Why Sharing Books is Great

A Solution for a Sad Boy

Proud B with his blooms

Back in April, B got a little kit from the library for earth day to grow a sunflower. They packaged together a repurposed water bottle, some soil, and two sunflower seeds. We started them on the kitchen counter, and when they were tall enough to transplant, moved them to a pot on the patio. He was so enamored by their rapid growth that we added a few more seeds to the pot to see how fast they’d catch up. When his sunflowers bloomed, he was delighted. But now that the first planted have begun to wilt, he is distressed. The fragility of life and the passage of seasons are hard cognitive concepts for preschoolers (and their mommies). A book comes to my rescue again! And this time, it is thanks to all the great sharing and recommendations that flow among my book-loving blog pals.


Blog + Library = Perfect Book

A couple weeks ago, Ginny Marie shared Eve Bunting’s Sunflower House over at her blog, Lemon Drop Pie. I was attracted to it simply because of the sunflowers on our patio, so I put it on the request list from the library. It arrived just in time for the wilting incident. A few days ago, we went to play out back and B discovered the leaves were drooping and turning brown on his two tallest sunflowers. I tried to explain that they couldn’t last after the summer, and that we could plant more, but he was hardly placated. So that afternoon at naptime I retrieved Sunflower House from the library bag and we sat down to check it out together. Bunting’s tells the story of another boy’s sunflower garden in soft, conversational text that rhymes without becoming too bouncy. The boy and his father plant sunflower seeds in a circle, and he and his friends are able to enjoy the house it creates all summer, pretending to be animals, having picnics, and even camping out. When the sunflowers wilt and bend, the friends attempt to fix it with string, sticks, and glue, all to no avail. Then they realize they can harvest the seeds from the puffy blooms to save for a new house next spring. My favorite line from the book: “It’s neat to think when something’s gone a part of it goes on and on.” B and I harvested a few seeds from our sunflowers, and the positive message at the end of the book was a real help to me in quelling his disappointment.


Have you ever come across the perfect book at just the right time?


Appropriate for: toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades


(I’m still on vacation, but if I have internet access, I’ll be linking up with What My Child is Reading this Week)


Come back Friday to link up your recommendations at Feed Me Books Friday!

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Feed Me Books Friday: Vacation Reading

See You Soon!

As you read this, we’re away enjoying our summer vacation (don’t call me a procrastinator…) with the boys and their Gramma and Papa. If I don’t respond to your comments right away or get around to visit everyone’s links until I return, you have my deepest apologies. We’re not sure yet what our internet status will be while on vacay, and truth-be-told, I will choose quality time with my family over blogging and catch-up later if necessary. In honor of our trip, I thought I’d share one of my favorite vacation-themed books. I also thought I’d share some of my other travel related posts, including travel plans, souvenir books, travel preparation, travel manners, and travel entertainment.


A New Meaning for House-sitting

The humor in House Takes a Vacation, by Jacqueline Davies, is just as, if not more, enjoyable for adults as it is for children. If you’re reading it with little ones, you may want to pause to explain some of the wordplay, or you may choose to let the humor go over their heads. If your child has shown curiosity about figures of speech or confusion due to literal interpretations, this book would be a fun way to go about explaining some of the silliness of language. Upon being left alone by a vacationing family, the house decides it will go on a holiday of its own. The different parts of the house want to go different places that appeal to their personalities (the sun porch longs for the beach, but the basement is a stick-in-the-mud). Davies' word play, puns, and figurative language come fast and furious as the front door leads the way to the seashore. Antics ensue, but the end result is much like any family’s return from vacation: happy memories coupled with warm fuzzy feelings when returning home. The house makes it home just before its occupants, who are puzzled by the hints of adventure (seaweed on the roof) still decorating the house. The story ends with the house planning its next adventure, which is a great invitation to a story or artwork for your little one!


Appropriate for: toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades


Hope you’ll share some of your recommended reading this week! We’ll be ready to load up at the library when we return from our trip!

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Books for Little Fingers

Within Reach and Not on the Floor

Between six and ten months, most babies learn to enjoy the “drop-it” game. You hand them a toy, a sippy, your keys, etc. They drop it, then fuss. You pick it up. Repeat ad nauseum until you get sick of it. It really does have a purpose. They are developing the cognitive understanding of cause and effect, as well as a physical understanding of the space around them. However, there are times and places that developing this particular understanding is not exactly ideal: like in the shopping cart at the market or cruising the neighborhood in the stroller. Enter attachable toys. You’ll find them in many varieties: links, magnetic bands, clips, velcro. As a mama fond of reading and desirous of a childhood attachment to books, I am all for attaching books to (ok not really) but near my child! T is in a stage where he’s not real patient to listen to the stories, but loves to flip through the pages.


Variety Close at Hand

Soft Play publishes sets of baby-friendly books on clip-able rings that are just the right size for little hands. Each book is about 4 inches square, and my favorite set comes with two board books, two cloth books, and 1 bath book (no ring). The cloth books have dimensional animals on the front, and are great for babies in the chewing stages. I’ve successfully laundered the cloth books after they’ve lived in the diaper bag for a while. One of the board books is touch and feel, and the other has sparkly patches in the illustrations, both highly entertaining. The bath book has a squeaker in the cover. Each features a different animal and has short rhyming text on each page. The stories are not prize-winners, but they’re fun and entertaining when you’re in line at the grocery store or the bank. This is one of my favorite gifts to buy for baby showers because of the variety and the fact that they are appropriate from infancy on with the soft cloth books and small size.


Appropriate for: babies, toddlers


Come Play at the We Play link-up!


Come back Friday with your book recommendations for Feed Me Books Friday!

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Welcome to the New Home of Feed Me Books Friday!

Feed Me Books Friday was one of the inspirations for my start as a blogger and for Little Sprout Books, so I am honored and grateful to give it a new and loving home. Originally the brainchild of Janna at The Adventure of Motherhood, Feed Me Books Friday has become a beloved and informative weekly meme. Though it will always be Janna’s baby, it has grown up and left the nest. She will nurture new and valuable projects over at Mommy’s Piggy Tales. I hope you’ll continue to make Feed Me Books Friday an event that inspires and evokes a love of reading and brings book-loving bloggers together!

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If you have Janna’s button on your blog, (or even if you don’t) I hope you’ll grab the new one from my site that will bring others here to share their books and get great recommendations.


Comfort for Big Changes

B with Care Bear in the airport.

Making changes for Feed Me Books Friday and trying to make long-time contributors feel welcome reminded me of the anxious feelings that arise during any transition. Many children have a lovey, a comfort object, a blankie, or a baby that brings them comfort in times of anxiety or change. My blankie from childhood is up in my attic, and it still imbues a sense of calm when I come across it. B has been attached to both a care bear and a baby, and had a brief affair with Mickey Mouse and Cat in the Hat. The comfort that a lovey provides is inexplicable to anyone else. A grubby toy or tattered blanket is priceless to its owner while seemingly undesirable to others. A lovey is a healthy tool as children mature in their social-emotional development, and many adults continue to find comfort in a special object, be it a favorite chair, a worn in t-shirt, or a treasured book.

B's baby even makes it into photo-ops!

 

To Each His Own

Both the value and individual importance of a lovey are conveyed by Where’s My Teddy by Jez Alborough. In this bouncy rhyming tale, Eddie has lost his teddy in the woods. He finds it a little creepy and is anxious to find his beloved Freddie and get home. He finds a teddy that resembles Freddie in every respect escept that he is enormous! As Eddie is trying to figure out what happened to Freddie and how he’ll get him home, a real (very large) bear approaches, clutching a tiny teddy (the real Freddie). Eddie and the bear are equally startled by one another and equally overjoyed to find their own teddies. They retrieve their beloved teddies and retreat to their beds, safe and comfortable at last. The rhymes and anticipation of the story will make this book a page-turner, but go back and spend some time studying the illustrations – there are many details to be discovered in the forest scenes.

Appropriate for: toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades

I hope you’ll link up with a recommended book post this week, or leave me a comment to tell me about a book you love, or maybe share your own lovey story.

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Baby-Proofing: Where Do You Draw the Line?

Protecting Little Explorers

My house has been reasonably child-proofed years longer than I’ve had children. We always wanted our home to be a welcoming and safe place for friends and family with little ones, so breakables are up high, chemicals are locked away, and outlets are not exposed. When B came along, we added a baby gate here and there (mostly to corral him so I could accomplish something in one room) and the brick fireplace hearth got a foam bumper. T has been crawling for months, but he gets speedier by the day and he’s recently taken up “cruising” along the couch and cabinets so I know it won’t be long before he’s off and running! In my mind, there is some gray area between protecting your child from obvious hazards and letting him explore the world around him. Err on the side of caution or watch baby like a hawk? Depends on the situation.

Cruising the kitchen

A new view of the exersaucer

How Often Do You Tell Your Child No?

I’m not of the camp that believes “no” is a dirty word, but I also don’t want it to be the only word my sons hear all day. I’d rather have a kid-friendly home than fancy furniture and gallery displays, so my kids have pretty free reign in the house. In fact, a guest recently commented, “There are toys in every room!” I’m not sure whether she was amazed that we allow the toy sprawl, or merely surprised, but toys in the kitchen mean dinner gets cooked, toys in my bedroom mean laundry gets sorted, toys in the dining room mean we get to eat after we feed the kids. B knows his boundaries by now, but even 4-year-olds forget the rules and go for the occasional bounce on the couch or climb up the counter. T is just learning the boundaries, and testing them every time I turn around. Babies only begin to grasp the meaning of “no” around 7 months, and don’t have the cognitive development to fully process its use until nearly 18 months, so redirects and distractions are the most successful for T, while B usually gets a question to remind him he knows better. (Where do your feet belong?) That doesn’t mean “no” goes unspoken, but I try to reserve it for dangerous or urgent situations in hopes that it doesn’t fall on deaf ears.


Off Limits for Exploring

I’m not sure if B is naturally very curious or if I created the “why” monster myself by trying to explain actions and expectations – it’s one of those which-came-first kind of situations. I hope that he (and soon is brother) is more likely to follow rules if he understands the reasoning behind them. Sometimes his insistence for an explanation is a little infuriating, but that’s part of the age, right? A book that was first B’s and has been passed down to T is Don’t Touch, It’s Hot by David Algrim. It came from a discount store, but the message is great and the touch and feel, scratch and sniff pages are very entertaining! Each page features a food or cooking area that may be too hot to touch. The oven is hot, but the smell the tasty pepperoni when the pizza cools! The boiling pot is hot, but blow on the curly, stringy spaghetti and it’s ready to enjoy! The repetition in the text both drives the message home and allows pre-readers to learn the pattern and read along. B still thinks this book is a lot of fun and now he’s the experienced teacher issuing the “Don’t Touch” warnings.


Appropriate for: babies, toddlers, preschool


Linking Up With:
Tackle It Tuesday
What My Child is Reading this Week

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