Sadie's Top 5, 3-Years-Old

At the end of my last "Sadie's Top" post, I wrote the sentence "Hopefully I will have enough non-TV/movie character books for another post around Sadie's third birthday!" At the time that I wrote it, most of the books Sadie gravitated toward were books based on TV and movie characters-- Paw Patrol, Moana, Frozen, etc. We were in a not-so-great reading phase and I was sad about it. Now, at three-years-old, Sadie definitely still does enjoy those character books, but she has totally come back around to reading other things! She asks me to bring home new books constantly! And, even though our bedtime has changed, we're back to reading books together at night! Hooray!

Once again, I'm going to omit the books based on TV and movie characters (although, FYI, she's REALLY into this specific Frozen book with a spinning Elsa in the middle.) because the reason those books are hits are because of the recognizable characters, not because of the quality of the writing or the story-line. So, those books aside, here are Sadie's Top 5 books, as a sweet, big-girl, three-year-old:

Little Bear Needs Glasses by Bernd Penners is super fun. It's about Little Bear, who, as the title suggests, need glasses. He asks to try on all his friends' pairs but none are quite right. The cool thing about this is that you can actually try each pair of reusable sticky glasses on Little Bear's face! It comes with 5 plastic, reusable stickers! So it's totally interactive! In the end, Little Bear does find the perfect pair (spoiler alert: It's the red, circle pair that none of the other animals are wearing) and everyone is happy! Also, if you like this and your kid is really into the whole reusable sticker thing, try All Better! by the same author. This one is the "original" removable sticky story book and has pretend bandaids instead! Both great!

Hi, Pizza Man by Virginia Walter is a storytime favorite of mine! I have been using it for years in programs and I'm so excited that Sadie likes it now too! The story is about waiting for pizza and greeting whoever brings it. The first pizza deliverer is a human man, so we say "Hi, pizza man!" Then it's a human woman, so we say "Hi, pizza woman!" Then we say things like "Meow meow, pizza cat!" and "Ssssss, pizza snake" when a super formally dressed cat (including a cape!) and a friendly snake in three bow-ties and a top hat deliver the pizzas. There are a total of 8 greetings and then, finally, the pizza comes! Who's going to deliver it? It's a surprise! I love this book because it includes animal sounds and silliness, plus a gentle nod to children having to wait patiently from time to time, even though it's difficult.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems-- Yay! We're finally reading Mo Willems! Even though sometimes Sadie immediately allows the pigeon to drive the bus the very first time he asks to, every time we read it, it clicks a little more in her brain. In case you're not familiar with it, this book is about a pigeon who's begging the reader to allow him to drive a school bus. The book very specifically starts off with the bus driver asking the reader to keep an eye on things for him until he gets back and to make sure NOT to let the pigeon drive the bus while he's gone. So then, as soon as the driver walks away (on page 2), the pigeon pokes his head in and says "I thought he'd never leave." Then he asks, "Hey, can I drive the bus?" (to which the reader is supposed to answer "Nooo!"). His pleading with the reader gets more and more dramatic until he explodes about halfway through the book with, "LET ME DRIVE THE BUS!!!!!!!" Other pleading attempts include "I bet your mom would let me," "I'll be your best friend," and "How 'bout I give you five bucks?" It's a great storytime book and a great one-on-one book and is probably good for kids until, at least, first grade. I'm even inclined to say that there is no upper age limit, except that there comes a point where kids would find reading picture books super uncool. Also, FYI, there are a ton of other Pigeon books like Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, and The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, so there's no shortage of chances for kids to have control over the character in the book while giggling along the way! I can't wait to introduce other Mo Willems books to Sadie soon!

Rock-a-bye, Baby by Jane Cabrera ticks all the baby love boxes for Sadie. I'd say that this book is probably great for kids a lot younger than she is, but Sadie really enjoys it too. Maybe she finds it comforting. It's the classic song we all know, but re-imagined with lots of woodland animals and extra verses. For example: "Rock-a-bye Squirrel, high in the tree, in Mommy's arms, cozy as can be." I always sing (instead of say) the whole book and when I do, Sadie always pretends to scoop up and rock all the different animal babies on the pages in her hands. Then she goes "Awwww! So cute!" while pretending to pet them. She really loves babies and therefor, she really loves this book!

Can You See What I See? Seymour Makes New Friends by Walter Wick is one of many search-and-find books and magazines (hello, Highlights!) that Sadie enjoys. She seems to like these particular ones best because they're a little easier than some of the others that we've tried. Like, she can actually find the stuff. I think that they're better for her age. There's even a little story about Seymour along the way, although that part is totally lost on Sadie and even kind of lost on me. This was the first Seymour book that we tried and was, possibly, her favorite one, but all of them are great... and basically the same familiar thing!

Quick aside: I just had a patron ask me for potty books for her daughter and it reminded me of the potty book that really really sealed the deal for Sadie as far as potty training books go. I figured I'd recommend it here in case anyone else is looking for a great potty book recommendation. It's called A Potty For Me by Karen Katz. There are a lot of potty books out there, and a lot of other great ones too, but this is, by far, the one that Sadie always both enjoyed reading the most and the one that, absolutely, made using the potty a feasible and relatable experience for her. This book was a game changer for us-- and we read a lot of potty books!

Anyway, Sadie's Top 5 will be back in 6-months with her 3½-year-old faves!

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!

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. 😳

Sadie's Top 5, Ages 9-12 months

As Sadie gets more and more mobile, she is, unfortunately, getting less and less interested in sitting still for a book. While that's a bit of a bummer, who can really blame her? There is so much to explore in the world! And I love that she's so interested.

Her 9-12 month book selections are the books that either grab her attention when it seems like no other books will do so, or the books that she makes it all the way through without crying or crawling away. They're the books that she gravitates toward--instead of away from--when she's crawling and fidgeting all over the floor.

I should note that many of her actual current favorite books are ones that have appeared on this list before. In fact her top three are probably A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy (from her 6-9 month book list), Sneak-Peek-Colors by Roger Priddy (from her 0-3 month book list), and Baby Cakes by Karma Wilson (from her 6-9 month book list). But in the interest of not just listing the same books over and over, I'm not going to count them. So here is a totally new list.

The big running pattern for the 9-12 month book selection is SHORT BOOKS. Unless she's sick, Sadie absolutely will not sit still for a book that takes more than about 60-seconds to read or has more than 1-4 words per page. Even the Spot books are too long for her!

So, for this month, here is a list of really, really short books that (somewhat) hold Sadie's attention:

1. Are You My Mommy? by Mary Murphy is the only book that I have seen Sadie actively choose to sit still for over and over. I can even read to her five or six times in a row and she keeps enjoying it! She engages with the book by turning the flaps and and really looking at the animals underneath them. In fact, it was her love of this book that made me think that all lift-the-flap books would be a hit, but not so, unfortunately (Again, the Spot books totally didn't work). On each spread of Are You My Mommy?, a little puppy approaches a different farm animal, looking for its mom. First it finds a sheep and asks, "Are you my mommy?" The sheep replies, "No, I'm a sheep and..." and then, under the flap, it says, "here's my lamb." The puppy goes all around the farm looking for mom, being told no, until finally, on the last page, it asks a bigger dog, "Are you my mommy?" to which she replies, "Yes, I am! And you're my lovely puppy!" It's SO SWEET and teaches kids both adult and baby animal names. Jackpot!

2. All of the books in the "Look Baby" series by Margaret Miller top the list this month. Sadie will sit through most of them once or twice (which, like I said, is basically about all we can hope for at this age), but her favorites seem to be Baby Talk, Baby Pets, and Baby Food. She'll pick them up from her library book pile and hand them to me and, while she doesn't always actually want me to read them to her, that's more than I can say for a lot of other books. In all of the "Look Baby" books, each spread has one word (or short phrase) opposite one big picture of a baby. Like "Hi" with a picture of a smiling, waving baby. Or "Big dog" with a picture of a baby and a big dog (appropriately). Or "Spoon" with a picture of a baby sucking on a spoon. Easy, short, sweet, and lots of looking at other kids. That's a recipe for a Sadie-approved book.

3. Peek-A Who by Nina Laden is the book Sadie always goes to when I'm trying to get her to read other books.  Each left-side page of the book says "Peek-a..." and then, when you flip open the cut-out (on the right), says something like "Zoo!" (with an appropriate zoo picture). Also in the book: Peek-a Moo (with a cow), Peek-a Boo (with a ghost), and Peek-a You (with a fun mirror!). It's bright, colorful, full of cut-outs (Sadie loves to stick her fingers through cut-outs in books), and has that all-elusive mirror on the last page! That's three points for Peek-A-Who. One funny thing to note though: I have tried Nina Laden's follow up book, Peek-A Choo-Choo (which also has colorful pictures, cut-outs, and mirror...and is basically the same exact book), many times with Sadie and was met with basically no reaction at all. So go figure!

4. Never Touch a Monster by Rosie Greening is our "Target book," meaning the book that Sadie plays with (and I read to her) during our trips to Target but then we don't buy. It's cute and rhyming and bright and colorful, but the main draw of this book is the AWESOME, rubbery, textured monsters on every page! While, yes, Sadie is trapped in the shopping cart while I read this to her, I can tell that she's genuinely interested in looking at and touching the monsters on every page. The textures are thick, elaborate, and just FUN. It's like it's half-book, half-toy. The pictures really grab and hold her attention while I read the cute, rhyming text along. A text example: "You must never touch a monster who is hungry for its lunch. It might just see you coming and decide to take a munch!" This book, I really believe, would be a hit with lots of kids, of lots of ages.

5. Baby Animals Take A Bath by Marsha Diane Arnold, honestly, doesn't seem to have anything that makes it stand out from other, similar books, yet for some reason, it easily makes this list! Each page shows an animal taking a different type of bath: Sun bath (a sea lion), puddle bath (a bird), mud bath (a hippo), tongue bath (a tiger), etc. I really don't know what it is, but this is one of the few books that Sadie seems to be able to sit all the way through. She even points at the pictures. The hippo taking a mud bath alongside the zebra taking a dust bath seems to be her favorite spread. And I'm willing to bet that once Sadie is a little older, with a firmer grip on language, this book will be an even bigger hit in our house!

Sadie's Top 5, Ages 6-9 months

The big theme of Sadie's 6-9 month book selection is GIGGLES. All the books on this list are books that lend themselves to using funny voices, elaborate kisses, lap bounces, and tickles! My Sadie loves to giggle! As usual, I couldn't totally decide this month and wound up changing her picks up until my self-imposed deadline (today!) but here we go...

1. Hello Bugs! by Smriti Prasada is full of fun sounds and tickles. Each high-contrast page presents a shiny bug and simple text--"Hello, Bee! (buzz, buzz)," "Hello, Snail! (slide, glide)" or "Hello, Beelte (scuttle, scuttle)"--until the last page, which says, "Bye bye, Butterfly! (flutter, flutter)" This book has it ALL. Not only does it mean mom makes silly bug noises (Sadie's favorite is "zuzz zuzz" for "Hello, Dragonfly!" which comes with a lot of bonus belly tickles), but the bugs are SHINY. And the pages are otherwise black-and-white. Doesn't get better than that! Ace in the hole, my friends, ace in the hole! (Sidenote: There is another very similar book called Hello Animals! by Smriti Prasada and Sadie likes that one a lot too!)

2. Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emma Garcia is, like Hello Bugs!, full of fun sounds and tickles. Plus, in Tap Tap Bang Bang, we get to slap the pages of the book a bunch of times too. Each page features a different tool and what the tool "says." For example: "We can cree craw, cree craw, cut with the saw and chippety chip with the chisel," "We can zzz zzz make a hole with the drill and twizzle and twist with the screwdriver." Then at the end, we find out that, all this time, we've been making a go-cart! I don't know if it's the tools themselves Sadie likes or if it's just the silly noises and things I do with her while we read that make her giggle (although it's probably the latter). Her favorites are "zzz zzz" with the drill (which amounts to me tickling her belly and saying "zzzzz"), "grabbety grab" with the pliers (which means that I grab her) and "lift lift" with the jack (which means that I lift her up as high as I can). She also seems to enjoy when we "slap and slosh" with the paint brush (which means that we slap the page of the book). Emma Garcia's books really appeal to Sadie, as this is the second one that's appeared on one of her lists!

3. Baby Cakes by Karma Wilson resonates with Sadie because, like most of the other books in this post, it involves singing, bouncing, kisses and tickles. But it's not only that, she's drawn to these pictures too! This whole book is basically chant that, to me, seems to pretty clearly to follow the beat of Pat-a-Cake. It starts with, "Baby cakes, baby cakes, I love you. Baby cake, baby cakes, yes I do!" Along the way we get to "Kiss my little Baby Cakes on the nose/Smooch my little Baby Cakes on the toes," "Nibble little Baby Bakes on the feet/Oh my little Baby Cakes taste so sweet," and "Laugh with little Baby Cakes, Ha, Ha, Ha/Sing to little Baby Cakes, La La La." Of course, like most books for kids this age, it ends with Baby Cakes going night night. This book always draws Sadie in, while a lot of other books I try to read her, really don't. Even when she's super tired and cranky, this book can pull her in for one last hurrah before bed. I also have a feeling that, as Sadie gets older, she's going to continue to like this book and the chanting and tickles that come with it.

4. Baby Parade by Rebecca O'Connell is a book that I've used in baby storytimes many times. It works great for groups, but it also, apparently, works well well one-on-one! The majority of the book's pages say things like, "Wave to the baby in the big, red wagon!" and "Wave to the baby in the bright orange backpack," which is great because Sadie likes my extremely cheery "hello voice" as well as watching my hand while I wave (though she is still a novice waver herself). Of course, we wave and say hi to all the babies as they go by in the parade, which is fun and keeps Sadie's attention completely. But the very best part of this book is the first page! It says, "Here come the babies! It's a baby parade!" and I read it to Sadie in my very silliest announcer voice. She loves it! Sometimes even when we're not reading the book and I'm just trying to make her giggle, I'll say, "It's a baby parade!" and it does the trick!

5. A Kiss Like This by Mary Murphy is full of kisses! But not just regular kisses, silly kisses! One of Sadie's most favorite things is when I sort of "come at her" from a few inches away while making a funny noise and then kiss or tickle her. This book is ALL about that. Each page has a different type of animal kiss: "A giraffe kiss is gentle and tall. Like this! *kiss*," "A mouse kiss is quick and small. Like this! *kiss*," or "A bee kiss is fuzzy and buzzy. Like this! *kiss*" So many different silly ways for me to kiss Sadie! PLUS the last page has a big super-shiny heart that is basically a baby magnet. This book is awesome!

My next installment of Sadie's Top 5 will come when she is ONE YEAR OLD. That is wild. I can't even believe it.

Sadie's Top 5, Ages 3-6 months

It's already time for installment two of Sadie's Top 5! Six months old today, I have learned that there are books that hold her interest enough to read over and over and over, and books that she can barely stand to look at at all. In the end, I feel a bit on the fence about her top 5 this go around, but these are my best guesses. Presenting, Sadie's Top 5 for ages 3-6 months:

1. 1 2 3 Counting by Maxine Davenport and Cindy Roberts is ALL about the super high-contrast pictures + stand up combo (as is #2 on this list!). Due to a birth injury, we have to work extra hard with Sadie on gross motor skills and, physically, this book is a wonderful motivator for her when we're doing so! I don't even have to read it sometimes! The pages fold out like a fan, rather than turn like a traditional book, which allows it to stand and also allows lots of pages to be on display at one time. Then, between each page, there are black-and-white checkered borders that I swear are like baby eye magnets. (Click the link above to see what I'm referring to.) The combination of everything is just absolutely perfect! This book has it ALL. Even at the older end of this 3-6 month age range, we're big fans in my house!

2. Black & White by Tana Hoben is essentially another version of the book above. In fact, Tana Hoban's collection of high contrast books were most likely the inspiration for 1 2 3 Counting. Like 1 2 3 Counting, the pages of this book open up like a fan so it can stand up by itself and motivate Sadie during her exercises. The first half of the book has pictures that are black silhouettes on a white background; the second half has white silhouettes on a black background (while 1 2 3 Counting uses bold, bright colors in addition to black and white). Of all the pages, Sadie seems the most drawn to the picture of the butterfly, which also happens to be the picture with the most detail.  Overall, this is another really easy-to-look-at book for Sadie, although (according to her) just slightly less cool than the book it most likely inspired. This one might have even worked better as a 0-3 month book (but we were too busy reading and re-reading Sneak-a-Peek Colors to notice).

3. Counting Kisses by Karen Katz means LOTS of kisses from mommy. If you're not familiar with it, this book markets itself as "a kiss & read book," and it really, truly is. The book counts down from "ten little kisses on teeny tiny toes," "nine laughing kisses on busy, wriggly feet," all the way down to the one last kiss on baby's "sleepy, dreamy head." The illustrations are vibrant, sweet, and just seem to reflect love. Sadie's personal favorites are the toe kisses, feet kisses, and belly button kisses. Sometimes I cheat and give her a few extra on those (Don't tell Karen Katz!)--although lately she prefers to have her feet and belly "chomped on" instead. This book is AWESOME for mommy-baby giggles!

4.  Toot Toot, Beep Beep by Emma Garcia is all about the noise-making, so it needs to be read with a lot of enthusiasm. Each page asks the reader to make a silly car noise (such as, appropriately, "Toot toot," and "Beep beep") and, even though I've used this book in storytime for years, I've never seen a small baby's reaction to it until I read it to Sadie. Her favorite noise is the first in the book--"beep, beep"--but even the other noises don't seem to elicit the exact same reaction, the entire book is really engaging for her. Each page says something like, "Beep beep goes the little red jeep. And off he zooms," and "Vroom vroom goes the sleek black sports car. And off he speeds." So there are lots of opportunities for noise making! The vibrant colors, short text, and different tones of voice really seem to be the right combination for her. Maybe she'll be one of those kids who really likes cars. Maybe I am fostering a love of cars in her right now.

5. I had a hard time settling on a #5 for this list but ultimately realized that the answer was Sophie la Girafe: Colors from DK. This was a book that I (naively) assumed was just a marketing ploy to sell more Sophie toys (which, naturally, we own). While, yes, it may be that, it's also a book that Sadie genuinely seems to love. The text of the book says, for example "Who's hiding behind Sophie's green boat?" then you open the flap and see that it's "Margot the turtle! She loves green. She's resting on her green towel." Then at the end, the book recites all the animal friends and their favorite colors again: "Gabin loves blue. Josephine loves  yellow. Kiwi loves red. Margot loves green. Lazare loves orange. Sophie loves purple." I don't know what it is exactly, but there's something really engaging about this book. There's the usual simply drawn illustrations and bright colors, but what I think it is mostly are the really thick, cool, colorful lift-the-flap pages that Sadie is really into grabbing. They're not the ordinary thin, glued on flaps we're all used to, but almost like mini doors on each page. Like page within a page. They're so enticing! So, marketing ploy? Maybe. But enjoyable board book? Absolutely.

And that's it! More of this again when Sadie hits her 9-month-mark!