DragonFly's Book Suggestions

How Do I Love You?  by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church, published in 2009.  This book was a gift from a friend. The friend had loved reading this book to her boys and decided to gift another copy of the book to us so we could also enjoy reading it with our little one. We have read this book thousands of times! It has mostly been a goodnight book. The words in this book are just the dearest love poem from parent to child and Caroline Jayne Church has illustrated bright pictures that are perfect to go along with the words. We have enjoyed looking at the pictures. Sometimes we point out body parts and sometimes we notice how the main character dresses in different weather. She points to the three dinosaurs and listens to me roar and then points to the bunny and watches me as I pretend I am the bunny scared of the dinosaurs and then points to the girl in the book and I pretend I am the girl and say "I love my dinosaurs!" This book helped our daughter le...

1.  Dear Zoo  by Rod Campbell, first published 1982 We've started a tradition of going to the zoo during Spring Break time. Thus when Spring comes around, we read books and do puzzles with zoo animals. This book has been a favorite. Last year when she was 10 and 11 months old was when we first read it. She enjoyed hearing me read it and liked the picture of the dog on the last page. This year she loves the book! She enjoys opening all the flaps and making all the animal sounds and signing the animals that she knows the signs for. This book was first published 41 years ago and is just as popular now as it was. The idea for putting animals in crates is so brilliant and believable and it tells a story of why each animal isn't right and then finally the puppy was perfect, hooray! 2. Spring Babies  by Kathryn Galbraith, published 2019 Babies love to see pictures of other babies. Our daughter at 11 months loved reading this book! Bright pages, cute pictures, diverse population...

Our daughter has been INTO books! Multiple times she has pulled probably 20 books off the shelf and flips through them. Sometimes I ask her if she wants me to read it to her and she says, "no." She's been wanting to read the books herself. This morning she wanted to pull out all the bedtime books in her room and she wanted to read them in her room without me. I started to follow her into her room and she said "no." When I've been reading with her she likes to point to pictures and have me label the pictures for her. I think this is how she learned the word turtle which she used yesterday at the fish pond when we saw the turtle basking in the sun on the top of a rock. Another thing she's been doing is flipping to a page, like the title page, multiple times to hear me say the title page over and over. Or one morning this past week she wanted to only read the "Oh no" page in a Biscuit dog book. Where's The Ladybug?  by Ingela P. Arrhenius is o...

   This has been a favorite book: Moo, Baa, La La La!  by Sandra Boynton. We've also read the Spanish version. Animals making sounds and a question at the end "It's quiet now what do you say?" Which she usually answers "Mama" but today she said "Mama" and then she also said "Dada."  I can't write a children's book blog without mentioning Sandra Boynton books. What wonderful books! Perfect for babies through toddlers. Most of her books also have songs that go with them. She writes with humor and as someone who really knows her audience. Sandra Boynton books are ones that are worth buying because they will be enjoyed over and over and over and over again.  Other books by this author that we have read and enjoyed: Barnyard Dance! Belly Button Book Blue Hat, Green Hat Boo! Baa, La La La! But Not the Armadillo But Not the Hippopotamus Christmas Parade Dinosnores Doggies: A Counting And Barking Book Fifteen Animals! Happy Hippo, Angry D...

  As I am sitting her writing, it is snowing outside. Yes, snowing in the middle of April. So, I am thankful for books and that we have access to hundreds of books through our local library and also billions of books through interlibrary loan.  This morning we've read "Daniel Visits the Library,"  "Gossie &Gertie" and listened to the CD and looked at the pictures of "Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let it Begin with Me." A couple of months back I was reading a blog that mentioned the Little People, Big Dreams Series of books by the Quarto Publishing group. We were able to check out some of this series through interlibrary loan. This is a series that I wish I knew about earlier. As a teacher and a mom I like that this series sets the stage for their first readings of biographies. Kids get to learn about other people, having a window to their lives, through books. There are great pictures and information that is geared just right for the books' a...

  My 22 month loves this book! We requested it from the public library because she has an interest in cats, and all animals. She had me read it with her about 6 times a day for a week and a half! Simple text but so engaging. She loves to hear the different sounds in our voices as we ask the question "have you seen my cat?" and she loves to hear the different intonations in our voices as we answer the question over and over: "that is not my  cat." She loves to hear our voices as we roar like a panther or meow like a Persian cat. She loves to hiss for the cat on the title page. She copies the adults pointing. I love that it shows her places around the world and different types of cats. The classic Eric Carle artwork makes the animals and people stand-out on the white background.  If you know a young kid who loves cats then I would highly recommend this lesser known Eric Carle book.   Other activities to pair with the book: -Use blocks, pipe cleaners and pom-poms t...