caps for Sale! Fifty Cents a Caaaaaa-aaap!"  She shouts this sometimes, whimsically and randomly, when she is playing with her toys.  I delight to think about what she is imagining:  is she imagining balancing dozens of hats on her head?  Is she imagining battling a tree full of monkeys?  I will probably never know, but I do know that the book has made a positive impression on her, and for that I am grateful.  

I Want My Hat Back

by Jon Klassen

 

This book is wildly popular, very funny, yet also morally challenging.  The first time I read it, I was literally at a loss for words:  did that really just happen!?!   Basically, a bear has lost his hat.  He is very sad.  He asks many creatures if they have seen it.  They all say no......but one of them is lying.  In the process of looking for his hat, Bear is polite, helps out some friends, and becomes more distressed about losing his beloved hat.  You really empathize with this bear!  When he finally realizes that he knows where his hat is, a darker bear emerges...and this is where things get tricky.  I have read many parent reviewers that say this book is appalling and inappropriate for young children, because it teaches revenge and violence (even though it is only subtly implied at the end).  My first take on the book was not that it was vengeful and violent, but that it was trying to illustrate the concept of lying: there are two lies told in this tale and they are the only passages that follow a different pattern and tone than the rest of the story.  While I am certain that these intricacies of plot are lost on young children, it does give the reader the opportunity to discuss more complicated moral concepts through a relatable tale.  And the book is a hoot to read in the process. 

This is Not My Hat

by Jon Klassen

 

 This is the companion piece to the above Klassen "Hat," and the winner of the most recent Caldecott Award for best picture book.  It is equally as popular, funny, and challenging as its predecessor.  The premise is very similar, but told from a different perspective: we are now identifying with the hat thief, who is hopelessly trying to evade the hat owner from whom he just stole.  The ending of this book is equal parts vague and horrifying, and the tale offers chances to explore the issue of stealing and remorse.  The best part about this book is how perfectly the illustrations tell the story:  just a simple change in the direction that eyes are looking conveys the plot perfectly, and gives the reader the opportunity to ask the listener what they think the characters are feeling/thinking before reading the text.  LO really enjoys this hat book, questionable ending and all.

 

Baby's Best Friend: Stuffed Animal Pals

I am always astounded to watch my sweet Little One and her friends play with stuffed animals....what an amazing example of a budding imaginative mind!  These stuffed, soft friends are there for everything, from learning to potty, to being scared of the dark, to having tea parties.  Children seem to project all of their feelings - imagination, fear, joy - onto their stuffed buds.  Is it any wonder that they love books about them, too?

This is in no way a comprehensive list of great stories about stuffed animals and the great place that they hold in your child's adventurous mind.  It is just a list of books that we have read in the last few months that have made my LO smile.  I hope that you will enjoy them, too!

Where's My Teddy?

by Jez Alborough 

 

This book incorporates so many great toddler ideas:  big vs. small, scary situations vs comfortable situations, great rhyming text, and of course, the favorite teddy bear.  Our version of this book is a board book, and I'm not sure it it is abridged (as many are), but this has been a favorite.  My LO asks to read about "Eddie and his Teddy," as they embark through the scary, dark forest to reunite. 

 

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale 

by Mo Willems

  

Knuffle Bunny has become a standard frame of reference in our household.  When LO is throwing a fit, I tell her that she's "going boneless" like Trixie.  When we are just being silly and laughing, LO says "AGGLE FLABBLE KLABBLE!" and we all have a good laugh.  In short, we adore this series...especially the first book.

Apparently, the author of this book is writing about his own child, Trixie.  Since I'm not really a children's literary expert, I had no idea, until we checked out a video of the first Knuffle Bunny and I saw that it was narrated by Mo and Trixie Willems.  Long after Knuffle Bunny 1 became a beloved classic in our tiny family, we checked out the following two volumes, and the epilogue at the end of book three brought tears to my eyes.  These are books about the love of parents for their daughter, and the love of the daughter for her stuffed rabbit, and how these great loves shape great lives.  The stories are simple, but their simplicity and humor is what makes them so great.  I cannot recommend them highly enough.
 

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity

by Mo Willems

  

Book 2 of Knuffle Bunny has Trixie grown up, going to Preschool, and learning more about friendship.  This is a sweet tale, and answers the great question:  is it pronounced Kuh-nuffle Bunny, or Nuffle Bunny?

(We always say "Nuffle Bunny" around here...)

Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion 

by Mo Willems

 

Book 3 is every bit as bittersweet to me as the end of Toy Story 3 (though Trixie isn't quite college-aged yet in the story.....and like I said before, the epilogue is killer).  I think this is by far the least favorite of LO, probably because she can't really comprehend the selfless act of giving away yet, but she is always really upset when Knuffle Bunny goes missing on a plane and is elated when said Bunny is found again.  Since Trixie and K-Bun are family favorites at this point, I am interested to see how her comprehension of the latter books evolves over time.

I Must Have Bobo!

by Eileen Rosenthal, Marc Rosenthal

 

Bobo is a sock monkey.  Earl is the cat that likes to capture Bobo.  These funny little books are essentially about a boy who loves Bobo, and his eternal consternation that his cat loves Bobo, too.  The stories are silly and it is slightly irritating to me that the boy dislikes his pet so much...but at the same time it makes perfect sense to me:  we have three furry animals with free reign of our house, and sweet LO loves them all....but like any good "sibling" rivalry, they certainly have their moments.  Let's just say that LO has no problem telling the animals off when she doesn't approve of whatever they are doing.  And that is probably why she cackles with delight.... "Oh, Earl!!!"

I'll Save You Bobo! 

by Eileen Rosenthal, Marc Rosenthal

The adventures of Bobo and Earl continue in a couch-fort safari.  A fun sequel in the same spirit as the original.