Magical Intertubes

Loyal readers will no doubt recall last week's library list entry into which I inserted a video of Elise reading, reading I tell you, a story from one of her library books.

What an amazing surprise to then see a comment from the author of that very book added to the post! As it happens, she's written a few more of these great books for beginning readers, and she sent them along to encourage Elise to keep up the good work. I don't even have to ask you, "How cool is THAT?!" because by now you, dear reader, have already posed the question to yourself with a wondering shake of the head.

The thing of it is, a kind and thoughtful author will indeed interact with readers. The internet, though, makes this sort of connection a lot less complicated, a lot more fun and a wonderful surprise. How many authors have called you up lately to say, "I noticed that you've bought my latest book in paperback and rumor is that you enjoyed it. Allow me to send you more of my work, it would be my pleasure?" Exactly.

It turns out, we were already fans of Catherine Friend before we ever met Eddie. The Perfect Nest was a hands-down favorite choice on one of those weeks when I slacked on the library list. Go figure. It takes a pretty clever cat to make a perfect nest, and I like baby chicks even though they're not that bright. If you want to know more, I recommend reading the book.

I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Catherine Friend for her excellent writing, and for going out of her way to encourage a very excited new reader. Thank you!

We Have a Reader

This week's big news is that Elise is starting to read. She was hinting at it by Sunday, and now she's working on reading just about everything in sight. It's wonderful! Not a lot of new things to choose from as we picked a few old favorites, but we have a few new favorites to share.

This week's reading material:

Lilly's Big Day
by Kevin Henkes
We were so excited to see this book at the library, because Grandpa Karl had just sent Elise Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse in the mail. We like Lily. I like Henkes in general because he creates characters that my kiddo really "gets." In this story, Lilly wants nothing more than to be the flower girl in the wedding of her favorite teacher. Things don't work out quite as she'd hoped, but they go pretty well. Dealing with disappointed expectations is a real problem for our girl, and she was mostly stressed out about Lilly's predicament. It got her thinking that life can potentially go on after a disappointment, though.

What Dads Can't Do
by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Doug Cushman
This is pretty much like What Moms Can't Do, a favorite of mine. I think Elise finds the humor in these a little strange, but I like 'em. The kids in these stories spend time "helping" their parents and reach some rather typical conclusions about what they can and can't do. A good one, just in time for Father's Day.

Last but not least:

Eddie the Raccoon
by Catherine Friend, illustrated by Wong Herbert Yee
This is the book that Elise has been enjoying reading. She and Andy worked on it together on Sunday before he had to catch a plane, and it's been a favorite of everyone here ever since. It's from a series called Brand New Readers. I like that it has a kid-friendly table of contents. Each of the stories in the book has an "introduction" which basically sums up the plot and gives the observant young reader some clues as to what some of the words in the story might be. I remember seeing a few more of these on the shelf, and you can bet we'll be checking them out.

In case you were wondering what one of these Eddie stories sounds like, Elise has provided the following dramatic reading. Enjoy!


We'll add more of these as they become available.

We've Been Reading

Observant readers will note that I never quite got around to posting a list of our library book choices last week. They were largely uninspired, so I don't feel like you've missed out too much. This week's notables include:

Big Smelly Bear
by Britta Teckentrup
I picked up this book for entirely selfish reasons. I get sick of fighting with Elise over the bathing habits (specifically lack thereof) of her three omnipresent stuffed animals. I've been met with wild tantrums when I use a direct approach, and find it just annoying enough that I thought I'd try being subversive. I did not once mention how stinky Teri was this week, and I like to think that this book planted the seeds of a tantrum free bath for the critters yesterday. It's a nice hygiene reminder.

A Promise Is a Promise
by Florence Parry Heide, illustrated by Tony Auth
George is a borderline spoiled little boy who decides he wants a pet. I like the mom's response-it seems tongue-in-cheek to me. The kid does a good job of looking around for annoying pets. The real lesson here seems to be for parents to not make promises to their smart kids.

A Snout for Chocolate
by Denys Cazet
We read the first of these "Grandpa Spanielson's Chicken Pox Stories" last week, and just had to read the next one this time around. We love the grandpa-kinda reminds me of Grandpa Karl. This author writes a lot of books for young readers, and I like his style. We'll be perusing his other titles for more gems.

Supermom
by Mick Manning, illustrated by Brita Granström
Elise chose this one, and it was the first one she wanted me to read when we got home. I've only read it to her once, but I've been called a supermom at various times all week. Elise really likes looking at the animal moms doing the same kinds of things to take care of their babies that I do to take care of her. I like that it shows a human mom breastfeeding because it might just get Elise used to the idea that this is a normal human behavior. At the very least, it might spare me from a very loud, public exclamation of, "Mommy, what is that lady DOING?!!!"

Angelina and the Rag Doll
adapted by Katharine Holabird, based on illustrations of Helen Craig
We've just discovered Angelina in a big way. I don't think Elise has any designs on being a ballerina, but she sure likes the adventures Angelina has. This one is a great introduction to giving and charity. It's really getting Elise thinking about ownership and sharing. This story was a great way for her to address the sadness of inadvertently giving up something important and measure it against the value of giving joy and comfort to someone else.

Lily Takes a Walk
by Satoshi Kitamura
This book's illustrations are just weird enough to unsettle me, but I like it. Lily goes about her business while her dog accompanies her on a walk. The dog sees more and more outrageous monsters that terrify him, while Lily sees none of it. I like to think that Nicky the dog does all of the worrying so that Lily doesn't have to. I need to see if this author has other books, because I love this one.

And I even checked out some stuff!

Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter
written/compiled by Alison Hansel
This was just too good to pass up. I made my own Harry Potter scarf shortly after the first movie came out, and always wanted to make a sweater like the one that Harry got so mangled at the end of that movie. This book doesn't show anything spectacular (in my opinion) but it has stuff for knitters of all levels and the stuff is really cute. If you're looking for some basic sweater patterns, this book has some nice ones. I want to use up some of my scrap yarn making owls.

What Shamu Taught Me About Life Love and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers
by Amy Sutherland
I heard this author on Talk of the Nation, and wanted to read the book. I'm glad I got it at the library, because I wouldn't buy it. The idea is fantastic. The execution is mediocre. I was looking forward to some animal training stories, but instead got a whole lot of snarky commentary about the author's husband. And some imprecise writing. Members of her family are not "subspecies," and "ATM machine" is redundant. It's not bad, just not the standard of writing I'm used to reading. The one thing it did do was encourage me to get out my bird behavior books again. Beaker is going to be treated to a fun makeover in the next several months.

Owls in the Family

Once again, I've dithered about and not been able to come up with a thorough account of our week's best library picks. However, I'd like to mention our inter-library loan score!

I haven't read a lot of Farley Mowat's stuff, but what I have read I have loved. I think Elise will eventually love The Dog Who Wouldn't Be, for example. For now, though, I thought that Owls in the Family would be perfect.

We started reading, and Elise was bored by the first chapter. It's a lot of introduction to the plains of Saskatchewan as seen through the eyes of adventuresome boys. Her attention wasn't really caught until baby owls entered the picture, and then she was really distressed by dead ones.

(Elise is obsessed with death these days-really trying to figure it out. We've been reading and talking and I'm mostly sure that we should keep talking until she gets bored of the topic. Anybody with insights please feel free to comment on this entry or mail me privately.)

The absolute best part of our reading experience was when Elise realized that Wol and Weeps had become friends. You'd be hard pressed to see a girl more enamored of a story and its possibilities. They're friends! They stay together and play together! Beautiful. She also really liked hearing about Wol sneaking up on Mutt, though I could tell that she had some reservations about an owl picking on a "helpless" dog.

The stories in this book were fun to share, and I think we'll enjoy reading them again when she's older. In the mean time, she's welcomed a new enthusiasm to her repertoire. When Elise and Andy went to a nature center this weekend, they saw an owl and Elise was enamored. "I've never seen an owl in person!" Of course she has, but before we read Owls in the Family she hadn't really noticed.

Ah, Books

Two weeks of library favorites summed up right here...

Where Did That Baby Come From?
by Debi Gliori
It's hard to be a big tiger when a baby tiger joins the household. After a lot of speculation as to the cub's origins, the older one concludes that it's probably an earthling like the rest of us. I wasn't too fond of this one, really, but Elise seemed to love it.

Billy Tibbles Moves Out!
by Jan Fearnley
Billy does not want to share his own private bedroom with his baby brother. Parents insist and do a lot of talking about everyone sharing. The kittens "share" alright, and we get to giggle at the grumpy daddy when he gets exactly what he says he wants.

One of Each
by Mary Ann Hoberman, Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Oliver Tolliver is a pretty clever dog and clearly very good at keeping a well-ordered house. It takes a cat to inject some constructive criticism and give him a chance to shine. I love the way this is written-the rhythm and rhyme scheme are just fantastic and a joy to read aloud.

I Like Things
by Margaret Hillert, Illustrated by Lois Axeman
We like collecting things here, and so does the kid in this book. It's in with the easy-reader books because the words are simple and the vocabulary is small. Maybe that's the biggest part of its charm. Elise and I learned all kinds of new ways to categorize and play with some of the things she likes to collect.

Beetle Bop
by Denise Fleming
Elise really, really likes bugs. They're fun to watch and play with. So, seeing lots of bright, colorful beetles in a book is right up her alley. Reading this gave me the idea to get some ladybugs to try to cull the aphid population that is currently making our sidewalk sticky and our trees look sickly.

Silent Kay and the Dragon
by Larry Dane Brimner, illustrated by Bob McMahon
I absolutely loved this book. It's from the "A Rookie Reader" series, and just very well done. Kay is a young (female!) knight who goes to slay a dragon, and the adventure revolves around words in which the k is silent. Brilliant. I'm going to look for more of these-they're hilarious!

How Many Fish?
by Caron Lee Cohen, illustrated by S.D. Schindler
Elise picked this one up in response to our recent trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and spent the week enjoying counting the fish. I think I got to read it to her once, and the rest of the time she "read" it to herself.

Wake Up, Big Barn!
by Suzanne Tanner Chitwood
This was one of the librarian's selections for storytime, and Elise loved it. The illustrations are interesting and lovely, but I have to say I didn't get much out of the words. Pretty book, though.

Let's Talk About Feeling Sad
by Joy Berry
We've been having some anxiety and worry issues around here, so when I saw this on the shelf I grabbed it. Not a real expert on talking about feelings, I've been looking for a way to get Elise engaged in a dialogue, and this was it. We both really enjoyed reading (and rereading) this book, and if I can't find the rest of the series at the library I'm tempted to buy them.

A Summery Saturday Morning
by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Selina Young
A nicely done rhythmic, rhyming story about a family's adventures on a summer morning. I totally want to go along with them.

Library List Hiatus

Loyal readers may have noticed that I didn't get a library book review up last week. We got busy. And we didn't pick too many winners. The good ones we did find, we kept for another week and you'll get to read all about them this Thursday.

Booksbooksbooks

We didn't get particularly excited about our library selections this week. Silly us-we used turn off the TV week to get out and do stuff rather than read our books. Not sure I get how we read more when we also watch some TV, but maybe it just takes practice to get new routines right.

We've been delving deep into our library's collection of cat related books. Hang in there through all of the cats and we'll get to books at the end.

Telling Time with Big Mama Cat
by Dan Harper, Illustrated by Barry & Cara Moser
Elise has been paying close attention to the clocks at school to figure out what's happening next in her day, so I thought it was time to bring on a little encouragement. I like this book because, unlike other books with clock faces and hands, it's well constructed. Little fingers can actually manipulate the hands. The cat keeps her schedule and mostly does so on an hourly basis, but throws in some opportunities for minute hand usage. Elise likes that the cat has a schedule and jobs to do around the house. We're using her newfound clock knowledge/interest to help with fear of the dark. She now has a super quiet clock with a lighted dial right next to her bed so she has some idea of how long it is until morning.

Copycat
by Ruth Brown
In spite of a kind of sparse story and an abrupt complication that is only sort of resolved, this book was a big hit. Each of the pages has a half page between, and when you flip the half page the scene changes and the kitties do other things. Pretty ingenious, really. And the illustrations are just beautiful.

Nobody Asked Me!
by Steve Henry
When you're an older cat and the people bring home a kitten, it's tough. The little buggers are so energetic that it can be annoying. Luckily for Tiger, Bo settles into his big brother role pretty well. I think this one would be good in a couple of different situations. For a kid who identifies with critters better than people it's a great way to talk about a new baby in the house. For a kid who's cat crazed, it's a good reminder that cats have feelings, and I've watched Elise pretend to be both cats in this story to explore the feelings involved. A winner!

Tell-A-Bunny
by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
Elise picked this one randomly from the shelf, largely based on the illustrations on the cover. We both really liked the shiny, high gloss pictures inside. The concept of a game of telephone being played by bunnies was a little beyond Elise, but it was sweetly done and I don't think she's permanently distressed by the fact that bunnies can't be trusted to pay attention to instructions over the telephone.

D.W.'s Guide to Preschool
by Marc Brown
We checked this one out awhile back as part of our Prepare for Preschool Pogrom. Elise was completely disinterested back then. Now that she's an old pro at going to school, she totally digs D.W.'s take on the whole preschool experience. She clearly identifies with the character, and likes that the two of them are such experts.

Monsieur Saguette and His Baguette
by Frank Asch
Per earlier recommendation, we gave this one a try. Elise was fascinated by all of the stuff one guy could do with a loaf of bread. We never use ours to save babies from roving alligators. Or to direct marching bands. It is like so many of Asch's stories-gentle and fun. I have to say, though, that I can see why this dude lives alone and has to go shopping for bread by himself. The very fact that he'd eat that baguette after everywhere it's been would preclude him living in polite company.

Digby Takes Charge
by Caroline Jayne Church
It was a revelation to Elise that dogs sometimes have jobs. Digby is an earnest young sheepdog trying to make a name for himself around the farm. The sheep aren't going for it, though. He goes all out to get them to their pen, only to fail. I think it's sweet that the cows and pigs take him aside to offer advice. I could tell that this one had Elise engaged, because she knew what the advice was before I read it aloud, and she looked so very pleased to have figured it out. Given that we've been working hard on manners around here, this struck just the right note this week.

As for me, I checked out two more books by Sarah Vowell and didn't even touch them in favor of parenting books. Yeah. Look out. Fiction deprived mother on the loose. It's okay-I still have 2 more weeks! (And a certain number of renewals.)

The Short List

In spite of the fact that we checked out about a bazillion library books last week, only one held any interest.

Anne of Green Gables
by Lucy Maude Montgomery, as retold by Kathleen Olmstead
Part of the Classic Starts series

We watched the movie (the one that PBS stations always put on at pledge time) and Elise was enraptured. Having requested this version for younger kids from the library, I wasn't sure what to expect. I hadn't counted on Elise being quite so excited. I received a notice from the library on Monday, and we had to go pick it up. With much lamenting that they don't open until 2pm on Mondays. And, the whole works was read by Thursday afternoon. (This with me out of commission for a day and a half.)

Aside from a few nonsensical changes (Why does Bonnie have to be a tulip instead of a geranium? I mean really.) I thought this version did a good job of introducing the best of Anne to younger kids. I also thought that the acrobatics necessary to believably leave out Diana getting drunk were pretty funny.

So far we've pretended that blankets are long dresses, had fancy tea parties at which we use affected voices and talk of lofty things, and given Elise "Anne braids." It helps that Elise's new friend Rista has lovely raven black hair that we can admire and envy.

My introduction of Anne (which even I admit has been too early for such a little girl) was all a part of a not-so-subtle ploy to coerce Andy into heading for PEI while we're off in Maine at the end of June. (It's so close, after all!) We may or may not make it there, but Elise and I have found something that we have really bonded over. I'm glad this younger-audience version of the book exists.

Return of the Library List

Thanks for your patience and understanding while the library list took a brief hiatus these past two Thursdays. For the first missed week, I was busy packing for a trip to Montana, and the second one I just didn't have a chance to look over the books Andy and Elise got while I was gone. But now we're back!

The Boy Who Wouldn't Go to Bed
by Helen Cooper
In this book, a toddler decides he doesn't want to go to bed because it's still light out and he wants to play. He has lots of adventures in his imagination, but none of the characters he meets wants to play because they're all tired. Finally, his mommy searches and searches for him and hugs him goodnight. This one is very timely for us here because Elise has been dreading bedtime and bad dreams and all the rest.

Dora's Favorite Fairy Tales
adapted by Leslie Goldman, illustrated by A&J Studios
Normally, I'm not a huge fan of these TV character adaptations of stories that were told much better for eons before someone wanted to make a merchandising buck. That said, I really really like this one. The stories are told so that they're scary but not terrifying. I particularly like what they've done with Jack and the Beanstalk.

Cat Up a Tree
by John and Ann Hassett
From our reading of Pickles the Firecat we learned that fire departments rescue cats from trees. It's such a shock when Nana Quimby calls about a cat in her tree and the fire department says they don't want to hear about it unless the cat is playing with matches. She gets similar dismissals from all of the other various official entities in town as the cats multiply in the tree. Elise's favorite response: "'Sorry,' said the library, 'we do not catch cats up a tree. Call back if the cats have an overdue book." In the end, we realize that a lot of people would be better off if they'd have done the kind thing and helped the cats when they needed it.

Please Is a Good Word to Say
by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Jennifer Plecas
We've liked this book for awhile, and when Elise saw it on the shelf last week she had to have it. The girl in the story talks about what different words mean and how to use them nicely. For example, "please" is a way to "put a smile on your words." It goes into "excuse me" for bodily noises, "I'm sorry" when you do something that makes someone else feel sad, and paying compliments. We haven't read this one in a few months and I think this time Elise has really understood what it's all about.

Mary and the Mouse, the Mouse and Mary
by Beverly Donofrio, illustrated by Barbara Mc Clintock
This story is so gentle and sweet. A little girl and a little mouse become friends after discovering one another. A generation later, their daughters renew the friendship. The pictures are lovely and the characters charming. Just a nice book.

And then, I've been reading too. Normally I like to keep this to kid books, but thought I'd throw in what I've read this time too as kind of a make-up for the long absence.

Assassination Vacation
by Sarah Vowell
Every time I hear this gal talk I think I'd like to get to know her. She's very funny, very smart and extremely well-informed on a lot of interesting things. It might sound a little macabre to seek out places associated with presidential assassinations, but this book turns out to be a fascinating history. With a healthy juxtaposition of kitsch and presidential dignity. Her style of writing fits my style of study very well, so I learned a lot more from this patriotic romp than I ever learned in history classes. (with apologies to excellent teachers)

Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline
by Becky A. Bailey
I've just started this one, but it's a winner. To my way of thinking, we've been pretty good with most of Elise's developmental stages so far. Age four is not our milieu, though, and I think life around here has been a good deal harder than it needs to be because of that. Once I got past the mystical-self-help style at the beginning, it became much easier to read what the author writes. Luckily, the writing settles down and is clear and informative. I especially like the examples she gives and the activities she gives for practicing the skills she thinks parents and kids need. I'm sure this one will get its own blog entry when I've read it all.

Short List

Well, wouldn't you know it, real life got in the way of my virtual life this week and I did not have a chance to sit down with our mighty pile of library books yesterday. And now I have about 20 minutes until my cold-suffering kiddo wakes up and discovers that Roomba ate most of her pompom collection last night. Ugh. So, this week's review is going to be a bit short...

A New Beginning, Celebrating the Spring Equinox
by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by Linda Bleck
I love spring. It's my favorite season. This book takes a look at how people have been celebrating the spring for thousands of years, including that relative upstart called "Easter." Since we don't "do" Easter here but our babysitter does, I wanted to give Elise a little heads up about the various traditions around the northern hemisphere. It also clearly illustrates and describes our axial tilt, which of course appeals to the astronomer in me. Celebrations covered include: Chinese New Year, No Ruz, Holi, the Maya people and their El Castillo pyramid, Maslenitsa, Cree Native American tradition, Passover, festival of Eostre, & Easter

Carlo Likes Reading
by Jessica Spanyol
Carlo, a giraffe, likes to read. Everything in his life has a clearly written tag. Some of the things are obvious, others are easy to guess. Elise first proved she could sound-out words by doing so with some of the least obvious words. I am now in love with this book for obvious reasons.

Pop! Went Another Balloon
by Keith Faulkner, illustrated by Rory Tyger
Elise picked this one and couldn't put it down all week. Bright illustrations, balloons, a birthday and counting down from 10 are all prominently featured. And of course the main characters are turtles so what's not to love?

The Mixed-Up Chameleon
by Eric Carle
Another Elise pick for the week. It's Eric Carle. There's a Chameleon. She likes seeing how mixed up one little critter can get.

Big Truck and Little Truck
by Jan Carr, illustrated by Ivan Bates
I include this book not so much for how much Elise liked it this week but how much she liked it months ago. She saw it sitting on the shelf and had to have it this time around. I stifled a groan because even the finest story wears a little thin after 10000000000000 readings. In this one, a big truck teaches a little truck all about how to do its work. And then the big truck breaks down and the little truck is forced to put all of that teaching to the test. This is a nice departure from dippy little animals in human situations.

And there we have it-our library week in review. Stuff on my Cat is due back this week and I'm anticipating a bit of a fight over handing that one in. Wish us luck!

This Week's Reading

Ugly Fish
by Kara LaReau, illustrated by Scott Magoon
Ugly Fish reminds me a lot of some of the fish I've kept over time, except with a more pronounced underbite. The big problem with keeping anything other than goldfish is that violent death is likely to enter the picture at some point. This book is good preparation for that. And, for whatever reason it's not all that scary.

Mean Soup
by Betsy Everitt
Elise picked this one randomly off the shelf, and it has proven a very good read. Horace is having a lousy day, and his mom knows just what to do. I can see us making some mean soup of our own one of these days.

You're Somebody Special, Walliwigs!
by Joan Rankin
Through a series of unfortunate events, Walliwigs gets separated from his biological mother and ends up being raised by a chicken. It's a great story, and I hope I'm as good at being a mom as Martha the chicken. We reviewed Scaredy Cat a few weeks ago, and this is a similarly quirky but warm story. I like this author!

I'm Not Cute!
by Jonathan Allen
There are few things more annoying to a little one than constantly being called cute and adorable and having one's cheeks pinched etc. The poor little owl in this story has a hard time getting the grown-ups in his life to appreciate his point of view. Luckily, his mom knows what's what. I love this story, but it loses points for having the little owl go to bed at night.

Stuff On My Cat
by Mario Garza
This is a collection of pictures of cats with silly things on them. I saw a picture of Leta reading this on dooce one day and thought we'd give it a try given that Elise and Leta are of similar temperament and Elise loves all things cat these days. She has had endless fun looking through the pages and making up stories about the cats.

And in a complete departure from the norm, I'd like to mention what I read this past week.

The Final Confession of Mabel Stark
by Robert Hough
I've never been that excited by the circus, so it was odd to have Elise point to this on the shelf and for me to say "okay" and give it a try. Mabel Stark was a real-live tiger trainer back in the teens and twenties. Reputedly the best in the business, in fact. She got married a lot and mauled a lot and there aren't a lot of details known about her life other than that. Hough has quite the imagination and there were some parts of the book that I thought were a little too descriptive. But I love the idea of this tough old lady who trained tigers into her 80s.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency & The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul
by Douglas Adams
I last read these two books in high school, and had a sudden hankering for them. This past Tuesday would have been Adams' 56th birthday, which should serve as a reminder to us all to look after our heart health. Anyway, I like Dirk Gently, and I like the silliness of these stories.

This Week's Reading

In spite of the fact that we brought home a gargantuan pile of books this week (even making a nice midweek trip to pick up books on hold that came in), it's only a moderately inspiring list. As a percentage, the mediocre far outpaced the good ones, but the ones we liked were really well-loved.

Houndsley and Catina and the Birthday Surprise
by James Howe, illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
My aunt recommended the first of these books which we'd read and loved previously, so I went looking for them this week. Surprise! There's a new one about birthdays. These two critters are so gentle with one another, not to mention thoughtful. Elise especially likes how Houndsley remembers rainbow sprinkles even though they're not his favorite. The very essence of friendship, that.

No Kiss for Grandpa
by Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Emilie Boon
It's no secret that we expect kids to love being with their extended families. Even when they don't know them well or see them often. In this story, Louie gets to spend an afternoon with his grandpa and isn't too pleased. Grandpa plays along anyway, and by the end of the afternoon Louie warms up enough to give him a kiss goodbye. When we read this, we watch Louie's facial expressions go from grouchy to happy. I like the way the story portrays the building of a relationship.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert
This may well be one of my least favorite alphabet books of all time. This probably has more to do with my distaste for the gal who introduced me to it than the book itself, so I stifled my groans when Elise grabbed it enthusiastically. It's bright, it's vivid, it's got a cool rhyme scheme. I have now read it a million times and still don't care for it that much, but on this one I defer to Elise since it's really a kid book, after all.

Skippyjon Jones
by Judy Schachner
I put this one on reserve, and when it came it Elise and I made a special mid-week trip to the library to check it out. There's so much going on in this book that I don't actually mind reading it over and over again as we must with all favorites around here. Elise likes the story because it's a cat and it's long, but I don't think she's old enough to really get most of it. The PC part of my brain really dislikes some of the stuff that stereotypical of a cowboy movie set in Old Mexico, but by and large I think it's pretty harmless. I do think that this book is suited for a slightly older audience, however.

Me and My Cat?
by Satoshi Kitamura
In this story, a boy and his cat trade places for a day. The classic "mind in another body" storyline. Elise likes the idea of a kid in a cat's body, and it opens up some interesting play ideas and options. For me, the story is a little bald but ohmygosh the illustrations are hilarious! I could seriously just stare at the pictures for hours. Clearly, someone has been studying cat faces and postures.

Eat Your Peas
by Kes Gray and Nick Sharratt
Daisy doesn't like peas, but her mom tells her to eat them anyway. Then, her mom tries to bribe her into eating them. The bribes get crazy, which tends to provoke giggles here, even as Daisy stands her ground. It should be noted that there are some vegetables that moms don't like as well. We like speculating about what could have happened between the penultimate and ultimate pages of this book.

More Books, Please

This week, I don't think we checked out enough books. We've read all of the ones we have so much as to dull even Elise's enthusiasm for the favorites.

Never, fear, however! Based on the lively discussion of Skippyjon Jones I've reserved a copy of that (which may not be in for a few weeks) and also the "other" Polo book. We're also going to look for some of the items on Aunt Linda's most excellent cat book list.

On to this week's favorites...

Watch Out!
by Jan Fearnley
Little Wilf (oh, do I love names like this!) is a very good little guy who tries to listen to his mom but man is it hard. He falls down and gets hurt a lot as a result. We like that at the end the mom fails to heed his warning and causes the biggest mess of all. And that it's all okay.

The Muffin Munching Dragon
by Stephen Cosgrove, illustrated by Robin James
This was a huge favorite of mine when I was a kid, so I went looking for it in the library's online catalog. Luckily, they had one copy in Chinese with an English translation in the back. In this story, a greedy dragon inadvertently causes some rather backward seeming villagers to become destitute. Elise doesn't really like that part except for the fact that it gives her a chance to comment that the dragon couldn't possibly be that horrible. And in fact, the dragon does figure out how to solve the problem so Elise likes it as much as I did.

Will You Take Care of Me?
by Margaret Park Bridges, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Every time Elise gets a little more independent, the change is followed by extreme clinginess and anxiety on her part. Usually some annoyance on my part as well. One particularly hard day last week, Andy suggested that I talk to her about how growing up doesn't mean we don't take care of her anymore. The effect was magical. Then, when we were at the library we found this book. The little kangaroo has some flights of fancy that lose all of our attention pretty quickly, but Elise definitely tunes in for the end. It's nice to have a gentle story that helps with this separation/growing-up dialog we're having.

Three Up a Tree
by James Marshall
We've enjoyed the Fox books by this author so much that we picked up one of his about some different characters. Elise likes that there are three stories in this book, and that reading it keeps us going longer than the average book. I don't know how much she likes the stories, though. We've got to find some more long books.

Caillou: The Phone Call
Adapted by Marilyn Pleau-Murissi, illustrations adapted by Eric Sévigny
I really hate it when I'm hanging out with someone and they spend a lot of time on the phone. Kids are apparently the same way, and the phone has been a struggle at our house for a long time. Seeing one of her favorite TV characters being blown off by his mom for the telephone has made some of the yelling and foot-stomping go away here, at least this week.

Pippin Takes a Bath
by K.V. Johansen, illustrated by Bernice Lum
When I was a kid, our dog Patches did not like baths. She didn't give us quite the same trouble that Pippin gives Mabel in this book, but she sure did look miserable after the torture that was bathtime. Elise was inclined to think that this story was the height of silliness (who doesn't like baths?!) until I told her all about Patches. Silly dogs.

And, not a book review at all but a music recommendation. My friend James blogged about the latest offering from They Might Be Giants, and we are now hooked. Longtime fans of the album "No!" we were thrilled to watch the podcasts of the ABCs and 123s. And, we've gone out and got both of them, which is nice except that the songs are at least as insidious as Laurie Berkner's stuff, only more weird.

Library Time

We seem to be branching out into bigger kid books, at least this week. It's fun!

The Fire Cat
by Esther Averill
Pickles the cat learns to do big things, and takes up residence in a firehouse. That's the short version. This is the longest book we've ever checked out, and it's also right up there at the top as far as numbers of reads. It's no surprise that Elise has memorized practically every word, but I'm beginning to think I could recite it in my sleep as well. Oh Pickles, you clever kitty you. Oh, and this book has also got Elise thinking about punctuation. Exclamation point.

Get Well, Good Knight
by Shelley Moore Thomas, illustrated by Jennifer Plecas
A very good knight works hard to help three little dragons feel better when they have a cold. On the way, he discovers that wizards aren't necessarily the best at comfort food. There are three Good Knight stories, and they're all very well done. Great stories, great use of language. The three little dragons are fantastically cute, too.

Time to See the Doctor
by Heather Maisner, illustrated by Kristina Stephenson
We've written about another in this series previously. In this one, the boy gets an ear infection and his big sister helps make the trip to the doctor less scary. I love this author, but more importantly Elise loves her. There is just the right amount of scariness in the story, and just the right sort of resolution, at least for the 4 year old mind. We still highly recommend this "First-time Stories" series.

Polo: The Runaway Book
by Régis Faller
How do you feel about combining books and adventures? We heartily approve. Polo is a picture book in the finest sense. All illustrated, with very few words. Elise was a little suspicious at first since the story never gets told the same way twice. The illustrations are fantastic, and the story is very entertaining no matter who narrates. Apparently, this is the second book featuring this character, and we'll be looking for the original this week. Great for storytelling and the imagination.

First the Egg
by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
This is a lovely take on the age-old chicken and egg question. With pictures of eggs, chicks, chickens, developing tadpoles, frogs etc., this is a very engaging look at growing and changing. Simple words and simple (and beautiful!) illustrations make this fun for Elise to read to her stuffed animals. An extra bonus is the cut-outs in the pages that bridge the space between the young and old.

What Will Fat Cat Sit On?
by Jan Thomas
It may not be apparent from our book selections, but Elise is into cats. In this book, a cat looks for a place to sit and various other animals don't want to be squished. It's silly. We like silly.

Pizza Kittens
by Charlotte Voake
We only have one kid here at our house, but even so we very clearly recognize the three kittens in this book. And their suppertime shenanigans. Do we ever. Family meals can be tricky. Sometimes compromise is necessary.

Does anyone out there have any favorite books featuring cats that you'd like to recommend? Write in your suggestions before 10am tomorrow and we'll look for 'em!

Library Bonanza

This week, we apparently picked a lot of winners. Welcome to our longest library list yet!

Star of the Week
by Barney Saltzberg
Stanley is pretty excited about sharing his favorite things with his classmates until he realizes the universal truth we all learned when we were young: Kids are mean. No matter what this star student shares the other kids, as led by a bossy girl, make fun of him for his strange tastes. But, he sticks out the week and ends up broadening everyone's horizons.

Look Out, He's Behind You!
by Tony Bradman and Margaret Chamberlain
Little Red Riding Hood can be a pretty scary story, but this telling of it makes it fun. For starters, it has flaps to lift. Second, the wolf isn't all that scary. Third, nobody gets eaten or axed or anything. The downside is that LRRH doesn't get to comment on her grandma's teeth, but the entertainment value of the rest of it balances that out.

Scaredy Cat
by Joan Rankin
The scared little kitten in this story is deliciously drawn. Hazards of domestic life are presented from the perspective of said kitten, and the mom kitty explains stuff. My favorite part is that it shows how distorted perspective can sometimes be useful. As when dealing with eensie-weensie spiders.

Valentine Surprise
by Corinne Demas, illustrated by R.W. Alley
Lily wants to make a valentine for her mom, but hearts are notoriously hard to cut out. Many imperfect attempts result, and wouldn't you know it but the mom is thrilled with all of the effort. Without being preachy-just lovey.

Just Like Daddy
by Frank Asch
Little Bear does almost everything just like his dad. With a nice twist at the end. Elise likes to "read" this one herself and chuckles at the end every time.

Fox at School
by Edward Marshall, illustrated by James Marshall
This is a collection of three stories about a fox at school. I think this fox is a character in several of these easy-to-read books, so maybe it would all make more sense in context. Elise loves the stories here, though. And she has taken to saying "hot dog!" when she's excited about something.

Silly Tilly's Thanksgiving Dinner
by Lillian Hoban
Tilly Mole isn't that bright, or at least she has some serious short-term memory issues a la Memento. We have read this one so many times that Elise could likely recite it in her sleep. She certainly reads it to her stuffed animals plenty. All I can say is that I hope I have friends who are as quietly understanding of my foibles as Tilly's friends are of hers.

Down by the Bay
illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott
a Raffi Songs to Read book
This is one song that I actually did not know until we learned it at the library during story time. (Yes, I hear that collective gasp-hard to believe there is a kids' song I didn't know, eh?) Anyway, we brought this book home and I proceeded to sing the song to Elise. Lo and behold, last night she serenaded me while looking at the pictures for word cues! Even better, this morning we sang together and she actually attempted to match pitch with me. Better still is that she met with some success!

Dino Pets
by Lynn Plourde, illustrated by Gideon Kendall
In this story, a clever young man takes his piggy bank to a pet shop and brings home one dinosaur after another as they each prove unsuitable. The biggest, longest, fastest, scariest, smallest dinosaurs are each introduced, and then there are "dino facts" at the end of the book. I like that it describes how "facts" about dinosaurs change over time as we learn more about them. I think Elise just likes that there are dinosaurs just like she learned about at school.

This Week's Books

In spite of the fact that we were a little late to story time at the library last Friday, we managed to select a pile of books that included 5 clear winners (from Elise's point of view-the one that matters!)

Bugs in Space
by David A Carter
Who doesn't like a pop-up book? Throw in a hero named Bug Rogers and it's a guaranteed success. I was impressed by the quality/build of this particular one because usually library books with moving parts are trashed and this one is fully functional.

If You're Happy and You Know It!
by Jane Cabrera
This is a favorite song to sing so we were predisposed to like this book. Because of the fun, bright illustrations Elise likes to "read" this one to herself over and over. We like to hear her sing.

The Cat Came Back
by Fred Penner, illustrated by Renée Reichert
Between a newfound love of singing and an ongoing love of cats, this one is a hit. We like listening to Laurie Berkner's version of this song in the car, and we like reading about this particular cat and singing about it at home. Still dealing with the stress of the idea of a cat being "lost forevermore" (even though it does come back).

Beauty and the Beast
A Disney Read-Aloud Storybook
Adapted by Ellen Titlebaum
Does anyone remember how I banned Disney from our house very early in Elise's gestation? We've done a decent job of avoiding that stuff without being all crazed about it. I have to admit to a certain soft spot for the story of Beauty and the Beast, though. We checked the movie out from the library a few weeks ago, and so last week when we went back Elise saw the book and we had to bring it home. And read it over and over again. Overall the book isn't that bad. It's a little disjointed as a story. I like that it introduces some good vocabulary. I dislike that so much page space is given over to describing the violent parts of the film in great detail. Because of this, (and many other concerns,) our ban on all things Disney continues, with the now-that-the-cat's-out-of-the-bag exception of Beauty and the Beast.

My love of this story comes entirely from Patricia McKinley's inspired retelling that my grandmother introduced me to when I was in high school. When Elise is old enough, we'll replace that Disney drivel with a real story!

My First Day of Nursery School
by Becky Edwards, illustrated by Anthony Flintoft
A girl's first day of school is a big deal, and it's a little scary. Luckily, even the kid in this story discovers that school is pretty fun. I think the appeal for us is that Elise has recently made this transition herself, and likes to see how another kid manages it. It's good to revisit those first days of school with a feeling of mastery. I like that the end of the book puts just as much emphasis on the second day of school as the first.

Library Week in Review

We fared slightly better at the library last Friday, so have a few good picks to share.


I Read Signs
by Tana Hoban
We first discovered this photographer's work when our beloved sitter Amy back in Chicago picked up one of her counting books at a library sale for us. Elise pretty much loves that one, so we of course looked for more. This one is cool because it has pictures of actual signs, and Elise loves "reading" them.

Madlenka
by Peter Sis
Madlenka discovers that her tooth is loose and has to tell everyone about it. By visiting all of her friends around her block, she manages to travel around the world. The pages all have windows through which she peeks, which is a cool touch.

Froggy Gets Dressed
by Jonathan London, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
Froggy is pretty popular, and has all kinds of books written about him. I like that he's a very active frog. In this book, he wakes up during the winter and wants to play in the snow. It's very hard for an excited little frog to remember all of his clothes however. And somehow everything is funnier with underpants.

WAIT! I Want to Tell You a Story
by Tom Willans
Shaherezade had nothing on this muskrat. It's all about the power of story. And I will leave it to you to enjoy.

We Eat Dinner in the Bathtub
by Angela Shelf Medearis, illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers
part of the Scholastic Reader series, level 2
The first time we checked this book out was several months ago, and if anything it's funnier now. You'll never guess where this crazy family has their meals. When I suggest that I'd like to try parking the car in the kitchen just like these people (to make unloading groceries easier) Elise just looks at me like I'm insane. Then again, as I write this I note that all of her dollhouse people are in their bathtub, and I know I didn't put them there...

Cows in the Kitchen
by June Crebbin, illustrated by Katharine McEwen
That's what we do, Tom Farmer! I think that's what I'm going to have to start saying when there's chaos afoot here. Farm animals are notorious for causing trouble in children's literature, and Tom Farmer's are no exception. I like the rhythm of it. I also like the picture of the sheep on the sofa.

This Week's Library Favorites

It's Thursday already, and time for more fabulous kid library book reviews. The problem is that we picked a number of duds this time around. Alas. This is what happens when a kid lets her mommy browse the nonfiction to find books about the history of area missions and info on Groundhog Day. Tomorrow, I'll be letting Elise pick her own books and we're likely to have a few more winners.

A few favorite authors who surfaced this week bear noting, however.

Eileen Christelow
This author/illustrator's claim to fame is a collection of stories about five little monkeys. You know, the ones who jump on the bed, tease a crocodile etc. Thanks to Christelow, they also play hide and seek, wash the car, and try not to wake Momma.

Frank Asch
We originally discovered Asch because his book Turtle Tale was one of my favorites when I was a kid. His stories are gentle and simply illustrated which I like. Some of 'em are a little weird too, but generally I'm glad to see Elise happily clutching one of his creations when we are at the library. The thing that makes him over-the-top cool is his website, where he has read and animated some of his stories. Go check it out! That's what a wise turtle would do...

Library Lists- a NEW Feature!

Welcome to a brand new weekly feature here at Steingruebl World Enterprises. Every Thursday, I plan to list/review some of the kid books we've been reading here. On Fridays, Elise and I head for the library and select a giant pile of books to read for the week. By taking stock of our inventory on Thursdays, I not only share our favorites with you but I also actually find all of the books so they can be returned on time. In theory at least.

Without further ado, welcome to this week's list. (In order of how I picked them out of the pile just now.)

This is the Rain
by Lola M Schaefer, illustrated by Jane Wattenberg
A rhyme similar to "The House that Jack Built" except that this one is about the water cycle here on Earth. Bright pictures, nice rhyme structure, etc. I don't know if our 4-year-old "gets" the concept, but she likes the story.

One-Dog Canoe
by Mary Casanova, illustrated by Ard Hoyt
A girl goes canoeing with her dog, and lots of other silly animals also try to come along. It reminded us of kayaking with Grandpa Karl, though we're glad he's a little more selective about his passengers. Bonus points for mention of the Northern Lights at the end.

Our New Baby
by Heather Maisner, illustrated by Kristina Stephenson
In spite of the fact that there are no new babies in sight here, Elise loves this book. In fact, we love all of the books in this series because they are very gentle introductions to things that are difficult for kids. I especially like We're Moving. This is the one series I've found of "prepare kids for terrifying upheaval" books that have fun, non-preachy stories.

Ooo-cha!
by Colleen Sydor, illustrated by Ruth Ohi
A silly fairy tale about bringing goodies to Grandma's house a la Red Riding Hood, except that the heroine has a magic wand and teaches manners to animals. We've checked this one out a number of times, and very much enjoy how clever Emily is. Due to the fact that Elise is a language sponge, we choose to alter the line where Emily says, "What the heck," but that's just us. When Elise is a little more discriminating in her phrase usage, we'll read it as is. And I'm sure we'll be doing that for years to come.

little blue and little yellow
by Leo Lionni
We seem to check this book out at least once a month. Two spots of paint hug one another and change color. Their parents don't recognize them, but everything gets sorted out in the end. It's a nice, gentle story.

An Egg Is Quiet
by Dianna Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long
For the budding naturalist in all of us. All kinds of eggs are beautifully depicted. It's one of those where you can read simple description (here in bigger font) and then delve into more detail in the smaller notes around the page. Absolutely beautiful, and one I wouldn't mind having on our own shelves for reference.

10 Little Rubber Ducks
by Eric Carle
Alas, a crate of ten rubber ducks falls off of a container ship. Each duck floats someplace different. They're just rubber ducks floating along, and we count them and see where each ends up . Bonus squeaker in the back cover of the book. Quack!

Not a complete list of everything we've checked out this week, just some of the favorites that seemed blogworthy. Happy reading!