What We Are Reading Lately...

Our trip to the library provided the opportunity to borrow two brand new books! I just love brand new books - never touched and crisp and clean....




Puppies and Piggies - C. Rylant
a new picture book from Cynthia Rylant for the youngest of readers . I really like the rhyme and how the story takes us around the farm to meet various baby animals. Adorable illustrations - the twins love it.




The Tushy Book - F. Manushkin
one of my new favorite picture books. This is our second time borrowing it from the library because my twins were asking for it. It's all about tushies and it even has a website here.



I Took My Frog to The Library - E. Kimmel
this is one of my favorites from my school library days. Some of the story situations are out dated...card catalog anyone?, but the animals taking over the library made my kids smile and ask for it to be read again.

A Cuddle for Little Duck - C. Freedman
a new board book about a little duck's day. Cute rhyme and cute pictures. Great bedtime read.

Maisy Dresses Up - L. Cousins
Maisy gets read a lot in our house - this is a cute story about Maisy going to a costume party. Did I mention the twins love Maisy? We have our own Maisy Dolls. We have a Maisy playset. We even have a Maisy game. Maisy books are perfect for 2 year olds...and even for 3 year olds...not sure how long this fascination will last.

Anyone else have a child fascinated with a book character ???

Revisiting Arthur and DW

I was looking for some new characters to introduce to the twins and I found the "B" shelf at the library...and there was books by Marc Brown.

I remember how popular Arthur books by Marc Brown were in the 80's and 90's. I even remember reading Arthur's Eyes and watching it being featured on Reading Rainbow. There is also a great Arthur TV series on PBS Kids. I find the original stories early in the series to be the best written ones. I think my two favorite read alouds are Arthur's Valentine and Arthur's Halloween.

It is also fun to see how Arthur's sister DW (Dora Winifred - for those in the know) has evolved into her own book series. The twins have read two DW books...DW Flips and DW's Lost Blankie. The DW books are shorter and an easier to follow for the youngest readers.

What should my next Arthur or DW book be? Any other favorites?

Scholastic Warehouse Sale up to 80% off

Yesterday we went to a Scholastic Warehouse Sale at our nearest Scholastic Book Fair Headquarters in CT. To find one in your area - just type in your zip code or select your state. I recommend signing up for a Fast Pass and it even comes with a coupon. I used to work in a school district as a school librarian, but I am currently home with my kids. There is nobody checking if you are a current employee or not. If you are currently working for a school you can use a tax exempt form for even more savings. We found many titles we were looking for at the sale - we saved mostly 50% off the cover price although newer titles were only 25% off.

We found for the twins library :

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy

Scaredy Squirrel

KnuffleBunny Too

No David!

and a cute Dr. Seuss ABC card game

For Mommy:

The Willoughbys and The Last Lecture

We also found various stuffed animals, pencils and gift items.

A great way to find popular books at great savings!

What We Are Reading Lately...

We have visited the library a lot this past week with all of the rain. We selected a variety of books to read.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat - L. Colandro
a variation on There Was an Old Lady... cute for Halloween, but the rhyming is very awkward - the twins like it.

Ten in the Den - J. Butler
a version of the song Ten in the Bed/Roll Over - this is really cute - my daughter loves it. Great to read after reading or singing the original book or song.

Are You Ready to Play Outside? - M. Willems
this is our first book we have read in the Elephant and Piggie series. Just as cute as Mo's picture books - we will be checking out more soon. The twins love it.

Duck at the Door - J. Urbanovic
we read Duck Soup first by mistake, but this is the first book with Duck and Brody and friends. I like it much better and so do the twins. They like reading while holding the Max duck from Kohl's.

Maisy at the Library - L. Cousins
Big big Maisy fans in this house. We like these newer Maisy books - especially when she visits our favorite place. We also love visiting the Maisy Fun House website.

One Duck Stuck - P. Root
this is a book I have seen on many lists for toddlers and we finally read it. The twins love repeating the "I Will I Will" phrase. Cute read aloud.

Eileen Christelow and those monkeys!

We are big fans of the Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow. The illustrations are so much fun and I don't know what mom doesn't relate to the last page. I went to the library and picked up a few more Five Little Monkeys books...

Five Little Monkeys Sitting in A Tree - almost as much fun as jumping on the bed - great for storytime and can easily be made into a finger play or felt board. The twins loved saying "snap" for the Mr. Crocodile.

Five Little Monkeys Bake A Cake - cute and fun but not my favorite - not the twins favorite either.

Five Little Monkeys With Nothing to Do - this is a better story - the twins love when they get dirty all over again. I find the illustrations are more fun to look at than the actual story.

We seem to have a few more Five Little Monkeys books to get... Five Little Monkeys Wash The Car, Five Little Monkeys Go Shopping and Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek.

I really like Eileen Christelow's website. There are great additional activities for the classroom and information on all on her books.

What We Are Reading This Week....

This week's trip to the library included:

Time to Pee! by Mo Willems
we are going to be potty training soon - this was a fun if not sophisticated potty book
Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard
our favorite new book - love using my grumpy voice!
Move by Jenkins/Page
I like Steve Jenkins' illustrations - this was simple and quick, but not so much fun for the twins.
Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins
a Lucy Cousins book without Maisy! We like the fun fishy pictures.
Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic
Went to Kohl's and bought the plush doll so we had to read the book - it's an ok story, but a bit much for 3 year olds.