MommaReads

Poor Officer Buckle goes to schools and teaches the kids about being safe. His presentations, however, are boring and his important safety message is not getting through. Things start to turn around though when Napville’s police department gets a police dog named Gloria. Gloria is soon accompanying Officer Buckle to his safety talks and the kids are sitting up and paying attention. They even seem to be enjoying Officer Buckle’s presentations, but he can’t seem to figure out why. Your children will love the illustrations which show them what Officer Buckle can’t figure out. This book always gets a giggle at our house.

This book made its way into our house before our oldest was born. I started reading it to him every night before he was born and then at bedtime after he was born. It is a sweet and perfect bedtime story with illustrations that are as warm and cuddly as the story.

We were introduced to this book when it came in our box of Cheerios a few years ago and we instantly fell in love with it. Clorinda is a cow who aspires to be more than a cow…she wants to dance! She is told that she can’t dance by many, but she doesn’t give up. She leaves the farm and heads to the city, where after many no’s, she finally finds a spot in the corps de ballet. She practices, practices and practices and finally gets her chance in the spotlight where she promptly smashes her dancing partner after landing on him. Poor Clorinda realizes that her dancing career needs to find a different path. She doesn’t give up though. She does eventually find a stage where she can show off all of her moves, it’s just not where she expected to end up.

Let me begin by saying that I am not a huge Robert Munsch fan. That said, I love, love, love this story. If you have a little girl, you need this book. Yes, need. It is not your typical princess story. In this story the princess is smart, brave and clever. After her prince is captured by the dragon she outwits the dragon to save her prince. After everything she has gone through to rescue him her hair is all messy, her pretty princess dress has been burned and replaced by a paper bag and she smells. The prince wants nothing to do with her now so she tells him off and they don’t live happily ever after. This book could lead to a great discussion with boys and girls alike!

If you saw the copy of this book at our house you would know that is has been read-A LOT!  It is worn and torn, but oh, we love it so.  It is just a fun romp of a read.  It repeats enough so that the kids can start to participate fairly quickly and the illustrations are hilarious.  Every time you read the book you see something in one of the pictures that you didn’t see before.  You are sure to get a giggle or two with this gem.

I used to be a preschool teacher and one of the interview questions I had was to name my favorite children’s book.  In that split second when you have to come up with a coherent answer I came up with Margaret Wise Brown’s The Big Red Barn.  I think the reason I fell in love with this book, besides the sweet and simple story,  is the cadence of the words, the rhyme and the ease with which children can learn the story and start to “read” it themselves because of its simplicity.  Less is more with this book.  It’s not a showstopper…it is a quiet classic.

I have a passion for children’s books.  I often share the books that I particularly love on my personal website, but I wanted to have an outlet to share more.  I hope that you can find books on here that you can share with your own family.  Some may be classics that have been read and re-read for generations while others may be new.  Please share any great finds that you think other parents would also enjoy.  You can check back in each day to find what book is featured for the day.  I am looking forward to this journey in reading with you.  Happy reading…