Here’s what we read this past week, in addition to finally finishing the A to Z mystery, The Lucky Lottery. Hover over the image for title and author.
Ask Mr. Bear is a classic older book about a little boy who asks various animals what he should give his mother for her birthday. The chicken offers an egg, the cow milk, etc. but the boy says Mom already has eggs, milk, etc. One animal suggests the boy go ask the Mr. Bear, which the boy must do solo as (it is presumed) the other animals are scared of him. The boy returns empty-handed, but on the final page gives his mother a big bear hug. Gareth (age 4) loved this story—in part, I think, because the little boy was named Danny, as is one of Gareth’s good friends. I Love You, Stinky Face is a superb book about unconditional love. A child, being told “I love you—good night” asks, “But Mama…what if I was a ______ (big scary ape, stinky skunk, swamp creature, green alien from Mars, etc.)?” The mother reassures the child that no matter what, she would love him/her and take care of him/her. Lovely message, lovely book. The Paper Princess is about a paper doll a girl makes, and the doll’s adventures when she gets blown away in a gust of wind. Unusual storyline that engaged both boys, and me too.
We’ve only read the first story, Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit, from Hop To It!, but the collection looks good with lots of pictures to engage all levels at Easter. Vroomaloom Zoom had both boys giggling, as a father drives over hill and dale—with various sound effects—trying to get his daughter to fall asleep in her car seat. “Are you getting tired yet?” “Not yet, Daddy! Keep driving!” Little Pea is a silly nonsense story about a family of peas, where Little Pea had to eat all his candy before getting spinach for dessert. Yum!
Common Ground was my favourite read from this week; we read it right before Earth Hour began. The story is simple enough that Daegan (age 6) could understand the so-called “tragedy of the commons” problem. Highly recommended. Wings Along the Waterway is a wonderful book to share with a young birder, with detailed information and pictures about 20 different water birds, and how we can help them. Pssst! was a funny and unusual book in which zoo animals request different items from a child—tires, bike helmets, corn, etc. It is not clear why the animals ask for the particular things they did until the final page—they create a very homemade Zoo Cruiser to drive around and alleviate boredom. Daegan got the humour, but it was a bit too out there for Gareth.
Happy reading!