MommaReads

Sadie has been planning on a trip to the zoo for FOREVER and incident after incident keep postponing it. Then, the big day comes and on the way to the zoo it starts pouring. She insists that it isn’t raining on her side of the car even though her dad can barely even drive it’s raining so hard on his side of the car. I love, love, love the determination of this little girl to get to the zoo no matter what. (I see a little bit of myself in her as well. I have been known to ignore the obstacles in the way and power through even though common sense is telling everyone around me that maybe it’s not the best idea.) 🙂 Maybe that’s why I loved this book so much.

This book explores the relationships that animals have with their siblings. It’a such a great book because kids of all ages will like it, but for different reasons. Younger children will love flipping through the pages and just looking at the picture of the animals. Children who are a little bit older will enjoy listening to how animal siblings interact with each other and children just a little bit older will be old enough to listen to the whole text (it’s a little on the wordy side) or even be able read it on their own. Don’t let all of the words discourage you from checking out this book. Just pick and choose which parts you want to read to your child. They will be so fascinated with the pictures they won’t even notice you didn’t read the whole thing.

A not so bright cowboy goes on a search to find a horse so he can use his new saddle. He gets many clues along the way as to what a horse looks like and well, he does finally find one. There is a twist to the end of the story though that your little ones will think is hilarious. This book is definitely worth the giggle at the end. 🙂

Duck and Duck decide it’s time to head south for the winter and they want Moose to come, too, but he thinks it’s a horrible idea and is going to stay right where he is and have pancakes with Bear. He quickly realizes that Bear is going to be asleep for the next few months and the adventure begins. Duck, Duck and Moose have several adventures while they’re away and it turns out that Moose is the one who is sad when it’s time to finally go home. Moose figures out a way to bring a little bit of Florida back home with them though. Super cute and a good one to read as fall sets in and you start to see birds heading south.

The principal at Tillie’s school loves his school and thinks it is a “fine, fine school”. He loves it so much he decides that they should start having school on Saturdays. After a while he decides they should also start having school on Sundays. The principal calls everyone together one day (the teachers and students are very nervous as to what this announcement could be) and Mr. Keene has decided that because it is such a “fine, fine school” they should also start going to school on holidays and during the summer. Tillie starts to realize though that she doesn’t have time to teach her dog how to sit or to teach her little brother how to skip or swing because she’s at school all of the time. Tillie goes to Mr. Keene with her concerns and, well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out what he thinks about not spending as much time at his “fine, fine school”. 🙂

This is a fun one for kids as they head back into the classroom. It’s a good discussion starter too. What kinds of things would you want to learn about if you had to go to school every day? What would you miss the most if you spent all of your time at school? What things do you learn at home that you may not know if you were at school all the time?

Zack quickly learns that when his new teacher, Miss Smith, tells a story she sure knows how to “bring it to life”. Things get pretty exciting in 2nd grade, especially when Miss Smith is gone for the day and things in storyland start to get out of hand. This book shows the magic of what great storytelling can do as well as the magic of a fantastic teacher.

If you take a mouse to school you will have to share your sandwich. He will want to borrow your paper, your pencils AND your lunchbox. He will make a mess and will make you wonder why you ever brought your mouse to school. Kids love these books by Laura Numberoff and this one is no exception and is a perfect read for back to school season.

Alice Ann has a lot to do to get ready for her first day of school. She finds the perfect shoes and the perfect lunchbox and the perfect notebooks in her favorite colors. Alice Ann is up and at ’em on the first day…she eats her breakfast, her sister fixes her hair and then Alice Ann lets her younger brother help her get her backpack packed while her dad makes her lunch. Pictures are taken and then dad dad yells “BUS!” and Alice Ann is off and running. I love this book because not only does it tell the story of Alice Ann getting ready for school, but it also shows the love that these family members have for each other in how they help each other out, reassure each other and tell stories of the days when they were in school.

Books can be great stepping stones for discussion…this one is the perfect example of that. All of the children in the class list one thing they would like to see happen this year..from getting the best seat on the bus to wishing for a snow day to going on a really cool field trip. All of the children have their own hopes for the new school year…what is your child looking forward to?

If you have a first grader who loves to get their pirate talk on, then this is the book for you! Actually, it probably doesn’t matter if you have a first grader or not…any pirate lubbin’ scallywag would love this one.