MommaReads

This Thanksgiving story will give most little ones the giggles…so much goes wrong while trying to get their Thanksgiving dinner together…the turkey ends up in the lake for starters. The Tappletons’ turkey dinner does not turn out AT ALL as they had hoped, but they quickly learn that it’s not the turkey that makes Thanksgiving, but the people you share it with.

Note: There are two different versions of this book. Only the illustrations are different; the story is the same.

The title of this book sums up its content pretty well. It’s a cute rhyming tale of Boynton’s classic characters getting ready for bed and doing probably the same things your little ones do before they go to bed…taking a bath, brushing their teeth, picking out the pajamas. This is, as you may have guessed, a great bedtime book to help reinforce those nightly routines.

A rhyming Thai lullaby where a mother tries to keep all of the creatures quiet…from a mosquito to a cat to a monkey to a water buffalo to an elephant…so that her baby can sleep. All is quiet in the end and baby isn’t the only one who’s asleep.

It doesn’t matter that your baby doesn’t know where Mali is, your baby will LOVE looking at the pictures of all the babies in this beautiful book that celebrates babies from all over the world. There is so much for a parent to talk about and describe in this book, too. Babies love to hear the sound of your voice and this is a great book to just sit and look at the pictures and talk about what you see.

A simple black and white book that goes through a baby/toddler’s day from breakfast to getting dressed to playing outside to bath time and bedtime. Babies love to look at things and “talk” about things that are all about them…it’s a great way to build on vocabulary too.

Sandra Boynton has a knack for writing books that the little ones love and this one is no exception. Little Pookie’s mom is trying to get him to go to bed, but Little Pookie has other ideas. Your little one will enjoy the rhyme of this book as well as helping Little Pookie’s mom find him. Babies and toddlers also love to see how other little people (or in this case a pig) get ready for bed, too…picking out the pajamas, brushing teeth and getting tucked in with a kiss good night.

This was another favorite in our house when the boys were little. Babies LOVE to see other babies and even more, they love to see other babies doing the things they do like getting messy and taking a bath. This is a very simple book and sometimes those are the best kind…sweet and simple.

My boys loved this book when they were little…not only do you get to kiss your baby all the way from their cute little toes all the way up to their sleepy little head, but it also works on numbers from ten to one.

Ten little kisses on teeny tiny toes
Nine laughing kisses on busy wriggly feet
Eight squishy kisses on chubby, yummy, knees

So much fun…little ones love the interaction and all those kisses!

We love our Mark Teague books around here and this one is no exception. Ike LaRue (who happens to be a dog) ends up running for mayor when it seems that the other candidate’s campaign starts to sound a little “anti-canine”. Did I mention that Ike and his friends have been stealing meat from the butcher and tipping over hot dog carts? No matter. What’s important is that Ike and his friends are not restricted by leash laws and curfews. In true Ike fashion, Ike ends up saving the day and a resolution to the dog problem isn’t far behind. You will definitely “like Ike”.

Prelutsky’s poetry does a great job of capturing the essence of several different sports in this book that is perfect for the preschool and elementary sports enthusiasts in your house. He covers sports like basketball, soccer, football and baseball as well as swimming, frisbee, karate and ice skating to name a few. His poems handle both losing and winning with grace. He also helps kids see that it’s okay to not be good at a sport and even if you’re not good at a sport you can still have fun playing it. These poems are short, fun and have a great rhyme to them.