What We Are Reading

So, recently I brought the kids in for our quiet morning at our neighborhood coffee shop and the girl behind the counter starts making small talk with my kids. It's easy to do. They are talkative and typically cute, as 2 and 4 years olds are.  Anyways, she is doing that thing that adults do where they talk through children (I do it all the time). Basically she was telling me she used to be a preschool teacher and she LOVES this book called The Circus Ship. She wrote it down on a piece of paper and slipped it to my 4 year old girl. Well, that little note was like treasure to A. She carefully kept it in her pocket as if the girl behind the counter had handed her the best secret ever. So I looked it up and decided we'd give it a try. And it was a great find!

We love it. Maybe its because we are New Englanders, but who doesn't love a story about circus animals finding a home on an island off of Maine when their boat crashes near shore! The story is very loosely based on true events and the illustrations are amazing. Its an adventure story! With good guys and a bad guy (aptly named Mr. Paine); a sweet tiger that saves a little girl; and the villagers figuring out that they want to be friends with these exotic, yet kind animals. The book is exciting and has a happy ending.  Both my 2 year old and 4 year old are entranced by it.  A fun filled book that's a great addition to any collection. Especially for us Sea-coasters. 

What We Are Reading

Tonight A pulls this book "The Rabbits" off the shelf. An amazing, spot-on, illustrated book about colonization. I've never read it to her because I expected it would be more appropriate when she was older. But she insisted. She interpreted the book (at 3 years old) more as about the Rabbits not taking care of the planet earth, but I was impressed anyway. 

The last line of the book is "Who will save us from the rabbits?". I looked at her and she answered, "A Saver!" I asked her if that was her. She responded, "Mom, I'm not a saver. I'm just a kid! I am a helper." 

When I was doing my Master's in Education, and subsequently doing professional development with educators, I was constantly reminding teachers that kids can understand so much more than they are given credit for and more importantly interpret and internalize it in a positive way. Kids don't carry the same mental baggage that we do. What can seem too dark to us just isn't to them. They take the lessons they need and understand (and that we want them to have) from books and events that at first glance seem far above them.

My daughter proved this to me tonight.

What we are (all) reading!

Its our new favorite book in the house!!!

What's better for a couple of artsy parents - including a Graphic Designer geek dad - than a color book Pantone: Colors.

The book highlights 9 different colors and 20 shades of each. 

N is totally into any book in general that will make us test his knowledge of anything (colors, shapes, numbers, letters) and A just thinks the different shades, and their different names are fascinating!  She asks us to read them over and over and gets a kick out of thinking & talking about them! 

From other reviews I've read the age span of interest in this book goes for a long time. Some even mentioning their third graders interest!  Love it.  Highly recommend adding it to your collection even if you don't consider yourself "artsy". :-)

What the 3 year old is reading...

This week, little A is happily reading (and rereading) Tammy Turtle (thank you Auntie Chelsea!)   Quite a cute story, simply written, easy to understand. It's about a sea turtle, born on the beach, makes its tremendous journey into the ocean, grows up, mistakes a plastic bag for a jelly fish, and has to be rescued.  The story has a happy ending with Tammy recovering and setting off on her own beach journey into motherhood.

There are a lot of things that A is getting out of this book other than the "moral" of the story. The drawings are cute and allow her to ask a lot of questions about the ocean and sea life. There is an entire Nature series by Suzanne Tate.  I recommend sprinkling these books into your collection. They are in expensive and effective.