100th Anniversary of Children's Book Week

Children's Book Week is the nation's longest-running literacy initiative and this year--this week in fact--marks its 100th anniversary! To celebrate, I planned a self-directed program revolving around picture books. There were 4 tables, 1 craft per table, each based on a different picture book. So the idea was that the families would move around from table to table, read the book together, and then make the corresponding craft.

You might remember (but probably don't!) that about 4 years ago, I planned a program called Discover Picture Book Art. Inspired by seeing Lois Elhert speak at a conference, that program was basically this same thing: 4 different artists' books displayed and a chance to create art in those similar styles. The only difference is that I missed that program because I was out on disability after a bad car accident. The only other difference is that my colleague set that program up (again, because I wound up having to miss it) and she did it so so so beautifully and, while I really tried, I just don't think I did as nice of a job as she did. She's just got a natural eye.

Anyway, these are the 4 books I used: 

Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly

The Hidden Alphabet by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Color Zoo/Color Farm by Lois Elhert

I Spy by Jean Marzollo

The program was for ages 2 and up so I wanted to try to accommodate lots of different ages. Some of the crafts were simple and some were more challenging. Let me get into each one in more detail...

1. Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly

Perfect for the younger ones, this easy, almost "throw away craft" was, of course, the most popular one we had out. It's always like that, isn't it? The simplest thing is the fan favorite? It was just printed directly from kizclub.com. I put out several of their Go Away Big Green Monster black and white printable sheets with crayons, scissors, glue sticks, and paper plates. And that's it! And everyone liked it!

2. The Hidden Alphabet by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

I don't want to say this craft was for the grown ups, but well, this craft was kind of for the grown ups. It was inspired by Laura Vaccaro Seeger herself! I saw her speak at a children's librarian dinner a few a weeks ago and she had this cool craft for all of us to try based on her book, The Hidden Alphabet. Everyone got a piece of paper folded down the middle like a greeting card. On the front, the card had a square cut out of the middle. Laura Vaccaro Seeger told us to draw a picture of something in the middle of that square, then open the card and turn that picture into the letter that that thing begins with.

So... here are some actual examples made by the actual Laura Vaccaro Seeger:

The bottom two panels show balloons that then open to reveal a big B. The top picture shows eggs making an E (the picture with just eggs in the black window isn't pictured).

And here's my awful example:

While I am here, continuing to try to think of more creative ways to turn pictures into letters, I think this was way too hard for the kids. Although some parents got kind of into it.

3. Color Zoo/Color Farm by Lois Elhert

Shapes, shapes, shapes! Super simple, this was just straight up collaging with shapes. I put out pre-cut shapes, paper, glue, and crayons and the kids went to town. The best part about this craft is that it could be for any age! It's easy, cheap, versatile, and open-ended!

4. I Spy by Jean Marzollo

This craft was the one that the older kids seemed to migrate toward. It was making your own I Spy style scene. I collected a bunch of stuff from around the library and also gave the kids paper to create a background scene. Then they could arrange whatever random things on the paper, take a photo of it, and write a little "I spy..." list to go with it. Here is my example:

I spy 12 red hearts, a taco, a bunny ears ring, and a green feather.

What worked least: I hate to say it, but I think the Laura Vaccaro Seeger craft was too challenging. Not only that, but compared to the others, it was also the least appealing on the table. I was really excited about it, but unfortunately, I'm not sure if this was the right venue to debut it. Maybe another time.

What worked best: The super simple Go Away Big Green Monster table was a hit. This one required the least amount of effort for me to set up and was also the one that I think the families enjoyed most! It's always the way!

Sadie's Top 5, 2-2½ years

Guess who's 2½!? It's my Sadie! (And baby Callie is rapidly approaching 1-year! I seriously can't believe it!) A lot has changed for Sadie between her second birthday and now. She's ditched her naps, stopped using diapers (wooh!), and--the most exhausting thing of all--stopped going to bed in her own bed. Actually, she's stopped going to bed at bedtime too! This whole sleep mess has really put a major slowdown on our book reading routine. We used to get in pjs, cuddle in her chair, dim the lights, and read 4-6 books a night. It was a special time together. Now we're down to a couple of books a week and they're often rushed, sandwiched between playing blocks, eating lunch, watching stupid YouTube videos, and a lot of play dough. We're reading just to read... reading because the guilt of not reading is too much for me to handle. This change in routine has influenced Sadie's top 5 list, of course. A lot of the books listed below are sort of older favorites, from closer to her 2nd birthday, before bedtime got all weird. Most of the books she gravitates toward lately are books based on TV and movie characters-- Paw Patrol, Disney princesses, Moana, etc-- but those aren't as much fun to write about (and definitely aren't as good!). So, for now, and hopefully not for the last time, I am omitting those from her list. That said, here are what I consider Sadie's favorite QUALITY books, from 2-years-old to 2½-years-old:

Monster Boogie by Laurie Berkner is the illustrated version of Laurie Berkner's song, Monster Boogie. This is the perfect book for Sadie because she loves loves loves LOVES all things Laurie Berkner. The book is literally just the song lyrics accompanied by adorable illustrations. My favorite thing about the book is that there is a little boy in it who starts out afraid of the monster and, by the end of the book, he's having a great time boogie-ing along with him (and with his brave sister). Sadie's favorite thing about the book is that there is a half-page, full color photo of Laurie Berkner on the back cover. This book, best read in song, has withstood the test of bedtime routine destruction, even if it is mostly because of the Laurie picture (see above).

Pancakes! An Interactive Recipe Book by Lotta Nieminen, and also the similar Pizza by Lotta Nieminen, are interactive recipe books that Sadie loves! They are literally cook books for toddlers. Simple, straightforward text brings readers through each step. The first page lists all of the ingredients needed for the recipe, then the second page lists all the "other stuff" needed for the recipe--table spoon, ladle, whisk, frying pan, etc.--all with simple and colorful pictures. Then it brings readers through the rest of the steps, just like a "real" recipe book would, but with interactive elements: pull-tabs, flaps, spinning wheels, etc. At the end, there is even a little pancake piece that pops out and can be moved from the frying pan on one page to the plate on the next page. One side of it is yellow (uncooked batter) and the other side of it is brown (a finished pancake). Sadie loves putting the yellow side on the plate and saying, "Noooo!" and then flipping it to the brown side and saying, "Yes!" There is also a dollop of whipped cream pictured on the last page that Sadie likes because it looks like a poop. Idk. Toddlers. Anyway, I eventually had to return this book to the library because I got so tired of reading it night after night, but now that we've had a little time apart, and now that Sadie and I don't read quite as often, I kind of miss it. It was a great book that absolutely taught Sadie a bunch of new words. Highly recommend this one for all kids in this age group!

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney is one of a handful of actual, real story books that Sadie likes. (She also likes several Maisy books, especially Maisy Goes To Preschool.) This is the story of cute little Llama Llama on his first day of school. Everything is new and different and, while all the kids are friendly, he doesn't want to participate in anything. He just misses his mama too much and he's afraid she won't come back. But, just when he finally starts to open up a little, there's this page where Llama Llama is coloring, having fun, and mama appears behind him! Then, on the following page, he notices her and, in big letters, the text reads "Mama! You came back!" And they're running to each other with arms outstretched. It is so sweet and tender. And I think it's Sadie's favorite page too! She starts to get excited when she sees mama appear and says "You came back!" along with me. I should note that this was the first Llama Llama book that we read together. While she was into the others I brought home for her after it too, this one still remained her favorite. And I think it's my favorite one too!

Spooky Boo! A Halloween Adventure by Lily Karr was the book Sadie asked for every night before our bedtime routine got totally mutilated. Seriously every night. Every. Single. Night. While, admittedly, I got a little sick of it after a bit, I can see why Sadie liked it. It's an interactive haunted house in a book. One page has a "skinny" mirror, one has a "mummy" mirror, and one has sticky "goo" to touch (over and over and over until it pretty much loses all its stickiness). However, Sadie's favorite page is the first one, which just has simple door to open (a flap), revealing all of the ghoulish friends inside. She likes to knock knock knock on it and then open it and say, "Spooky Boo!" This is a cute book for Halloween and any time of year... in moderation.

Dino Chomp by Beatrice Costamagna is one of those books I have caught Sadie "reading" on her own, but that she also enjoys having me read to her. She liked this close to her second birthday and still likes it a lot now, at 2½. Even baby Callie seems to kind of like this one. It's a simple story about a big, bully dinosaur, Rex, who threatens to eat all the other dinos. One by one, littler dinosaurs stand up to him until, finally, they trick him into singing a song so they can make a break for it. On the last page, Rex finds himself alone with "only a rock to eat." Victory for the good guy (although I would have preferred they all made friends at the end instead, but maybe that's a lot to ask). The real appeal of this book, though, is the teeth. They move up and down when you pull the tab at the top of the book to make a big "chomp." Sadie enjoys sticking her hand in the giant mouth and having the dinosaur bite her. Toddlers, man. This is a fun little, interactive story for dinosaur lovers and also, part of a whole "crunchy board book" series. Worth checking out!

And that wraps it up for today! Hopefully I will have enough non-TV/movie character books for another post around Sadie's third birthday! Until then, happy reading!

Diverse Families Shortlist (A Readers Advisory Post)

A few months ago a friend asked me for book recommendations for her daughter, who's a couple of months older than Sadie. She was in search of books showing a variety of diverse families because she'd realized that most of her daughters books feature people who look like her.  This immediately made me realize that most of Sadie's books also show families like ours: two-parent, heterosexual, and white. So off I went on a search! Both for Niamh and for Sadie! I wanted to find some books that were great and that also had different types of kids and families. I asked other librarians for recommendations, read about 20/25 picture books, and vetted from there. So for anyone else searching for something similar who may stumble across this post, I am sharing my work. This is my official Diverse Families Shortlist (aka, a bib.):

Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers is a book I stumbled across when looking for books about stars and space. It is, in fact, about stars and space, but it's also such a subtle book about diversity! It's AWESOME. It's written as kind of a guidebook for babies about how to live here on Earth. The illustrations are, in true Oliver Jeffers fashion, freakin' amazing-- soooo detailed and cute, the kinds of spreads you just want to stare at for 15-minutes before turning the page. It's subtle in its diversity message and isn't really, like, "about that," but absolutely just continues to feature lots and lots of different kinds of people. Particularly, there is one page that says, "People come in many shapes, sizes and colors. We may all look different, act different and sound different, but don't be fooled, we are all people." And then there are, like, 70 different drawings of people all over that spread. They're all different colors (including blue and green) and doing really different things-- one man is playing bagpipes, a kid is holding a soccer ball, there's a bee catcher in a mask, two women getting married, a man in a hijab, an astronaut, a man with a long beard and no shoes holding a "please help" sign, a ballerina, a rabbi, etc. So many different people! It's a great page in a great, albeit somewhat unrelated to the topic otherwise, book. Recommended age range: 2-5 years, depending on attention spans.

Mommy, Mama, and Me by Lesléa Newman is sweet and simple. At first I thought this book might be a little "too in your face about diversity" for me. Like, I didn't want books about diversity as much as books that just happen to show different people, but then I read it to Sadie and I saw how completely unquestioning she was about it and I realized, no, this book isn't about diversity at all. It's just a nice, simple story that happens to show same-sex parents and it's me who's just a jerk for judging it before I read it. In little rhyming text, this book is about a kid and his mommy and mama and all the nice things they do together and how they love each other. Sadie likes it a lot! Recommended age range: birth through 3-years.

Monday is One Day by Arthur A. Levine is a book about working parents and how hard it is for us to be apart from our babies. It has sweet, rhyming text and shows a different working family on each page. The families are fairly diverse, though there's not a TON of them-- a black mom and dad with two kids, a white boy with his older (perhaps grandparent?) family, a blonde single mom, two white dads with a son and a dog, and a few others. I'm partial to a book about working parents and I appreciate the subtle, but not pushy, diversity that is shown throughout. Recommended age range: 2-5 years, thought I haven't tried reading it to Sadie (yet).

Littles And How They Grow by Kelly DiPucchio shows babies more than it shows whole families but a few families did sneak in there. The book features rhyming text, lots of cute babies, and multicultural illustrations. The few family members that do make appearances are interracial and same sex, but super subtle, just totally not a big deal, which is awesome. Sadie really likes looking at the babies in this book, especially the newborn on the first page. Important emotional spoiler note for parents: The last page of this book is about how fast the littles grow up and it shows a girl getting on a school bus and it separately made both my husband and me cry. You have been warned! Recommended age range: birth through 3-years. (This is the book Sadie is reading in the photo above.)

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox is a Sadie favorite! It shows a variety of babies with varying skin tones and outfits and in varying kinds of places who all have one thing in common: ten little fingers and ten little toes. This doesn't show families, per say, just reminds us that, no matter where you're from, or what you wear, we're all the same underneath. A simple yet powerful message in a super short book good for even the smallest babies! If you've got a baby crazed toddler like I do, this book might be a hit for you and a great way to effortlessly introduce diversity. Recommended age range: birth through 3-years.

Sterling, Best Dog Ever by Aidan Cassie is a good book if you're in the market for a cute story that just happens to feature interracial parents. It also has a great "be yourself" message that's good for everybody! It's about a dog searching for his forever home, but who gets super mixed up trying to be all these other things he thinks he is supposed to be-- a fork, a whisk, a stick. Such a sweet little story with just the right touch of subtle diversity. Recommended age range: 4-7 years.

Harriet Gets Carried Away by Jessie Sima, like Sterling, Best Dog Ever, is also a cute story that happens to feature interracial parents, except this book one-ups the interracial parents with interracial same-sex parents! Plus the story is ADORABLE! Like, it's just so innocent and sweet! Recommended age range: 3+ years. (I really see no upper age limit for this one.)

Puppy, Puppy, Puppy by Julie Sternberg is yet another cute story that happens to feature interracial parents, this time about a baby and his puppy. Diversity for dog lovers! Super cute! Recommended age range: 3-6 years.

Families by Shelley Rotner and Sheila M. Kelly is more "about diversity" than the books preceding it. It's packed with real photos of tons of different families. It makes no attempt to be subtle, but rather, it's a straightforward telling of all the different types of families that can exist. "Some  families have children born to them. Some adopt." "Some children have one parent. Some have two-- a mom and a dad, or two moms or two dads." And at the end it says, "There are many different kinds of families. What about yours?" It's just a nice, straightforward way of explaining differences to kids. Recommended age range: birth through 5-years, depending on attention spans.

Families, Families, Families by Suzanne Lang and Max Lang is really similar to Families, but shorter and with cute animal families, instead of real photos. While I think the real photos are probably a better tool for showing actual family diversity, I think the animals (and just less busy pages in general) might appeal more to younger kids. Or just different kids. So while the text is similar to the book above, the totally different type of pictures might be just what some kids need. Recommended age range: birth through 3-years.

The Great Big Book of Families by Mary Hoffman is similar to the two books above, but this time with longer text and illustrations of kids, as opposed to photos or illustrations of animals. This book, like the others above, shows big families, small families, single parent families, same-sex parent families, interracial families, etc., but this book also mentions a ton of other, less-discussed types of families (and just, like, life situations in general): homeschooling, being unemployed, being homeless, families who can't afford a vacation, families who shop at thrift stores, parents who have new partners, and so many more! The last two pages say, "So families can be big, small, happy, sad, rich, poor, loud, quiet, mad, good-tempered, worried, or happy-go-lucky. Most families are all of these things some of the time. What's yours like today?" This is a seriously great book for showing kids how diverse real life real families can be, and for exposing them to different situations, helping to (hopefully) raise kind, open-minded children. The last line--"What's yours like today?"--brings kids into the book, kind of showing them that any of these situations could be relate-able or potentially relate-able to them.  Recommended age range: 3-5 years.

Todd Par books in general should also be mentioned here. While his illustrations don't seem to resonate with Sadie at the moment, his books all have really wonderful messages and bright, happy pictures that I feel like most kids would enjoy. Highlights are The Family Book, We Belong Together (about adoption), The I Love You Book, Be Who You Are, and Love the World.

Readers advisory is a scary world for me so I hope this post was at least somewhat helpful to at least some people. As Niamh's mom, Rachel, says "It is so important for children to not only read books that mirror their lives but also ones that act as windows to others." Let's raise our kids to be open-minded and loving to all! Happy reading!

Dramatic Storytime

Hi. I want to start this post off by admitting that many of my library programs are kind of similar to each other. I am a bit of a two trick pony, as well as a firm believer that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  But this morning I had the opportunity to try something kind of different and, as my colleagues can attest, I was really excited about it! For ages 18-35 months, I now present my super fun, new, different program... Dramatic Storytime!

(Ok, I can't lie. I may have copied [borrowed] the overarching idea for this program from an event I attended with my daughter at Think Big! Theater. But all the details and all the work for it were mine and mine alone! I actually did something creative for once!)

So, anyway. the theme of Dramatic Storytime was Three Little Kittens. If you're unfamiliar with the story of the Three Little Kittens, let me include a quick summery of it for you. If you are familiar with it, feel free to skip this next paragraph:

The story of the Three Little Kittens, according to Wikipedia, "is a sophisticated piece usually attributed to American poet Eliza Lee Cabot Follen (1787–1860). With the passage of time, the poem has been absorbed into the Mother Goose collection. The rhyme tells of three kittens who first lose, then find and soil, their mittens. When all is finally set to rights, the kittens receive their mother's approval and some pie."

Here's how it worked. The whole program was based around very slowly reading and acting out the book, Three Little Kittens by Paul Galdone (just a retelling of the classic tale). The kids played the part of the three (or in this case, 8) little kittens and I played the part of the Mother Kitten. When they signed in, I let them choose a cat nose to wear for their "costume" so they could really be the kittens. I would say 1/4 of the kids wore the nose for about 3 minutes and the other 3/4 of the kids wouldn't touch them. I wore cat ears because, really, they're kinda cute.

Throughout the story, there were three main breaks for activities-- aka "acting." The program broke down like this:

Read a few pages from the book. (The kittens lose their mittens, cry, are told by Mother Kitten that they can have no pie, and then find their mittens.)

Activity one: The kittens search for their mittens. This involved the kids digging through a pile of die-cut paper mittens as well as other die-cut shapes in search of two matching mittens.

 

 

Read a few pages from the book. (The kittens tell Mother Kitten that they have found their mittens and Mother Kitten tells them that they can have some pie.)

Activity two: The kittens shall have some pie. This involved making this very simple paper plate cherry pie craft from Glued to My Crafts.

Read a few pages from the book. (The kittens eat the pie with their mittens on thus soiling their mittens, cry, and then go wash and dry their mittens.)

Activity three: The kittens wash their mittens and hang them out to dry. First, this involved the kids basically just playing with pre-cut felt mittens, a few empty detergent bottles, a couple of tiny spray bottles, and a big bin of water.

After about 8-minutes of water play time, I told them to bring their mittens over to the "laundry line" to hang them up to dry. The laundry line was just a bunch of clothes pins on a piece of yarn that I taped to the side of a table. It worked perfectly.

Read the last few pages from the book. (The kittens tell Mother Kitten that they have washed their mittens, she praises them, and then they all smell a rat close by-- which, I explained to the kids, was even better than pie to a cat!) THE END.

Activity four: Unrelated to the story, we listen to The Three Little Kittens song and mother ktiten (me) blows bubbles. Uh, just like I said, when I got to the end of the book, I put on The Three Little Kittens song (this version from Mother Goose Club Playhouse on YouTube) and blew bubbles for the kids to play in a few minutes before we said goodbye. Just a quick extra thing that I could be sure would be a hit.

What worked least: So minor, but I allotted 45-minutes for this program and it took exactly 39. It was so much fun and such a success, overall, that I really really really don't think anyone would quibble over the 6 minutes, but I like things to be perfect so it bothered me a little that I couldn't make the time perfect too. Still, I think I really did time things out pretty well, considering it was a totally new program and a totally new idea that I've never done before. So, yay, good for  me!

What worked best: Seriously, all of it was awesome. I think everyone really liked sitting for a minute, then doing an activity, then sitting for a minute, then doing an activity. It broke the program up nicely and was perfect for short little attention spans. Of the four activities (five, if you include reading the book!), I thought the "washing" would be the stand-out favorite for sure, with bubbles as the second favorite. Honestly, I was way off! I think the favorite activities were a tie between activities 1 and 2-- the searching for a pair of matching paper mittens and the pie craft! Who would have ever guessed?

All in all, I had such a great time planning, prepping, and doing this program and I feel really proud of it! So I shall leave you all with this question: What other books or stories lend themselves to a dramatic storytime?

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!

Sadie's Top 5, 12-18 months

While, yes, this post is coming a couple of days early, I can't believe we're just a couple of days away from a year-and-a-half! Where does the time go? I cannot BELIEVE how fast the past 6-months have gone!  Since Sadie's birthday, she's gotten SO much better at sitting through books and will even sit for several books in a row! Some of her very favorites are still some of her past picks (A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy, Toot Toot Beep Beep by Emma Garcia, Sneak-a-Peak Colors by Roger Priddy, Five Little Elves by Dan Yaccarino, and the Margaret Miller Look Baby! books), but in the interest of variety, I've set my rule about only posting books one time each and I'm sticking to it! So with that, here are Sadie's Top 5 for ages 12-18 months, which have not been posted in past lists:

Three Little Mermaids by Mara Van Fleet-- and also the similar Little Color Fairies, Night-Night Princess, and Mama's Pajamas (also all by Mara Van Fleet)-- have all really piqued Sadie's interest on the later end of this age bracket. I tried a few of these with her when she was about 10-months-old and, while she certainly enjoyed them even then, she is really the perfect age for them now, at 18-months. In fact, Sadie is intrigued by these books from the moment she sees the pull-tabs on the covers! She is constantly handing them to me to read to her. They are each SO interactive; the pull-tab covers are just the start! On the first page of Three Little Mermaids, for example, there is an octopus holding a fun, sticky lollipop that Sadie likes to touch over and over again. The book also has fuzzy seals, bumpy star fish, flaps to open, and--best of all--MORE PULL TABS! What's crazy is that, while these stories themselves seem like they'd be too long to be interesting to a child this age (in Three Little Mermaids, all the sea friends help the mermaids prepare for a tea party), I think Sadie is actually focused on the stories! Even when we come across a rare non-interactive page, she still seems engaged. It's so crazy! We can read any of these four selections over and over, or switch between them, and she's happy for a while. So thanks, Mara Van Fleet, for letting this very pregnant momma sit for a few minutes while her active toddler actually interacts with a few books in a row!

Pete the Cat: The Wheels on the Bus by James Dean has been a hit in our house since Sadie was a newborn, but only now has it become one of our solid, regular go-to's. Or should I say, one of Sadie's solid, regular go-to's. She is always yanking this one off her (fairly tightly packed) bookshelf and handing it to me to read to her. She'll sit nicely in her chair while I sing The Wheels on the Bus song (with some fun variations thanks to Pete) over and over, and occasionally point out things like the bird, the dog, and Pete's guitar. Sadie definitely learned the word "guitar" because of Pete the Cat. She's even just begun to mimic The Wheels on the Bus hand motions that I try to do along (as I also hold the book). This is one we're gonna read again and again for a long time in our house!

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell is a CLASSIC that I have been just waiting for Sadie to be old enough for. And now she is! In fact, I think this book has helped Sadie hone in on some of her animal sounds. She's mastered the elephant noise, lion noise, and snake noise, I'm certain, thanks to Dear Zoo. If you're unfamiliar, the premise of this story is simple. The narrator wrote to the zoo to send him/her a pet and each pet that comes back is unfit. The elephant is too big, the lion is too fierce, the frog is too jumpy, etc. But, at the end, the zoo sends a dog (finally!) and it's just perfect! Sadie loves to lift the flaps as we read and she has an easier time finding which end to lift from in this book that in other books. (If you look carefully, there's a small, half-circle cut out next to each flap that guides little fingers to the right spot and I think it really helps!) Just like the dog at the end of the story, this book is perfect for us!

This exact "Slide and Find" version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle is a book that Sadie keeps migrating toward, especially toward the second half of this age-range. She lovessssss to slide the little tabs to reveal the animals underneath. Then, when we finish reading it, she almost always asks for, "More?" so we read it again! Also--here's something crazy-- her favorite animal in the book is not an animal at all but the teacher on the second to last page! She LOVES the "chee chee!" Maybe it's the glasses? Who knows! Another classic book, making our top 5 list today!

That's Not My Kitten by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells is a favorite from the earlier end of this age range-- one that Sadie still definitely enjoys now but really stood out as a favorite when she was about 12-14-months-old. The first time we read this, the day after her birthday, I pointed out all the "touchy-feely" spots in the book for her and then every time we've read it thereafter, Sadie's felt the spots herself, without any guidance. The "plot" is simple. Each spread says something like, "That's not my kitten, its ears are too soft," or "That's not my kitten, its bell is too shiny," or "That's not my kitten, its paws are too rough" until the last page, when we finally find the narrators kitten and it has a big, soft belly! This is another one I am able to read to her a few times in a row without her getting too antsy. Side note: Sometimes (often), when I read this, I change the word "kitten" to "cat" because  I feel like it makes things simpler for Sadie, but I'll probably stop doing this soon.

Next up... Sadie's Top 5 as a TWO-YEAR-OLD. 😳