The Mole Sisters and the Rainy Day by Roslyn Schwartz
I heard about the Mole Sisters at the Greenwillow blog a while back and thought it sounded like something Rilla would love. I was right. What a sweet little book: lovely small trim size, so appealing to preschoolers; soft, charming illustrations; and a simple storyline with minimal text—this can double as an early reader—that has delighted my young miss. We’ll have to look for more Mole Sisters adventures.
The Elephant’s Child by Rudyard Kipling
This isn’t the edition we read—I’m reading out of an illustrated Just So Stories—but each story gets lingered over and talked about so thoroughly that each one seems to warrant its own entry here. This one was a particular hit with Rilla: all those unfathomable spankings, and the satisfying turnabout at the end. We also read “How the Leopard Got Its Spots” but she talked all the way through that one, more interested in questions (which is fine!) than the story itself.
Chalk by Bill Thomson
Cybils fiction picture book finalist. Jiminy crickets, what art! Amazing expressions on the kids, especially when they’re running in terror from the T Rex…Rilla and Wonderboy were transfixed by this one. The magic of chalk that brings drawings to life, the dramatic turn of events, the clever solution. A wordless story, which is something Rilla always enjoys.
The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
Cybils fiction picture book finalist. Silly, funny, sweet. Very satisfying for Rilla and Wonderboy. A rollicking rhymed text that isn’t torture to read, and the joke at the end went over big.
The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher by Molly Bang
All my little ones have been attached to this book at a certain age. Rilla’s turn now, it seems. Had to ‘read’ it to her three times today. Well, the third time she was telling it to me. Always makes me crave berries and cream.
The Tomten by Astrid Lindgren
A taste of icy northern winter for my little California girl. The tone of this book, as the tomten makes his rounds of the farm at night, is as hushed and glittering as its own snowy fields.
Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy E. Shaw
As funny now as when I read it to Jane fourteen years ago. Rilla is at the point where she can read this one to me, which makes it even better.
Tags: Astrid Lindgren, Bill Thomson, Chalk, Elephant's Child, Just So Stories, Karma Wilson, Mole Sisters, Molly Bang, picture books, Rillabooks, Roslyn Schwartz, Rudyard Kipling, Sheep in a Jeep, The Cow Loves Cookies, The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher, The Tomten
I keep posting about what I’m reading to Rilla, but of course I’m reading to my little boys too. Huck’s in board book land; you probably have all the same ones. (He’s also big on the Dr. Seuss ABC and Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.) Wonderboy’s a whole different kid in terms of reading and being read to. That’s a post for another day. He listens in to most everything I read his little sister, but he’s much more interested in mechanics than story. When he chooses a book, it’s usually Seuss or Elephant-and-Piggie or the Pigeon or a Boynton. Which is lucky for us, because all those things are fun to read over and over and over and over and…
Anyway, Rilla’s last week-or-so’s worth of read-alouds, often enjoyed with one brother perched on my lap and the other digging a sharp elbow into my thigh. This list goes backward from the past week or so, because I sent the links over from Diigo. This means some of my notes won’t make much sense.
Rilla’s first time. Today we read “How the Whale Got His Throat” and “How the Camel Got His Hump.” Utterly delicious to get to watch a child hear these for the first time, all over again. (And another Kindle-read.) Wonderboy loves them too, the bumpy jumpy cadences.
She begged for this but got stressed out by the King’s threats and fury, and all through the second half she just wanted me to quickly tell her (not read in detail) what happened. It’s always funny to read Seuss’s prose—as much of it as I was allowed to read, at least.
Oddly, we read this on the Kindle—so no art. Beatrix Potter without the art! It’s almost heretical! But, see, I was reading a book of my own on the Kindle, and Rilla burrowed in and started picking out words she recognized, Scout Finch fashion. I asked if she wanted me to find a story for her, and she was rather gleeful at the prospect of reading one of HER stories on MOMMY’S Kindle. I poked around to find some things in the public domain. Potter turned up right away, and fairy tales, and Mother Goose. I downloaded one of each. What she’s enjoying is having me enlarge the font to its maximum size, and she reads the words she knows, and I read the rest, and she’s doing that echo thing where she says a word before I have a chance to finish it. I absolutely love this stage. She’s right on the brink.
A frequent request from both Rilla & Wonderboy. Family favorite since Jane was tiny. Rilla’s at the emergent-reader stage where nursery rhymes are hugely satisfying for her, because she can fill in from memory the words she can’t yet read. (And each repetition nudges her closer to reading.)
Arrived in a goodie package from my agent. What a fun picture book! The other chickens in the coop don’t quite know what to make of this enormous new chick. Is he an elephant? An umbrella? Goofy and giggle-inducing, and wonderful cartoony art. The cover just kills me.
Rilla’s first time! The word games completely bewilder my more literal Wonderboy, but he enjoys seeing Amelia at work.
Our favorite part is the Shivers story…
Such a sweet, simple, satisfying story, comfortably formulaic. And ink-lined watercolors tend to be my favorite illustration style—Elsa Beskow is very Carl Larsson.
Rilla and Wonderboy like this one more to look at than to hear. The illustrations are beautiful—butterflies and caterpillars on their host plants in the garden. A pore-over-and-hunt book.
More books we love here.
Tags: Amelia Bedelia, Beatrix Potter, Chicken Big, Dr Seuss, Elsa Beskow, Keith Graves, Mother Goose, Peggy Parish, Pelle's New Suit, picture books, Rillabooks, Rudyard Kipling
