Valentine Babies

I'm still riding the high of last week's awesome baby program I did called Valentine Babies. It was SO CUTE, like, really one of those programs that is just fun and feels like a success.  It was for ages birth-16 months. First we read some "love-ly" books and sang some "love-ly" songs, and then we all broke off and worked on a craft-- which I almost never ever do with babies, but totally worked!

Here's the breakdown of time:

Book: A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy

2 songs: You Be the Ice Cream, Love Somebody, Yes I Do (Click each song for a Jbrary video where you can see and hear how it goes.)

Book: Counting Kisses by Karen Katz (in the form of a board book class set read individually between babies and caregivers)

2 more song: Yo Te Amo, Put Your Puppet on Your Heart (Click each song for a Jbrary video where you can see and hear how it goes.)

I had all four songs written out on a handout that I passed around so the adults could all sing along and then (if their copy wasn't too destoroyed by their baby) also sing the songs again at home.

You can download this handout here!

I only had 7 babies signed up, which I was happy with. That's pretty average for kids this age and for this time of day... BUT I had 12 babies show up! Such an awesome surprise considering this age range!

Like I said, I very rarely do crafts with teeny babies (despite the fact that I kind of just did one the week before this program in Littlest Learners). I guess this craft was more for the parents than the babies, but it was awesome either way! We truly made a Valentine's Day decoration keepsake that families could use and reuse year after year. See below:

The samples above were made by my kids (and me). The top was done by Sadie, age 3, and the bottom was done by Callie, age 1.5.

To prep for this craft, first I cut "L" and "E" shapes out on the Cricut. Then I pre-glued down and pre-laminated a handful of "E" sheets, since that one was the same for everyone. Then I set out the rest of the craft supplies: A ton of cardstock (in a Valentine's Day-ish color palette), two laminators that were hot and ready, a pile of laminator sheets, four bowls of white paint with sponge brushes, one hole punch that made its way around the room, a bunch of glue sticks, and a Sharpie for personalizing with something like "Sadie, February 2020."

To begin, I had the adults in a line in front of me and we worked together to stamp each of the baby's hands and feet, then we passed the stamped sheets over to Mary (our clerk) who helped with laminating. There was absolutely NO WAY that I could have done this without her help. We had such an efficiant little assembly line going. I can't even begin to comprehend the organized system that Mary had when she was laminating all these prints and somehow keeping track of whose feet and hand prints were whose, but whatever she was doing, it worked. 

After stamping their baby's feet, the adults wrote their name and date on the "L" sheet and then gave that to Mary too. When they had all four laminated papers, we punched holes in the tops and strung them together with string.

Seriously, all in all, this was AWESOME, albiet a little chaotic due to having 12 babies and planning for 7. Here's how I'd improve upon it next February:

1. This is the most important: I would DO THE CRAFT FIRST. The biggest hiccup in this program was that the paint didn't have time to dry and it ran a little in the laminating sheets. If we did all the stamping first, then there'd be a few minutes to let the paint dry before we ran it through the laminator. 

2. I'd make the program 45-minutes long instead of 30-minutes long. First we'd do the hand and feet stamping, then we'd sing the 4 songs and read A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy. Then, I'd let the parents start coming up and assembling the rest of their craft and also have the class set of Counting Kisses by Karen Katz out for them to read on their own if they wanted to while waiting their turn with the laminator.

3. I might pre-laminate the "L" sheets also and just have the parents write on either the "O" or "V" sheets. That way there are only two sheets to laminate on the spot for each patron, instead of 3. I do like the way the written text looks on the "L" but it might not be worth it, considering the amount of time we could save.

Here's what I'd do the same:

1. Same actual craft product. It was so cute and the parents loved it (har har, no pun intended). I was hearing about what a hit this was for days and up until today in fact!

2. Definitely, I'd need Mary to help me again. This is not a craft program for only one staff person.

Aaaaand I will let the above few sentances suffice as my "What worked least" and "What worked best" for this post. This is a program that I feel super proud of and one that I will totally be doing again next year!

Littlest Learners

Littlest Learners (for, quite literally, the littlest learners-- ages 6-16 months) was a program that I was SO EXCITED about. It was a chance to do some of that cool, Pinteresty stuff that I always think about but never actually try. 

The program breakdown went like this:

Circle time - 5 minutes

Parachute time - 10 minutes

Sensory play - 30 minutes

Bubbles - 2 minutes (during sensory play)

I had a relatively small crew, 5 babies in total ranging from 6 months to 12 months. This was the absolute perfect allotment of time for each thing. I wouldn't change it a bit. I'll go into detail below (but try to be a little more concise than I usually do!): 

Circle time:

Five Little Monkeys (with the monkey mitt)

Itsy Bitsy Spider

If You're Happy and You Know It

Parachute time:

The Colors Over You, with babies under the parachute *

Twinkle, Twinkle, with babies under the parachute

Peek-A-Boo, with babies on top of the parachute **

In & Out the Window, with babies on top of the parachute *

Wheels on the Bus, with babies on top of the parachute *

* You can read about these songs in lots of detail on other posts I've made if you want, but here are a few shortcuts:

I write in detail about The Wheels on the Bus in this post; Jbrary explains The Colors Over You best in this video; and Jbrary explains In & Out the Window best in this video.

** Peek-A-Boo is quite literally what I am saying when a patron snapped the photo of me seen above. This is a cute little song that encouraged playing peek-a-boo. To the tune of Frère Jacques, it goes:

     Peek-a-boo, Peek-a-boo 

     I see you, I see you

     Are you over here?

     Are you over there?

     Peek-a-boo! Peek-a-boo!

Then it was time for sensory fun! Here's where I got to be a little creative! I had 4 distinct stations:

1. Edible finger paint, which I have made a handful of times in the past. This is just Greek yogurt with food coloring on finger paint paper! SO easy, although a word to the wise, it doesn't dry so great. It gets kind of peely and cracked. So it's really more of an "process, not product" activity. The parents are not going to be taking home a lasting piece of art.

2. Bubble wrap paintings, inspired by this post: https://www.artycraftykids.com/art/baby-bubble-wrap-art/. Only one baby attempted this, but I was still happy to have it. When I set it up, I taped down the paper to the table cloth, then put paint on the paper, then taped the bubble wrap on top of that. One thing I noticed was that the packing tape was REALLY strong. It was impossible to avoid ripping the paper when we pulled it up. I think if I ever do this again, I wouldn't tape down the paper, but instead cut bubble wrap pieces that are slightly larger than the paper and let the paper just sit under it instead. No tape on the paper. That way, when I pull up the bubble wrap, it only rips apart the table cloth.

3. Shredded paper pool! SO COOL. I was a little worried about potential paper eating and choking but with lots of adults and lots of watchful eyes, it didn't happen. All was good and the kids had a BLAST. One boy was literally rolling around in it!

4. Sensory toys that I borrowed from our county library system. This included stress disks (seen in the photo below and also seen in the photo at the top of this post), sensory tubes (these from Lakeshore Learning), Sensory shapes (these from Discount School Supply, also seen in the photo below), and squishy numbered disks (these from S&S).

Then I did bubbles at the very end, sort of to signal the end of the program in a way that felt natural to me, but also because bubbles are fun and babies love them. I played Laurie Berkner's "Blow A Kiss," which is always my go-to for ending a program.

What worked least: The bubble wrap paintings went the most unused but I still feel like they really worked. I liked having a mix of messy and not-so-messy activities for the kids and a lot of the moms liked it too. I think I would still include the same activities if I chose to do this program again in the future.

What worked best: The shredded paper pool was SO GREAT. I think that, with the parents there to supervise, it was a wonderful activity to get to try together and definitely the kind of thing people aren't likely to have done at home.

Share & Play Babies (9/18/19 - 10/9/19)

It's been a loooong time since I wrote about Share & Play Babies but, to me, it's one of the most important programs that I do. For most of the babies and probably about half of the adults, it's their first library program! Ever! So I always want to make sure it's fun, relaxed, and a welcoming environment. To me, this is more important than the actual content of the program. Of course this isn't to say I don't agonize over the weekly content, but more to say that, above all else, I just want Share & Play Babies to feel like a warm, inviting, nonjudgmental mom group, where the moms are free chat if they want to, but aren't required to make small talk for toooooo long.

Anyway, this past session was for four weeks and, rather than write about just 1 week in detail, I'm going to share lists of all of the different things that I did over the course of the whole program.

The basic general format of this program has changed a bit since I first started doing it back in 2017, and it varies a little week-to-week depending on the group, but this is my general outline for each 30-minute session:

1. Open play (with music) + (sometimes) introductions (5-10 minutes)
2. One big book read by me (2-3 minutes)

3. A few familiar lap bounces or finger play type songs (2-3 minutes)
4. One board book, passed out as a class set, read individually between parents and babies (2-3 minutes)
5. Baby soccer (with music) + clean up toys (3-5 minutes)
6. Instrument/play thing time-- shakers, rainbow wrist ribbons, scarves, etc. (5 minutes)
7. Parachute time (5-10 minutes)
8. Goodbye song + bubbles (2-3 minutes)

In short, and if you do the math up above you'll see, this is a LOT to cram into a 30-minute program. So we're very busy in there...all while trying to all be relaxed!

1. Open play: I have done programs involving open play for years, but it typically felt awkward and forced for me. Before I had my own kids, open play included a lot of me feeling sort of useless, smiling, and only saying things like "Awww, so cute." But now that I am a mom too, open play/chat time/introductions are totally different! First, I've decided that open play works better at the start of the program. This gives everyone a chance to settle in, get comfortable, even come in a few minutes late without too much pressure. Second, I learned that it works well when combined with introductions. This organically opens up the conversation floor a little and is just a good way to get to know who's in the room. Plus, chit-chatting with moms during open play is sooooo much easier when you have your own kids.

2. One big book read by me: After open play, the first "structured" thing I did was read the class a big book. I purposely only did big books because my bottom age limit was so young and I wasn't sure how well some of the smaller babies could see yet. I don't remember the specific month-by-month developments, but I do know that it isn't until 12-months-old that babies see the same way we see, as adults, so I erred on the side of seeing less, and did only big books. I left the toys out too because (a) I'm not really a stickler for making kids (especially babies) pay attention to me, (b) I believe babies can benefit from hearing a book while also playing with or chewing on a toy, and (c) Just why NOT let them play with a toy a little longer if that's what they're currently in the mood to do? Like I said, we're all there to relax and have fun!

These are the four big books I read throughout the class:

Freight Train by Donald Crews

Where's Spot? by Eric Hill

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker

Note: I was limited in my selection based on what big books we own. These four books were definitely good, but if I were choosing from literally all books ever, instead of just the big ones we have, I probably would have only done Freight Train from the books listed above. And possibly Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? I definitely would have also done Baby Parade by Rebecca O'Connell. FYI, that is a really great book for a class of babies!

3. Familiar lap bounces/finger play type songs:  These songs are a mix of familiar songs we mostly know, new songs I wanted to teach the group, and old songs spiced up a bit! I did 1-3 of these each week, depending on how long they were. Here are the songs we wound up covering over the four weeks:

The Moon Is Round *

Eyes, Nose, Cheeky, Cheeky, Chin *

Itsy Bitsy Spider

London Bridge

A Smooth Road *

You Roll It *

She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain *

Five Little Monkeys

* These are all from Jbrary! Here are the videos!

4. One book, passed out as a class set, read individually between parents and babies: I like incorporating some one-on-one reading time for the babies and caregivers, again, because the babies can see the books up close, even if their distance vision hasn't fully developed yet. There are also a lot more wonderful baby books out there in board book format than there are in big book format. Plus, this is a great way to introduce some of my favorite books for this age bracket to parents who may be looking for recommendations! Throughout the four weeks of this class, these are the books that I had the parents share with their babies:

Sneak-a-Peek Colors by Roger Priddy
Baby Food by Margaret Miller

Hello, Bugs! by Smriti Prasadam-Halls

Are You My Mommy? by Mary Murphy

5. Baby soccer: This is a super fun game that I stole from the wonderful Ms. Kathy who does this in her baby programs at my local library. For this, I brought out a decent-sized ball, had the parents/caregivers lift their babies by grabbing them under their arms, and then making the kids "kick" the ball around the circle to each other. It could maybe more accurately be described as Baby foosball.  This winds up being a really awesome team building activity-- all the grown ups working together, making sure all the babies have a chance to play. There was one week where I got to play with of the twins in the group and, sure enough, it was really a lot of fun!

6. Instrument/play thing time-- shakers, rainbow wrist ribbons, scarves, etc.: I did a different thing at this point in the program each week. One week I did shakers, one week I did BABY AEROBICS*, one week I did scarves and also a circle dance, and one week I did wrist ribbons.

What's baby aerobics? Glad you asked. This is something I've tried a few times but have had trouble with when my age group is too varied. But with this class, oh it worked... and it worked really, really well. It's to the tune of Lynn Kleiner's Exercise to the Beat-Twinkle Theme. Here's how it goes:

I have this video starting at 5:55 because that's when they do this song. When you have a group entirely of kids the right age for it, this is SO cute. But the odds of having a group all the correct age, when the age range is only a couple of months wide (maybe 4-9 months?) is kind of a long shot. I got really lucky the week I did this! It was a great experience!

7. Parachute time: I am a huge fan of parachute time with babies. There is so much you can do and even the simplest songs are exciting and stimulating for them because the parachute itself is stimulating. Some weeks I used my normal 12" parachute but some weeks I used a cute lil' 6" one.

Here are all the parachute songs I wound up using throughout the four-week-class:

The Colors Over You *
Wheels on the Bus (with baby leg motions)

Let’s Go Riding in an Elevator *
Peek A Boo 

ABC’s
If You’re Happy and You Know It Lift it High / Shake it Fast

Twinkle, Twinkle
Old McDonald (with puppets)

* These two are also from Jbrary! Here are the videos!

8. Goodbye song: My classic program goodbye song for over 10-years-- Laurie Berkner's Blow a Kiss. Always a favorite for me!

Ladies and gentleman, I am quitting "What worked least" and "What worked best." It's my blog and I just straight up don't wanna do 'em anymore! Overall, this was a great program and it makes me so happy to be able to reach our youngest, newest library patrons and to provide them with a happy, comfortable, welcoming place to make and form happy library memories! Yay babies!

Astro Babies

I am a person who loves taking pictures and documenting things. When I was a really little kid, my parents bought my a "kids camera", having no idea how much money they'd be spending on film over the next few years. When I was in my 20's I won a travel contest (a trip to Australia!) because I wrote an essay promising lots and lots of documentation (and, by the way, did deliver lots and lots of documentation). So when I say that I ran this whole program and totally forgot to take pictures until the last five-minutes, you know I must have really been enjoying myself!

I had 6 babies join me for my space-themed baby class, Astro Babies. It was back in August and I am only writing about it now, but better late than never, right? We had a great time! Here's what we did:

This was my plan (red = ipod, blue = song I sing, green = book):

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. Goodnight, Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

3. Zoom, Zoom, Zoom *

4. Moon, Moon, Moon by Laurie Berkner (with the basic arm-movements that Laurie herself does in the video for this song).

5. Peek-a-Boo Space by DK Publishers **

6. Pete the Cat: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by James Dean ***

7. Rocketship Run by Laurie Berkner #
8. Yellow Star (parachute + stars) ##

9. Outer Space is Where I'd Really Like To Go (parachute + stars) ##

10. If You're Happy and You Know It (parachute + stars)

11. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner (parachute + stars + bubbles)

* Zoom, Zoom, Zoom can best be explained by my friends at Jbrary, from who I steal basically everything I ever do:



The verses are a little out-of-order in the video above because this is the video for the "extra verses" which I do after the first verse. But the first verse does come at the end of this video, when they show a fun way to end the song (which I don't do). This is the best video on Jbrary for showing all 3 verses I do in one single link.

** Peek-a-Boo Space is, admittedly, not the best baby book I've ever used in my life but it WAS a decent baby book-- especially if you only read the pages on the right side (the left ones make it way too long for kids this age) and, most importantly, it was an available and an on-topic baby book. I really like to have 1 or 2 (usually just 1) board book class set per baby program for the kids and caregivers to share together for a few minutes and, overall, this one fit the bill.

*** Both of my girls LOVE James Dean's Pete the Cat: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I don't know what it is that makes it so perfectly engaging for little ones, but even I find singing the full song with all its verses to be soothing and beautiful (and trust me, it's not my singing voice!). This was on Sadie's Top 5 list when she was just 3-months old and it would have been on it again and again if I'd allowed myself to do duplicates. For Astro Babies, I had to gather my courage because reading this book basically means singing a song alone in front of everyone for about 2-3 minutes. It's a little scary but, from time to time, I think this book is worth it. The song and the illustrations together just really work well together.

# Ok. I write about Rocketship Run a lot. Sometimes it seems like I write about it in every blog post I do. But this was my first time ever doing it with babies so, again, it deserves some space!

This is my Rocketship Run "kit:"

In Musical Kids, I do Rocketship Run every week, starting in the 17-30-month-old group, and then also in the 2.5-5-year-old group. With these kids (and also with the school-age kids I did it with in 3...2...1... Blastoff) when I hold up one of these signs, the kiddos all run up and touch their rockets to it, like they're really "going" to the sun/moon/etc. I'VE NEVER TOLD THEM TO DO THIS, and yet every week, it happens. They all do it! It's so funny to see! They totally invented it and it's continued on from week-to-week and from class-to-class. For years!

Obviously, things went down differently with the babies. There was no running. But it was actually super gratifying to show the pictures along with the words of the song because of the intense amount of language acquisition happening at this age. There is absolutely nothing better than the combination of visual aid and music for language-learning--it hits everything at once--so, even though it was different that I'm used to, it felt really beneficial! And, in the end, the parents and kids had fun playing with the rockets-on-sticks together and just getting in that special bonding time.

## Yellow Star is a song written by me. Sort of anyway. It goes to the tune of Baby Shark and goes like this:

Yellow Star doot doot doot doot doot doot

Yellow Star doot doot doot doot doot doot

Yellow Star doot doot doot doot doot doot

Yellow Star.

Blue Star doot doot doot doot doot doot
Blue Star doot doot doot doot doot doot
Blue Star doot doot doot doot doot doot
Blue Star...

And then also, purple star, green star, orange star, and red star. I purchased two sets of these plush stars from Oriental Trading, cut off the strings and tossed the corresponding colors on the parachute as we sang each verse. I think it worked, again, getting in that music + visual combo. Language acquisition? I'm on it!

### Outer Space is Where I'd Really Like To Go is another demonstration of my song writing skills. I found the basic song here on Kidsparkz, but I modified it a LOT. It's to the tune of If You're Happy and You Know It and it made an ok parachute song. Click here to download the words on a handout,which I obviously had to make because this song is way too long and complicated to teach and then re-sing over and over in a 30-minute baby program. This is how it goes:

Click here to download the handout! 

I followed this up with classic If You're Happy and You Know It, because I'd always prefer to sing the classic song also when I sing an alternative version of it.

What worked least: I think Outer Space is Where I'd Really Like To Go was only ok. It was sort of more effort than it was worth-- writing the song, making the handout, singing 4 verses-- when all of it was just lost on the kids because they were so little. I think it was one of those examples of the theme detracting from the quality of the program, where if I'd just done a few of my really good tried and true parachute favorites, it would have been less work for both me and the parents, and, quite possibly, the kids would have gotten more out of it.

What worked best: This is so crazy but, AGAIN I think I have to say the winner is Rocketship Run! This one's always a favorite in Musical Kids, but it surprised me when it was a favorite with the school-age kids in 3...2...1... Blastoff and now it's surprising me again by working really well with the babies too! This song is magic! It's literally always good.

Baby Bugs

Lots of librarians say they like school age programs best because they'd prefer that the parents aren't in the room with them, but I'm the opposite! Baby programs are my favorite programs of all, and it's mostly because I love being with the parents!

Baby Bugs was a simple, bug-themed, stories and songs program for the youngest of kids and their grown ups. This was my plan (red = ipod, blue = song I sing, green = book):

1. A New Way to Say Hello by Big Jeff
2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (with storytime prop kit) *
3. Buzz Buzz Buzz by Laurie Berkner (with shakers)
4. Itsy Bitsy Spider  (+ Great Big Spider and Teensy Weensy Spider)
5. Hello Bugs by Smriti Prasadam-Halls **
6. Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me ***
7. Ants Go Marching by Ralph Covert (parachute + mini bugs) #
8. Colors Over You (parachute + mini bugs) ##
9. Thunder and Lightening (parachute + mini bugs) ##
10. Blow a Kiss by Laurie Berkner (mini bugs + bubbles)

* I've written about our wonderful Very Hungry Caterpillar kit in the past before, but it's truly one of my favorite storytime props of all time! It consists of signs with each of the things the caterpillar eats through, all with giant holes in the middle, and a fun caterpillar puppet that turns into a butterfly. Here is a picture I found of it.  When I use this kit, I distribute the signs from it to the kids before I read the book. Then, as I work my way through the story, I make the caterpillar puppet chomp through each child's sign, tickling them a little as I do. The kids LOVE this. They shriek with glee when they get tickled!

I didn't take any pictures while we were reading this book and using this kit, but here are a few pictures that I took two years ago, of kids holding up the signs:

** I have a class set of the board book, Hello Bugs by Smriti Prasadam-Halls. This is such a great book for babies because it has mostly black and white pictures, shiny parts on each page, and really simple, repetitive language. I passed out the books to the parents and babies and they had about 3-minutes to read them together. Then we read it again together as a group.

*** Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me can best be explained by Dana of Jbrary:

# Ants Go Marching by Ralph Covert was the song I used for the babies to play on top of the parachute. I dumped out some butterfly and firefly finger puppets (these and these, both from Folkmanis) and let the babies and parents play with them together while we all shook the parachute around them and listened to the song. I showed the adults that the fireflies actually lit up if you squeezed them, but it was hard to see in the bright library lights.

## Colors Over You and Thunder and Lightening were bonus, not-bug-related parachute songs. They're two of my favorites and I was only planning to do them if there was time at the end. There was!

What worked least: Eh, when push came to shove, Buzz Buzz Buzz wasn't as lively of a shaker song as I'd imagined it being. It was fine and worked for the theme (and I am always very partial to Laurie Berkner songs!), but I just prefer something that's super super SUPER upbeat with babies and toddlers, as well as something with a simpler beat that easier to shake the shaker along with.

What worked best: I started off really strong with, what I perceived was the best part of the program-- The Very Hungry Caterpillar book and props. These props are such a great way to read this slightly longer book to really young kids without losing them (even babies!) and it really makes the story come alive! It is literally ALWAYS a hit!

Sadie's Top 5, 18-24 months

Apologies for this post coming late. I've been on  a bit of a blog-break since I have been on maternity leave. Sadie is now two-years-old and has become a big sister! We welcomed baby Callie in early June and have had our hands full! While I hope to still keep up with Sadie's favorites every 6-months, I've decided not to list favorite books for Callie because 1. They're largely the same books, and 2. Apparently, with two babies, you don't get to read nearly as much as you do with just one. (And you feel very bad and guilty about it.) Anyway, while I'm not sure if this list is entirely accurate because sometimes it's hard to tell and also because, man, toddlers are really freakin' fickle, here's my best guess at Sadie's up-to-age-two favorites:

Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes by James Dean and Eric Litwin is a favorite for SO MANY kids. And mine is no exception. If you're not yet familiar, this is the story of cool cat Pete who loves his white shoes so much that he sings this song: I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes. Then he proceeds to accidentally dye his shoes a bunch of different colors by stepping in stuff like a large pile of strawberries and a puddle of mud. But does Pete cry? Goodness, no! He just sings a new song every time his shoes change colors. He's so cool! The moral of Pete's story is, "no matter what you step in, just keep walking along and singing your song. Because it's all good." In our case, Sadie particularly loves naming the things Pete steps in and (sometimes) naming the colors. She also always enjoys shaking her head "no" when I ask her if Pete cries. This is a book that will be a favorite for most kids for many years. We love Pete!

Fruits of India by Jill Hartley might seem like an unusual choice, but at this age, Sadie loves to correctly identify things. And she also loves fruit. I read somewhere that once children learn that every object has a name attached to it, they'll quickly want to learn all of these names. And that held true for Sadie, particularly around the 19/20-month mark. The book is simple. East page just has a picture of a fruit + its name. While some of the fruits in this book are ones we don't see here in the USA, many of them are familiar: bananas, apples, grapes, etc. It's kind of perfect for teaching the names of fruits to kids this age, actually. I would highly recommend this one for kids in this "learning the names of things" age group. Especially fruit-loving kids like Sadie.

Row, Row, Row, Your Boat by Jane Cabrera is a longer version of the classic song we all know, accompanied by adorable animal illustrations (I'm a big Jane Cabrera fan!). A sample verse: "Row, row, row your boat, watch the tiger prowl. If you see is mighty pounce, don't forget to growl." Like with Fruits of India, this book was great for Sadie to learn to name different animals. Her favorite page is the one at the end with Mommy Dog. I think anything Jane Cabrera does it a masterpiece, but her illustrations combined with this song = a major win for us!

Off to School! by Sesame Workshop, affectionately called "Elmo Book" in my house, is a favorite for more reasons than just being about Elmo. While it's true that Sadie does enjoy pretty much any book about the Sesame Street characters, this book has a lot more to give! For starters, while it's an actual story, the language and length, paired with familiar and colorful illustrations are absolutely perfect for this age group. It's also interactive! On one page, it asks the reader to rub Elmo's tummy. On another, it asks to help "pour the cereal into the bowl" by tapping the picture of the box. Another page asks the reader to practice deep breathing (take deep breaths). It's all really great! Cute story, familiar characters, and interactive text. Throw in a little color and object naming and you've got a 10-minute activity! That's something Sadie and mommy can both get behind!

Bath Time! from Sterling Children's Books had a really long run as Sadie's absolute favorite for over a month. It's a very short story that, basically, starts out with the narrator (a bunch of different animals) pleading the reader not to take a bath, then reluctantly agreeing to take the bath, and then admitting that said bath was nice. Each page has a different animal photo/narrator. So, for example, the first page has a picture of a raccoon and says, "I don't want to take a bath!" Then the third page has a rhino and says "Alright, fine. Let's get it over with." Later in the book there is a bear that says "Ooohhh. This water feels nice..." And the very last page has a human baby that says, "Maybe taking baths isn't so bad after all!" It's cute. I originally checked it out of the library because Sadie hated baths and I was trying to persuade her to like them again. Then, one day, she decided she did! Maybe it worked? Or maybe she just saw her friend in the tub and wanted to join her. Either way, we really like this book.

Ok! A month late but I got it up! Next Sadie's Top 5 coming in a few months!