18 October 2012

Madison's Minis:

Madison and I read together quite often. She doesn't quite have the patience to sit and read a whole book unless she's about to go down for a nap, but she does really like flipping the pages and going back and forth to books all day long. Here are a few of the books we keep going back to:

There's a Wocket in My Pocket, Green Eggs and Ham, and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish All by Dr. Seuss
Madison hasn't quite made it through the entirety of these books; she can only handle a few pages at a time, and even then, she flips around, completely unconcerned with chronology and plot structure. Ah children.... I, however, felt an OCD-quality need to read them cover to cover, and so I did. Good stuff people. Bring on  Dr. Seuss. There's a Wocket in My Pocket gets my vote for best of the bunch as I have quite the fondness for made up words and they permeate this sing-songy book.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
This book came with what I now refer to as a beddy-bye-bathtime set from Johnson & Johnson. I had, of course, heard of it before, but I had never read it and really didn't know much outside of it being a bedtime book. For the most part, I like it. The words are soft and flowy, the pages alternate between this awesomely colored - primarily green - and rather busy room and these black and white, very simple and empty pages. But the bowl full of mush (which rhymes with brush by the way) really bothers me. And why do we say goodnight to "nobody"? In other words, the rhythm is great; the words so-so.

Hello Bugs by Smriti Prasadam
Hello Bugs was Madison's first book. The pages are black and white with splashes of metallic color, and each page has a bug's name and two little words that are related to the sound the bug makes. For example, the dragonfly has zuzz, zuzz; the butterfly has flit, float; and the beetle has scuttle, scuttle. It is simple, elegant, and rather beautiful.


Trick or Treat? by Melanie Walsh
I randomly picked this one up in Walmart because 1) I like Halloween and 2) it says "with Scary Flaps" on the front. Who doesn't like that? Each page of the book has a flap which can be flipped to make an alternate picture on the page. For example:

This page is actually Madison's favorite as I make some very clever owl sounds when we flip the flap (I am sure it's because of my owl sounds; it has to be). I have read this book many many more times than the others as it is M's favorite book. She goes back to it over and over, and she has even slapped one book out of my  hand in order to grab at this one. It's the scary flaps.... I would guess that I have read this one cover to cover about 30 times in the past week. Luckily, I like it.

Does anyone have any recommendations for other books with flaps? We are a flappy sort of family.

7 comments:

  1. Awwww. Makes me sad. My kids love Goodnight Moon. They also loved Chicka Chicka Boom, and one about the ocean but I can't remember the name. We did not have Wocket in My Pocket. HAHAHAHA...that cracks me up.

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  2. I LOVED I Have a Wocket in my Pocket! That was one of my favorite books as a child! I never read Goodnight Moon. I wasn't read to as a child, and my children were older when I came into the family, so I didn't get a chance to read these classics with them, but I agree, Dr. Seuss was awesome!

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  3. Goodnight Moon is a wonderful going to bed book. I still know it almost by heart.

    As far as flap books, my son always liked Karen Katz's Where Is Baby's Mother? I'm pretty sure I'm remembering the title right. If we still have it, I will send it to you but I think it is already gone.

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  4. Goodnight Moon is an oldie-but-goodie in this house. Sandy's right, you have to get Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I think Madison (and you) will like it. ;-)

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  5. I'm sure it's the owl sounds, as owls totally rock. Your kid knows what's cool.

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  6. Oh my gosh, you don't like Goodnight Moon's words??? I *adore* saying goodnight to nobody and the bowl of mush! That was my very, very favorite book as a little kid, even up to 4 or 5 years old. I used to check it out from the library every time we went. The first thought out piece of artwork I ever created was a copy of the cover of that book, and I was so proud of it, until my mom showed me this "cool" thing where she colored a bunch of crayons on top of each other in layers on one part of my drawing, then scratched my name into it, so that it showed up in rainbow. It was supposed to be cool, but it RUINED the picture, and I howled about that for days and refused to even look at my picture after that. It was the big major tragedy in my four-year-old world. I wonder if my mom still has that drawing... :D Anyway, I couldn't WAIT to read Goodnight Moon to my kids. And when I went to France, I translated it into French and brought a copy to the little kids who my host mom watched during the day. :D

    My kids really liked Mr. Brown Can Moo. I know some people read it all slow and calm, but the boys particularly loved us reading it in voices and fast and bouncy. :D

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  7. Okay, I just wrote a note to myself to check my stash of board books at work for you. (I do a baby storytime at the library - love it!!) I know I have some good flap books there, I just can't think of the titles. I'm requesting Hello Bugs because it sounds totally adorable. Unfortunately our library doesn't have Trick or Treat? Thanks for sharing! I love hearing about books that are hits with kids :)

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Talk to me baby!