Posts Tagged ‘mo willems’
Bunch of books have to go back today; before they go, a quick catalog of the ones my gang loved:
Gideon by Olivier Dunrea, from the Gossie & Friends series.
Huck enjoyed this short, simple story about a gosling who isn’t quite ready to take his nap. A repeat request, usually as a stall tactic at naptime. š Sweet art; pleasingly small trim size. A good library choice, since Huck, at a month shy of four (eek), is on the top end of the age range this book is likely to appeal to.
A leveled reader that enchanted all three of my youngest. The homey adventures of imaginative twin girls with very different personalities. The making-dumplings chapter is Rilla’s favorite. She’s hoping for more Ling and Ting tales.
This early reader scored especially high with my boys. Huck’s an easy mark: you had him at “Robot.” Wonderboy was amused by the way Robot upended Rabbit’s careful sleepover plans. Plus: Magnetic hands! A lost remote control! A snack of nuts and bolts! And poor, flustered Rabbit, worrying about sticking to his schedule—a character Wonderboy can very much relate to. I might snag a copy of this one to keep.
One of the few Elephant & Piggie books we don’t own, which means we wind up checking it out often.
I’m sneaking Autumn Leaves out of the house after approximately thirty-seven reads.
Rilla: Mommy, Rose says I have headacheitis.
Me: Yikes, that sounds serious! What is it?
Rilla: It’s when you color for too long and you get bored.
Me: Oh, I see.
Rilla: But it’s okay because there’s a cure. Rose said so.
Me: Well, that’s a relief. What’s the cure?
Rilla: It’s you reading all the Elephant and Piggie books with me. I’ll be Piggie.
We’ve been enjoying these two finalists in the CYBILs Early Reader category:
Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl by Tedd Arnold
We’ve been big Tedd Arnold fans ever since Green Wilma. This one is wacky and fun, and just a little gross.
We Are in a Book! by Mo Willems
An instant Rilla/Wonderboy favorite. They have adored every single one of the Elephant & Piggie books & this one—a Geisel Honor book, as announced yesterday—is no exception. Our first time through, I loved the way Rilla gasped and cried out, “They know???” when Elephant realized he was in a book and we were reading it.
Of course this book generates an even more earnest “Again please, Mommy!” than the rest of the Elephant and Piggie series—which is saying a lot—because when you get to the end, Elephant begs you to go back to the beginning. As I remarked on Twitter, this may well be the book that tips Rilla over the edge into reading, because she is determined to read all of Piggie’s lines herself.
(Bet I’d read it six times before I realized that what Piggie is thanking us for in the front of the book is starting over.)
My running Cybils Shortlist Reading Challenge tally: 12 of 76
May 11, 2010 @ 8:07 pm | Filed under:
Books Thank you for writing (and drawing) books I truly do not mind reading half a dozen times a day—
seven days a week—
for weeks on end.
Thank you for the giggles, the belly laughs, the delighted shrieks when Rilla spots the pigeon in the endpapers of a Gerald-and-Piggie book.
Thank you for the new words Wonderboy has learned to read this week.
Thank you for the great discussion my eleven-year-old and I had about the subtle, deceptively simple ways you convey the Pigeon’s emotions with the slant of an eyelid or the tilt of his beak.
Thanks for adding “she went boneless” to our family lexicon.
Just…thanks.
(And please keep ’em coming.)
Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin.
Rabbit and Robot: The Sleepover by Cece Bell.
Happy Pig Day! by Mo Willems.