MommaReads

I know it seems like a weird time to be blogging about Christmas books, but now might actually be a great time to check out Christmas books from the library because everyone is done with them and you can pick whichever books you want, not whichever books are left.

Also, there was a time in our house where all our youngest wanted to read was Halloween books. We must have read Halloween books for a year. I am pretty sure that we checked out every Halloween book our library had to offer.

Anyways, I love this book. (I know, I always say that, but if I didn’t love it I wouldn’t be telling you all about it.) 🙂 I love the illustrations and I love how it calls itself to be read in a quiet voice…perfect for bedtime reading, perfect of naptime reading. Shhhhhhh…..

Little Bear does NOT want to sleep through the winter. He wants to stay with his friends, Mole and Squirrel, and play hide and seek in the snow and and throw snowballs and make snow angels. Plus, he is very worried that his friends will forget about him over the winter. Bears are bears though and Little Bear has to sleep through the winter…and guess who was waiting for him to play when he woke up?

Do you have a perfect place to read? Do your kids? I know I usually read on the couch or while my kids are at tae kwon do lessons. Both of my kids do most of their reading in bed or in the car.

The little boy in this book is trying to find the perfect place to read his new book, but he can’t read in his dad’s chair because the ceiling fan is too cool and he can’t read at the kitchen table because the baby’s eating and getting food everywhere. His older sister’s music is too loud, so he can’t read in her room and he can’t read outside because the sprinkler is on. He does, eventually, find the perfect place to read though…on his momma’s lap in a comfortable chair.

Brannon is terrified of storms and his family is trying to help him, but they are only making him more scared until one of his relatives mentions that thunder is like dinosaurs stomping around. Brannon loves dinosaurs and that makes the thunder a lot less frightening. This would be a great book for children who love dinosaurs and/or children who might need a little help getting through thunderstorms.

A curious baby giraffe, Twiga, explores the world around him. Twigga learns that no matter how much mischief he gets into that his momma will always keep him safe. This is a great book for toddler and preschoolers who are exploring their own worlds. Toddlers and preschoolers who love animals will also love this book set in the African savanna.

Do your kids love surprises? Then they will love this book! The piggies are trying to whip up a culinary surprise for their mama, but they are making quite a mess. Papa comes to the rescue and helps them turn on the oven and get things cleaned up just in time. I love the rhyming in this book, too…it just adds so much to the book and makes it so much fun to read.

Several months ago I had the privilege of working with Kaaren Pixton as she worked with groups of children to create beautiful art. Her work is AMAZING and her books for babies and toddlers are not only gorgeous, but are meant for little ones who put everything in their mouths and don’t quite yet understand that books are for looking at and are not for ripping to pieces.

I love that this idea for her books came from a need she saw with her triplet grandchildren. Any book they were given was torn to shreds…not the best way to start a love for books when you can’t give the child a book without them eating it or ripping it.

She has several titles including: Jungle Rumble!, Plip-Plop, Pond! and Creep! Crawl!

All of her books are non-toxic and if you’d like to learn more about Kaaren or see more of her books and artwork, you can click here.

We recently got back from a vacation where we kayaked down a very quiet and peaceful river early in the morning. We saw a skunk on the shore and we also saw several duck families along the way. This book reminded me of that peaceful morning…the cool water, the vegetation in the water with fish slipping in and out of the weeds. This book is almost like a lullaby…calm and peaceful.

A little girl explores her world on a summer day leading into night. She catches butterflies, drinks lemonade, has a picnic in the park and listens to an owl hooting outside her window. This is exactly the type of book I would have chosen for my boys when they were young. Why? Not only is it a cute book with lovely illustrations, but it rhymes, which is an important element in stories for children who are pre-readers.

Summer days, so warm and bright,
Paint my room in morning light.
As cat naps in a patch of sun,
My summer day has just begun.

A family is coming to spend the summer at their cabin which means the bears who have been living there need to pack up and move out in a hurry. As the people move in, the bears move out, but the bears don’t go far…wherever the people are the bears are right around the corner. Occasionally there’s a cake missing or some mysterious footprints, otherwise, the people never catch on that the bears are enjoying their summer right alongside the people in the lake cottage.

This is one of those books that doesn’t have a lot of words, but there are a lot of pictures which much to explore and discuss. Your kids will especially enjoy this book if your family has a lake house or lake cottage. Maybe you have some bears right around the corner, too. 🙂