Baby reads!

One of the cutest things ever is when Charlotte picks up a book and starts to "read" it all on her own. She points out pictures and babbles as if she's telling the story. Baby sure does love books, and mama couldn't be happier!

This has been happening for the past couple of months and the other day I finally managed to get it on video. Here is a short clip of 11 month old Charlotte's re-telling of a Berenstain Bear story. Enjoy!

Thrift 'em!

I am sure most parents are all too familiar with the bored-with-all-my-toys phenomenon. As the name aptly suggests, this phenomenon is observed when a baby or child becomes bored with the toys they see and play with day in and day out. Of course, this same thing can happen with books!

I've purchased a fair number of board books over the past few months. It's nice having a selection to choose from to keep Charlotte interested. Some books will get hidden away for a week or so and then reproduced to baby's delight. "Hey, that one!" I imagine her thinking. She has yet to forget a book altogether, no matter how long it stays out of sight.

If you take a look at the back of any board book you will notice that building a board book library could easily become quite costly -- especially since this particular type of book will only be of interest to baby for a few short years. Most are around 8 or 10 dollars. No problem, I say! My solution is simple: thrift 'em!

Frenchy's and Salvation Army are gold mines. I have found many books in near-new condition for 25 or 50 cents. The beauty of board books is that if you're worried about the cleanliness of second hand items for baby, they are easily wiped down.

Thrift shops are great for out-of-print gems, forgotten childhood treasures, and new (old) surprises. I love a good vintage find, and have in fact been picking up books for when Charlotte is older as well. Here is a sampling of the fruits of our latest thrift store adventure:

Thanks to our thrifty ways, Charlotte has managed to amass a great board book collection, as well as a cool little vintage library to enjoy as she grows. Pretty impressive for a 10 month old, wouldn't you say?

Doggies

I first read Sandra Boynton's "Doggies" to Charlotte when she was 5 or 6 months old. And boy, this book tired me out!

Boynton takes the reader on a counting journey from one to ten, using barking doggies to illustrate each number. It's an incredibly simple premise: "1 dog. WOOF! 2 dogs. WOOF! Yap yap!" And it goes on like this. By the time you reach number ten, you will have made thirty-three assorted barking noises. Phew!

For the enthusiastic reader like myself, this is not an easy task. I can't simply read the woofs and the yap yaps. I have to get into character. I give it everything I've got.

Of course Charlotte loves this book. What baby doesn't love to hear Mommy make silly noises over and over again? So I read it. Despite feeling like I need a good nap once all is said and done.

I knew baby loved this book from the very first time I read it. When we got to 9 dogs howling on a moonlit night (cue long, drawn out howling noises), Charlotte gave a big grin. In time, she started to howl along with me, and following the "OoooOoooOoo"s on the page with her finger like I do when I read it. Soon, she was howling when we got to the page before the howling page in anticipation. Today, the book will be nowhere in sight. All Daddy or I have to say is "9 dogs..." and Charlotte starts a-howlin'. It's adorable!

"Doggies" is definitely a hit with Charlotte -- and anything that makes baby happy makes Mommy and Daddy happy too. Even if some days reading it feels like running a verbal marathon. WOOF!


Shopping @ SandraBoynton.com

Where's my meatball?!

Last week I decided it was finally time to check out the new children's lit section at our local Chapters bookstore. Turns out it's pretty fantastic. It's colourful and bright and absolutely humongous, with spots for children to sit and read from row upon row of magical, wonderful books. I foresee many trips to this place in my family's future.

I was immediately drawn to the board book section, naturally, intent on buying baby Charlotte something new for her library. I never quite realized it before that moment, but let me tell you, there is a pile of board books out there.

After some searching I spotted a little book on the bottom shelf which I knew in an instant I had to buy. I grabbed it up without hesitation and headed for the check-out with Robert Munsch's "The Paper Bag Princess" in tow and a big ol' grin plastered across my face.

I adored this book as a child. I loved the illustrations. I loved the story. Yep. They made one of my childhood favourites into a board book and I couldn't have been happier.

Until I got home and actually read it.

Sure, the bare bones are all there. The drawings are all the same. But this board book volume is different. Very different. Dare I say it? Maybe just TOO different.

You see, there are a few parts of the original story that were my favourites as a child. I distinctly remember what they are to this day. Probably my favouritest line of all goes "The dragon didn't even have enough fire left to cook a meatball". And you guessed it. While the accompanying illustration is present, there is a distinct lack of any mention of a meatball. I could hardly believe it as I sat there reading. My heart sank to my feet. I read and re-read. Where's my meatball!?

I understand that board books, by their very nature, are short and condensed and so adapations must be altered to fit space constraints. My mother pointed this out to me over Christmas when she read Dr Seuss' ABC to Charlotte and noticed several missing bits. I wasn't bothered by it at all until they decided to mess with MY Paper Bag Princess and the adored uncooked meatball.

This whole fiasco has put me in an awkward position. Do I withhold this version from Charlotte and introduce her to my beloved "real" version when she's older? Or do I simply insert the meatball and any other important missing bits when I read it to her now? I haven't decided.

I do know one thing: read before you buy. Especially when it comes to board book adaptations of childhood favourites. You never know what delicious Italian dish might be missing. Buyer Beware!!

I Love You Through and Through

As a new parent, the one thing above all else that I hope I am able to teach my baby is that she is loved, no matter what.

Little wonder that Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak's "I Love You Through and Through" is one of my favourite board books in Charlotte's library.

This book is sweet. A toddler and his teddy bear illustrate the rhyming story of everything that Mommy or Daddy (or whoever the reader may be) loves about baby. Baby's happy side. Baby's sad side. Baby's silly side, and mad side.

Remarkably, Rossetti-Shustak has managed to write a book which explains the concept of unconditional love in a manner that babies, as they grow and begin to understand language and its meaning, will surely grasp. What more can you ask for in a book?

I have to admit, I have had a misty-eyed moment or two while reading this to Charlotte (which is saying a lot, I'm not a teary kind of person generally).

Caroline Jayne Church's illustrations are fitting and wonderful. The little boy and his teddy are bold and bright, and really stand out against each page's subtle, interesting background. The image on the cover is quite indicative of what you will find inside.

Best of all, baby enjoys this book (almost) as much as I do! When it comes right down to it, I suppose that is all that matters, isn't it?

Charlotte always has a favourite page; in this book, she just loves the page that features a close-up of the little boy's face. She impresses me every time we arrive at this place in the book: she points to his eye and says "eye!" (which admittedly sounds more like "ahh" than "eye". It's cute as heck). She has been pointing at eyes and saying "ahh" for the past few weeks. My eye, Daddy's eye, eyes on toys -- even when I haven't shown her where this toy or that's "ahh" is before. But pointing out the eye here is especially impressive. This eye seems rather abstract. It's a dot, for heaven's sakes!

A second ritual (that she was actually doing long before she ever started pointing out the eye) occurs when we read the "I love your ears and nose" page. She turns around and points to MY nose. It's also very cute.

We love this book. I highly recommend it. Would surely make a perfect baby shower gift too!

Scholastic Canada - I Love You Through and Through
@ Amazon.com & Amazon.ca

Buy board books

Some lessons are harder learned than others.

I picked up "One Two Three: An Animal Counting Book" by Marc Brown a couple of weeks ago at a local thrift shop for 50 cents. As a great lover of books, and vintage items from the 1970s, this hardcover book is right up my ally.

My heart skipped a beat when I spotted it in the bin where it had been haphazardly tossed with dozens of other children's books. I touched the cover. It was an old library book, with that clear plastic stuff libraries put on dust jackets to protect them. You know what I'm talking about.

I love old libraries books.

This one was published in 1976. As soon as I opened that plasticy library cover, I was in love. This book is gloriously 70s. It smells like the 70s (or what I imagine the 70s must have smelled like) for goodness sakes!

Marc Brown's drawings look like they belong in an old Sesame Street sketch. There is not much for text here. Just numbers one through twenty, and the animals used to illustrate each number. Simple. To the point.

I knew better than to trust this book in the chubby little hands of my baby. But I couldn't resist. I wanted to read it too. And Charlotte is an enthusiastic page turner...

I guess I did an amazing job taping the page back together, because you can't really see it at all in this photo. But it is there. A big, ugly tear, nearly half of the page ripped off completely.

It was a sad day. I gave baby a kiss on the cheek because she is cute, fixed the page as best as I could, and put the book in her room on the bookshelf to be rediscovered at a later date.

Charlotte isn't quite ready to learn her numbers yet, anyway. Though gloriously 70s, the illustrations aren't colourful and bright, so she didn't seem especially interested. And then there's those paper pages. Clearly, this book is not for young babies.

A difficult lesson learned, but a necessary one nonetheless. Buy board books. Or at least keep them well away from enthusiastic baby hands if you find yourself unable to resist!

"One Two Three: An Animal Counting Book" on Amazon.com

I am a Bunny

"I am a Bunny" is the kind of book that fond childhood memories are made of. The kind of book that every child should have in their library.

First published in 1963, "I am a Bunny" follows a little rabbit named Nicholas on his adventures throughout the seasons of the year. Ole Risom's story is simply charming.

But what really has me in love with this board book is the art work. Illustrator Richard Scarry brings Nicholas the Bunny and his wonderful woodland world to life with each turn of the page. No, these aren't simple illustrations. They are works of art.

And as luck would have it, little Charlotte is quite the fan of "I am a Bunny" as well!

The colourful pictures that fill each page are fun to look at, to be sure. There are plenty of forest dwellers and pretty foliage to point out. And of course, there is Nicholas the Bunny himself.

Right from the start, whenever my husband or I would read this book to Charlotte, we would point to the bunny on each page. "There's the bunny!" To our surprise, a couple of weeks after being introduced to this book, 8 month old Charlotte was pointing out the bunny all on her own! I never realized how fantastic a baby's memory really is.

We have so much fun pointing out the bunny that there are plenty of times that we don't read the story at all. Charlotte loves the praise she receives. She anticipates it whenever the book is produced with sounds of excitement, kicking her legs, and showing that adorable grin.

"I am a Bunny" is a must for every young book lover's library. An absolute treasure!


"I am a Bunny" at Amazon.com

Moo, Baa, La La La!

What better way to kick-off baby's book review blog than by reviewing baby's first favourite book?

"Moo, Baa, La La La!"

You would probably be surprised if you knew just how many times this phrase has been recited in our household over the past few months.

I started reading "Moo, Baa, La La La!" by Sandra Boynton to Charlotte when she was around four months old. It was, in fact, the first book I ever read to her. This book grabbed her attention right away. The pages are bright and the drawings are simple. The text is sparse; the words short. I make funny animal noises when I read it to her. Even I have fun reading and re-reading this delightfully silly book.

By the time Charlotte was six months old, she would slap the pages of the book in delight as I read to her. In my never-ending quest to keep baby happy, content, and instill my love of books in her, we read this sturdy little volume nearly every day.

Then, one fateful car drive home, baby started to fuss and the usual songs weren't calming her down. So I began reciting "Moo, Baa, La La La!" and what do you know, it worked! To this day, the words in this book soothes baby as well as any beloved lullaby. Her Daddy and I know all of the words by heart.

Charlotte loves this little book, without a doubt.

A splendid first book for its simplicity, bright colours and engaging illustrations -- short and sweet so Mommy and Daddy won't mind reading it over and over again, too!

The Official Sandra Boynton Website

Shopping at Sandra Boynton.Com

Moo, Baa, La La La! at Barnes & Noble