The Bookshelf–Books for Babies by Baby Brynn

Another short list of a few of my favorite books!

I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt and Cyd Moore: The classic question: “Mama, what if I were a super smelly skunk and I smelled so bad that my name was Stinky Face. Would you still love me then?” Answer? Resounding yes! Reminiscent of Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny, this book is written and illustrated with a modern reader in mind. Green aliens from Mars, giant scary apes, slimy swamp monsters, all there to test a mother’s love. I love this book in part because Mama makes up all kinds of goofy sound effects for each creature–her alien voice and smelly skunk “pee-u!” are my favorites!

From Head to Toe Board Book by Eric Carle: A book about body parts and how they move, all mimicking different animals. I’m not quite old enough to do the actions in this book (kick my legs like a donkey, shrug my shoulders like a buffalo), but I love watching Mama do them! She’s crazy. She helps me do some of the actions, and I love it! Great fun!

Doggies (Boynton on Board) by Sandra Boynton: Woof! Yap yap! Ar-roof! Counting, dogs, and barking. What could be better? I love this book because of all of the great sound effects. Watch out for that cat at the end though–he’s feisty!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Chicka Chicka Book, A) by John Archambault and Bill Martin, Jr. and Lois Ehlert: “Chicka chicka boom boom! Will there be enough room?” Without a doubt, the best alphabet book on the planet! Rhyme and rhythm meet the alphabet in a coconut tree. My favorite part is when all of the letters fall out of the tree and end up in a big jumbled pile. I like trying to find the “b” for my name! Mama likes to trace the letters as she reads and she loves bouncing me on her legs to the rhythm. No other alphabet book even comes close!

Where’s Peter? (Peter Rabbit) by Beatrix Potter: Yes, it’s a touchy-feely book, and yes, it has flaps to lift, but this book also has the golden trifecta: rhythm, rhyme, and repetition. This book is my favorite of my touch and feel books because the pieces to touch are so big. It’s hard for my tiny, uncoordinated hands to touch small pieces of textured fabrics, and it’s even harder to touch textures that are set into the page like velvet, so this book is a huge hit with me. Best page? Squirrel Nutkin–his bushy tail is huge!

Hope you found something new to read with your little one!

Happy reading!

–Brynn (blog co-author, age 9 months)

Clicking on the book will take you to Amazon.com, and if you decide to buy the book, a portion of your purchase comes back to me. I, in turn, will use the profits to purchase books for our local library or for a children’s literacy project.

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The Bookshelf: A Wordless Wonder, A Leaping Peep, A Stuck Duck, and A Silly Songster

Hi! It’s Luke (age three and a half).

Every once in awhile, Mama and I do very well at the library. We come home with several books that I end up really enjoying. Three weeks ago was one of those trips, and here are four books that I have been requesting over and over again since then. Enjoy!

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee: If you haven’t read any books by Marla Frazee yet, then let this one be your first and you will be hooked. It’s a wordless picture book about a little clown boy who falls from his clown train car and ends up staying with a sour, lonely farmer. The farmer wants to make the sad, lost little clown happy, so he does all kinds of things for the boy that seem quite out of character. By the end of the book when the clown is reunited with his funny family, both the farmer and the boy are happy. Not only is the message a good one, but the illustrations are beautiful. If you like this book (Frazee’s most recent), try Boot and Shoe next–it’s one of my all-time favorite books!

Peep!: A Little Book About Taking a Leap by Maria van Lieshout: Recently, I’ve had to take some huge leaps out of my comfort zone, and this book helped me feel a lot better about them. It’s about a little chick who has to screw up his courage to take a huge leap off of a curb in order to follow his mother and sisters. Despite a few (very accurate and humorous) attempts at avoidance and with some encouragement from his mama and siblings, he finally takes the leap. “I DID IT!” he shouts. Since reading this book, “I DID IT!” has become my mantra. Very simple text and spare illustrations make this book easy to read and digest.

One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root and Jane Chapman: A counting book with jaunty rhythm, rhyme, and repetition that keep me engaged and tapping along with the beat! A poor duck gets stuck in the muck, down by the deep green marsh, and he pleads for help from his fellow marsh dwellers who cheerfully answer the call. Skunks, fish, moose, dragonflies–all work together to push an unlikely stick closer and closer to the stuck duck’s free foot. I LOVE this book! If you are looking for a 1-10 counting book, check out this one!

The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie and Steven Kellogg: Bee bee bobbi bobbi! Bee bee bobbi bobbi! The call of the baby bee bee bird will be lodged in your head for days after reading this book. A new arrival at the zoo, the baby beebee bird, keeps the other residents up all night long with his singing. As day breaks and the bird decides to finally take a nap, the other animals plot their revenge. They gang up on the baby and chorus their own “bee bee bobbis!” all day long. The baby bee bee bird can’t sleep, of course, so when night falls, everyone finally gets some rest. Not only is this book funny for kids because we love books with animal sounds and other strange sounds in them, but adults will also enjoy the parallels with their own comical efforts to wrestle babies (and toddlers and preschoolers) into a normal sleep schedule. A great book!

Hope you enjoy these books! I certainly did!

Happy reading!

–Luke (blog co-author, age 3.5)

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The Bookshelf: Brynn’s Debut Post

Hello, blog world! I’m Brynn, I’m eight months old, and this is my first book blog. Woo!

In the past few weeks, I’ve really begun to understand why books are better read than chewed. I’ll actually read several books in a row now, and I definitely have favorites. You know, the ones that I nearly fall off of Mama’s lap lunging for? The ones that I refuse to release after reading? The ones that I know lines from already and look intently at the person reciting them? These are my current favorites:

Barnyard Dance! (Boynton on Board) by Sandra Boynton: “Stomp your feet! Clap your hands! Everybody ready for a barnyard dance!” I LOVE this here book! Mama gets her legs movin’ up and down, her feet swingin’ in circles, and her mouth makin’ the funniest darn animal noises, all while I’m balanced precariously on her lap. It’s just a tad bit alarmin’, but I’ve learned to enjoy it. A lot. Catchy rhyme and rhythm are the best things about this book.

Peekaboo Dress Up (Touch-And-Feel Action Flap Book): Mama is usually not a huge fan of gimmicky books, but I certainly am. This books has things to touch, too, but my favorite part of the book is the peekaboo flaps. Mama reads, “Where has the baby gone? Is she behind the jungle cushion?” and then she sloooooowly lifts the flap, building anticipation to a fever pitch as I lean forward…and forward…and forward until she grabs me to keep me from toppling over. Every page is like that. And the babies in their costumes are SO cute! Well, maybe not quite as cute as me…

My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss: Mama thinks that this book is really well done, but I think this book is just plain fun! It’s all about moods and colors and how everyone has good and bad days. The art is both beautiful and beautifully wedded to the text. My favorite color is yellow: “Then comes a yellow day and weeeeeeeeee I’m a busy, buzzy bee!” I also have a lot of fun wacking the page when it says, “Then comes a mixed up day and WHAM! I don’t know who or what I am!” It’s great!

Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin and James Dean: This book is probably too old for me, but I don’t care. I love that CAT! He’s blue, for goodness sake! That’s crazy! I especially love trying to pet his curly tail and trying to grab the yellow bird that appears on most pages. For a book about colors, it’s pretty fantastic. Plus, it has a nice life lesson at the end: “No matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song…because it’s all good!”

Pajama Time! (Boynton on Board) by Sandra Boynton: “Pajammy to the left. Pajammy to the right. Jamma jamma jamma jamma P! J!” The alpha and omega of this post: the forever amazing Sandra Boynton. There are some colors and qualities (fuzzy vs. not) thrown into this book to lend it some substance, but really, it’s mostly about the rhyme and rhythm. Catchy, catchy! Mama and I dance our way through this book every other night. Definitely makes going to sleep a lot of fun!

Writing this post was pretty cool! I hope you enjoyed reading my debut, and I can’t wait to get going on the next one!

Happy Reading!

–Brynn (blog co-author, age 8 months)

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The Joy of Jumping on the Bandwagon: The Book with No Pictures

Hi there!

My name is Luke, I am three years old, and I am a bookaholic.

This past Christmas, Mama gave me B.J. Novak’s The Book with No Pictures. She also gave it to three other friends of mine. Clearly, she loves the book and put her money where her mouth is.

Sometimes Mama’s taste in books does not coincide with mine (see A Sick Day for Amos Magee), but in this case, we are in complete agreement. The Book with No Pictures is AWESOME! So, there are literally zero pictures in the book (unless you count the penguin symbol for Penguin Books, in which case there are exactly THREE pictures on or in the book–trust me, I counted them). But there are crazy words that the person reading the book HAS TO SAY. And the “person reading the book” is usually an adult, so listening to an adult make weird noises and say weird things is really quite entertaining. Try it! And to make that adult read the book over and over again is the ultimate power trip. Think about it: the adult thinks that she is doing something educational for you, something “beneficial for your development,” but in reality, the adult is making a complete fool of herself and making you laugh and laugh at her as she stumbles through words like “ma-grumph-a-doo” and sings nonsense songs about her face being a bug.

Silly parent. The joke’s on you!

I’m just sitting here enjoying the show, enjoying the book, enjoying the words, en…joy…ing…read…ing…awww, man! I’ve been had!

The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak

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Hitting the Jackpot: Random Library Picks That Luke Loves

Some library trips we come home with twenty books and none of them are any good. Other trips, like this last one, we come home with ten books, and they all rock. Luke is now three years old, but even if your child is a little older or younger, check them out! As with all children’s books, different books appeal to different kids for different reasons.

Batty by Sarah Dyer: Batty isn’t the most popular animal at the zoo, so he decides to try being more like the other animals. Super cute book about being yourself. Luke loves this book because some of the pictures are from Batty’s perspective…upside down, that is. He loves turning the book over to view the illustrations right side up. Very well done.

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard: One morning Bird wakes up in a foul mood. He doesn’t want to eat, play, or even fly. So he starts walking. Along the way he meets a host of animals, each of which eventually joins him on his walk. Soon, the walk turns into a game, and Bird’s bad mood is gone. Illustrations are bold and simple. Text is spare and repetitive (perfect for toddlers/preschoolers). A super cute story.

Froodle by Antoinette Portis: Four birds sing the same song day in and day out…until one day when the little brown bird decides to try something different. Something silly. Something like, “Froodle!” A really cute, well-done book about how much fun it can be to break from the usual every once in awhile. Illustrations are great. Text is simple enough for early readers. Luke says that he likes the words “blurv” and “inkpadink” the best.

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein: Little chicken LOVES her bedtime stories. She loves them so much that she can’t help but interrupt her father’s reading every time. Papa starts stories only to have little chicken leap into the story (literally–she is actually drawn into the storybook pages) and save the characters from disaster. This is a Caldecott honor book, so the illustrations are fun, and the text is simple enough for preschoolers. Luke thinks little chicken is pretty funny.

Cheese Belongs to You!: by Alexis Deacon and Viviane Schwarz: This is Rat Law: cheese belongs to you…unless a big rat wants it…unless a bigger rat wants it…unless a faster rat wants it…unless… and on and on. Luke gets a huge kick out of the dirty rat (we do lots of nose holding and ewww-ing) and the hairy rat (gross), and he enjoys watching the story build. What’s funny is that the ending is all about how nice it is to share, but Luke usually walks away for the last two pages. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t know how to share very well?

Come Back, Ben by John Hassett and Ann Hassett: Luke can read this book independently. Simple, repetitive text is great for the newest readers. And for such an early reader book, it’s actually really cute. Ben goes up and up holding onto his balloon, and everything he passes says, “Come back, Ben!” including the window, a tree, some bees, a big hill, etc. He finally reaches the moon, where he fills his pockets with moon rocks and floats gently back home. Luke really enjoys reading this book, in part because it’s easy enough for him to read by himself, and in part because we’ve started doing baby signs with Brynn (3 months old) and we can sign almost the entire book. Fun!

Clicking on the books will take you to Amazon.com, and if you decide to buy the book, a portion of your purchase comes back to me. I, in turn, will use the profits to purchase books for our local library or for a children’s literacy project.

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Love Lessons for My Daughter

Brynn is only seven weeks old, but she has already had a lifetime’s worth of lessons via the books she’s been read. Here is a list of the books and what I hope they convey to her brand new brain:

The Red Wolf by Margaret Shannon: BE CLEVER. In this book, Roselupin is a princess who has been imprisoned in a tall, stony tower by her well-intentioned but misguided father, the king. He wants to protect her from the wild and dangerous world, but in doing so, he also removes her from the joys of life as well. On her seventh birthday, however, Roselupin receives a surprise present: a chest full of balls of wool with a note that says, “Knit what you want.” That night, she knits herself a red wolf suit, speaks some magic words, and is transformed into a giant wolf that bursts from the tower into freedom.

There is more to the story, and a surprise ending to boot, but the central idea I hope you take from it, Brynn, is to be resourceful and clever and to use the tools available to find solutions to knotty problems.

Goodnight Songs: Illustrated by Twelve Award-Winning Picture Book Artists by Margaret Wise Brown: BE MUSICAL. Your father gave me this book for Mother’s Day this year in anticipation of your birth. It is a collection of poems written by the author of Goodnight Moon and is illustrated by several different authors. A CD comes with the book, but I’ve never listened to it. I like to read the poems and make up my own melodies for you. Music has played a huge role in my life, and I hope that you pick up on how important it is to have some form of beauty in your life.

Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! (Big Bright & Early Board Book) by Dr. Seuss: BE CONFIDENT. “Think left and think right, think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try.” Most people would say that this is a book about thinking and creativity, but I really like the part of the message about trying. I’d like you, Brynn, to grow up knowing that you can do almost anything if you only put your mind to it. Effort reaps rewards, and it’s not just about how smart you are.

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You : Dr. Seuss’s Book of Wonderful Noises (Bright and Early Board Books) by Dr. Seuss: BE SILLY. Moo, buzz, boom boom boom, dibble dibble dop your way through life, Brynn, and don’t worry a fig about what other people think. It took having kids of my own before I finally learned this lesson, but I hope you learn to have a silly, wonderful time dancing through life.

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams: BE REAL. “‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’”

Oh, Brynn. This will be one of the biggest challenges of your life. To be Real. People will make fun of you because they are jealous and call you names because they are insecure, but they are little people in the end and can never change who you are as long as you remain committed to this idea of being Real.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle: BE ENGAGED. I’d love for your life’s mantra to be “What do I see?” I used to have my Seniors do a ten minute writing on a quote that says, “Being bored is an insult to oneself,” and I can’t help but agree. Everything in life has the potential to teach you something, even if it’s what not to do, so keeping your eyes open and taking time to think about what you see is one of the most valuable lessons I could teach you.

I Love You Through And Through by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak and Caroline Jayne Church: BE LOVED. Find a few really good friends and a best friend for a partner and you won’t go wrong, Brynn. They make life worth living. And always know how loved you are.

Your first month and a half in books, Brynn. Be happy, girlfriend…

Love,

Mama

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My Mother-in-law Must Really Dislike Me

My mother-in-law must really dislike me.

On her last trip to visit, she came bearing books for my almost-three-year-old son Luke. The book that stole the show? Farts in the Wild: A Spotter’s Guide.

Yes. She bought my son a fart book.

And he LOVES it.

This little gem details farts from the smallest creatures (goldfish) up to the largest creatures (elephants), with eight lovely additional animals in between. It could be slightly educational as it also provides facts and stats about each creature’s farting habits, but that’s not what Luke likes about it.

Off to the side of the text is a panel with ten little buttons on it. Oh, yes. Push the buttons and you will hear a sample of the corresponding creature’s fart accompanied by the creature’s distinctive call. The goldfish blubs, the cat meows, the elephant trumpets, but they all fart.

A preschooler’s dream.

A parent’s worst nightmare.

And yet…

As I watched Luke play with this book on day eight (yes, I was definitely counting the days), I realized he was doing something interesting with it and not just pressing buttons randomly anymore. Luke had his music player next to him, and he had This Old Man on repeat. As the song played, he pressed the number that the singer sang. Woah, I thought. That’s kind of cool. And on day nine, I watched Luke unfold his fingers one by one, counting as he pressed the ten little buttons. Woah. That’s even cooler!

In true preschooler fashion, Luke turned an otherwise annoying toy into something pretty cool. And, as an added bonus, without any outside help, it became something educational. Authentic, self-directed learning at its finest.

So, even though I’d rather not hear animal farts all day long, I do have to admit my own lesson learned about the amazing capacities of children and the endless possibilities of books.

I’d love to hear about how your child repurposed an old or uninspired book. Please leave a comment!

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The Birthday Book Post: Books We Have Given

For one reason or another, many of my little friends have birthdays in May. This slew of birthdays has inspired me to post a list of the books that I have given to others for their birthdays over the past three years. I consider these books the “best of the best,” otherwise I wouldn’t pass them on! Books are arranged by the ages of the children to whom I gifted the books, but that doesn’t mean that older children wouldn’t enjoy them as well….

FOR ONE YEAR OLDS:
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by James Dean and Eric Litwin: I don’t know a little one who doesn’t like Pete the Cat! Pete has a new pair of white shoes, but he keeps stepping in different colored things (strawberries, blueberries, etc.). “Does Pete cry? Goodness no! He keeps walking along singing his song.” I loved that this book could be read with tons of inflection and that Mama and Dada sang (I use the word loosely) the little ditty that Pete sings. Fantastic for kids learning their colors.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems: I’m not sure how many times I can post this book before I get in trouble for copyright infringement. This book is great for little ones because of the big text, inflection, and funny storyline. See Mo Willems post for more info!

FOR TWO TO THREE YEAR OLDS:

Snip Snap!: What’s That? by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland: One of my all time favorite books just before I turned two! Lots of fun noises for parents to make, a jaunty rhyme, nice repetition, and an alligator on the loose make this book a sure hit. There is a great close up of the alligator that always made me laugh, too!

If I Were a Lion by Sarah Weeks and Heather Solomon: Another huge favorite of mine! A spunky little girl is in time out for making a huge mess and her mother dubs her “wild.” The rest of the book is the girl protesting that if she were truly wild, she’d do all of these “wild” things like “poke and pierce and tear, not sit here nicely in my chair.” Great rhyming text, expressive illustrations, and, of course, the little girl is the quintessential toddler: equal parts mischief and sweetness. (She does apologize and say sorry at the end!)

Gorilla! Gorilla! by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross: Definitely a fun book for toddlers who can talk (or at least yell, “STOP!”). A mother mouse’s baby goes missing, but as mama is looking for him, a giant gorilla yells, “Stop!” at her. She takes off running, of course, and that begins a chase across the globe. In the end, the gorilla turns out to be a great guy who found her baby and has been trying to give him back the entire time. Nice repetitive text, opportunities for audience involvement, and a surprise ending make this book another fun read for both parents and kids.

FOR THREE TO FOUR YEAR OLDS:
Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown: What a fantastic book! Jasper Rabbit is obsessed with carrots, and he picks them from a field every day. One day, however, the carrots start following him, “tunk tunk tunk…” or do they? Jasper sees carrots everywhere, but with Peter Brown’s clever illustrations, neither Jasper nor the reader is entirely certain whether the carrots are really there. Finally, Jasper hatches a plan to ensure that those carrots never bother him again, but it is the carrots who get the last laugh! Black and white illustrations with only splashes of orange for the carrots lend a Twilight Zone feel to the book. Entertainingly suspenseful text, too!

The Gruffalo (Picture Books) by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler: Another great book with a clever twist at the end! Everyone wants to eat Mouse, but he foils them all by making up an imaginary creature called a Gruffalo who loves to eat the other animals. Mouse soon discovers that the Gruffalo DOES exist, and it’s hungry for mouse, too! But Mouse is pretty darn clever, and he fools the Gruffalo just like he did the other animals. Nice repetition, catchy rhyme, and Mouse’s cleverness make this book tons of fun for both parents and kids!

Ladybug Girl by David Soman and Jacky Davis: I liked this book for a very long time. Lulu may dress like Ladybug Girl, but she is a spunky girl with a can-do attitude. When her brother refuses to play with her one morning, Lulu makes her own fun and proves to the world that she is NOT too little to do big things (like save ants, count letter Ls, and rebuild rock walls). This book encourages kids to be independent, use their imaginations to entertain themselves, and leave their own pint-sized impact on the world. Illustrations and language are both wonderful.

Happy gifting!

–Luke (age 2.5, blog co-author)

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Weekly Bookshelf–Books for One to Two Year Olds–Installment 1

The first short list of my favorite books from when I turned one to when I turned two:

Five Little Pumpkins (Harper Growing Tree) illustrated by Dan Yaccarino: I loved this book when I first turned one. The classic rhyme has been illustrated by many different artists, but this particular version appealed to me most. The illustrations are brightly colored with larger graphics, and they are simple yet filled with expression. In addition to counting, my Mama and Dada liked to talk about colors and do some baby signs (moon, cat, ghost–floating hand with “ooooooo” sound), too.

Horns to Toes and in Between by Sandra Boynton: Ahhh….Sandra Boynton. Genius. Poet. Humorist. All for us little ones! My Mama was teaching me body parts, and this book is one of the “body parts books” that I really liked.

What Will Fat Cat Sit On? by Jan Thomas: Speaking of humorists, Jan Thomas is pretty darn funny, too. I loved this book because of the built-in theatrics. It’s impossible to read this book without using exaggerated inflection (which helps us little ones hear word parts more clearly), and the situation is clearly urgent (especially for the various animals Fat Cat might just pop a squat on) and very funny. The text is also simple, very large, and with few words to a page so children begin to see how individual words are separated.

How to Catch An Elephant by Amy Schwartz: Oh boy. I read this book over and over and over and over again with both Mama and Dada for a full year. It’s much longer and more involved than any other book I really liked in this period. Really, it’s more like a book for a three year old, but I loved it because of the foot stomping and the elephant sounds and the repetition and the complexity of the puzzle. The resolution is a fairly tough idea for a little person (inverted telescope makes the elephant smaller), but that’s part of the reason I liked it. It was challenging!

Mama’s note: This last book was a stretch for Luke, but it exposed him to more advanced vocabulary, sentence structure, and plot line. He requested it multiple times a day for a very long time. We wore out the renewals at our library (12 weeks all told), and then I finally bought a copy. My first record of us reading it was at 12.5 months, and we read it six times that day!

Happy reading!

—Luke (blog co-star, age two and a half)

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Weekly Bookshelf–Books for Birth to One Year Olds–Installment 1

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You : Dr. Seuss’s Book of Wonderful Noises (Bright and Early Board Books): One of my favorite books when I was little! A fantastic book for engaging the littlest of us because of the sounds. Really get into the sounds and your child will avidly follow along. My two favorite parts were knocking on the book (for “hand on a door, knock knock!”) and the “boom, boom boom!” of the thunder (Dada really got into this one, and Mama liked to bounce me a little on her lap with each boom).

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle: Clearly a classic, but I loved it because my Mama used signs and sounds throughout the book. Moon sign, sun sign, eating sounds, and caterpillar sounds (ee, er, ee, er) and finger inching like a caterpillar. My favorite part of the book was always the beautiful butterfly at the very end. My Mama loved talking about all of the colors on its wings.

The Foot Book: Dr. Seuss’s Wacky Book of Opposites: Another good book for baby signs and sounds. Going up and down stairs (Mama’s voice would pitch up and down and she’d walk her fingers up and down the stairs, too), sun sign, moon sign, sick sounds (stuffy nose) and well sounds (happy voice).

Pajama Time! (Boynton on Board)by Sandra Boynton: I loved this book for two years! The rhyme and rhythm are both so catchy, and there are so many things to do and talk about with this little gem. My favorite part was “Pajammy to the left, pajammy to the right! Jamma, jamma, jamma, jamma, P! J!” Mama would dance me to the left, to the right, and then bounce me a little on the P! J! Sandra Boynton is a genius.

For more information about why my Mama and Dada used baby signs and lots of other hand motions while reading with me, see the Mama’s Corner post from March 25, 2014: Baby Signs and Nurture Shock: Why Baby Signs Work.

Happy Reading!

–Luke (blog co-author, age two and a half)

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