Princess Peepers By: Pam Calvert illustrated By: Tuesday Mourning

Princess Peepers is a delightful tale of a princess who loves to wear all different kinds of eye glasses. But when she attends the Royal Academy for Perfect Princesses she is made fun of for wearing glasses. She decides to get rid of all of them and show the other princesses she doesn't need her glasses and then she will be just like them.  Princess Peepers goes on a blurry journey filled with wrong turns, talking to animals thinking they are people, and when she gets dressed for the ball to meet the Prince that night she ends up looking rather silly complete with a boot on her head!  Then while Princess Peepers practices her dance moves she falls out of the castle tower and lands on what she thinks is a horse. It is actually the Prince and he wears glasses too!!! After that she decides she does need her glasses to see and when her and the Prince put on their glasses "It was love at first sight." It then shows all the girls who poked fun at Princess Peepers wearing glasses too. (Which are now in style!)

Since getting this book from the Library my little one Emma hasn't put it down! She loves picking the glasses she would wear and what a great lesson for them to learn. It is okay to be different and sometimes different is cool and stylish!

Hear is to cool shades and reading in style!

Should I Share My Ice Cream? By: Mo Willems

Mo Willems is definitely one of my favorite children's authors!. His great sense of humor embodies all of his work. All of his children's book in my opinion are hilarious and will impress the adults just as much as the kids.

The Piggie and Elephant books are about two best friends. Piggie and Elephant are very different from each other but seem to compliment each other well. In Should I share my ice cream Elephant who has gotten an ice cream cone faces a dilemma: Should he gobble the delicious sweet treat now or share this goody with his very best friend?! Watching Elephant try to decide whether or not to share is so funny and then doesn't the ice cream go and melt before he can come to a conclusion. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" But here comes Piggie with her very own ice cream cone to share with her best friend.  She'll never realize the struggle Elephant has gone through!

This book really shows the emotions that go along with sharing and being selfless. It is a human response to want to keep something for your own. This book is a perfect time to break out the silly and really act out all of Elephants emotions. Do your kids a favor and get this gut buster of a book...if not for them, than for you!

Happy reading!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom By: Bill Martin Jr. And John Archambault Illustrated by: Lois Ehlert

 

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a fun way to get your kids to learn the alphabet! The letters from A-Z are pictured on a full page spread with both the big and little letters. It is a great way to introduce kids who might know their upper case letters to the lower case ones they aren't familiar with. 

 

 The story reads almost like a song and has all the little lower case letters climbing up the coconut tree until the coconut tree can't hold any more and they all fall out!   "Skit skat skoodle doot, Flip flop flee. Everybody running to the coconut tree. Mamas and papas and uncles, and aunts hug their little dears, then dust their pants." That part is my girls favorite!  They love the silliness of it all! All the little letters some bruised and with lost teeth get up and leave but as the full moon comes out "a" gets out of bed and climbs up the tree taunting "Dare double dare, you can't catch me."  

This book now is just as fun to read as it was the first time! This will become a favorite for sure and parents use it as a fun learning tool! Here is to learning while reading and having fun doing it!!

Me Too! By: Mercer Mayer

"Me too" comes out of my youngest daughter's mouth quite often as I am sure it does any younger siblings.  In this little critter book the little sister always spoils the fun by saying "me too" and tagging along when the big brother just wants to do big kid stuff and play with his friends.  We love this book in our house and my oldest daughter Isabela likes to read the pages and Emma likes to shout "Me too!".  We always get a good giggle with this book because it captures how both siblings feel as life happens to them.

"I went hiking with my friends and my little sister said, "Me too!" I had to carry her because she got tired."  How funny and how true!
"When I went fishing she said, "Me too!" Then she caught the biggest fish."
It ends happily though with the little sister sharing her candy cane with her big brother.  Those are the moments as parents we love!

Here is to a fantastic read and to siblings young and old!

Sisters Written & Illustrated by: David McPhail

This book was given to me by a great friend when I was pregnant with my second daughter. I remember I would sit with my big belly heavy on my legs with Isabela barely over a year old herself and read this to her almost everyday before her sister arrived. I had it displayed on a shelf in her soon to be new sisters room and she loved picking it up and rocking on the chair with me as I read it to her. This was one of the first books Isabela memorized and it was a great introduction to what she was in store for for years to come! This book showcases the love between two sisters and the fun they have together and the fun they have at each others expenses. This book is so true when it lists the things they both like and the things that make them different and their unique selves.
The illustrations are darling and I love reading this story with my girls even now because it reminds us all how special they are to each other! "But the way they were most alike was the most special way of all. Because, you see, they loved each other so very much."

Think about this book next time you have a pregnant friend who will have two girls or if you have a girlie twosome you already know, they really will enjoy it!

There's Somthing in My Attic By: Mercer Mayer

From the author of the Little Critter books is a tale of a feisty little girl who hears a nightmare in her attic.  She tells her parents but they say it is probably just mice.  She isn't going to let that stop her from finding out what is behind that noise even if she is a little scared.  With her cowboy hat and boots on and her lasso and flashlight in hand she heads up to the attic to find out what is going on.  To her surprise she finds her toys she thought were lost and a big monsterly looking creature holding her new teddy bear.  He sneaks away and she lassos him and tries to get back the teddy bear but he is too strong for her! The nightmare looks frightened and he desperately holds on to the teddy bear.  She runs to show her parents what she has caught..."But nightmares are very tricky, and sometimes they just slip away."

This book is a great teaching tool for kids who might be afraid of the "noises" they hear at night or the monsters they fear are lurking in their room.  It shows them how being brave makes you the boss of the situation.   It also is a funny book that the kids will get a laugh from!  Imagine chasing down a "nightmare" you captured that is more frightened than you are and having it slip away when you wake up your parents!

Here is to brave bedtime reading!  Enjoy!

The Going To Bed Book By: Sandra Boynton

The Going to Bed Book is a really silly way to send your little sleepy heads to bed!  This board book is loved by my girls.  All the animals on the ship are getting ready for bed and they do a lot of the same rituals my girls do but after they brush their teeth "And when the moon is on the rise, they all go up...to exercise!"  Isy and Emy love that part!
But when the moon is high in the sky they are all in bed being "rocked" to sleep by the sea.  This is a really fun book that can easily become apart of your bedtime ritual.

Here is link to the authors website :
http://www.sandraboynton.com/sboynton/Introduction.html

She really has a lot of great children's books to read and they are never short on silliness!

On the Night You Were Born By: Nancy Tillman

Tomorrow is my daughter Emma's birthday.  She was born on Mother's Day three years ago.(Gush, Gush) I immediately knew what book I should write about for the special occasion.

On the Night You Were Born is a masterpiece!  The message in this book is the most special message a child can hear or be validated with "Because there had never been anyone like you...ever in the world."  I love reading this to my girls and when my husband bought it for my oldest daughters first Christmas, reading it for the first time the words brought tears to my eyes (and still usually does).  You have to read this to your little one to appreciate how powerful and humbled it will make you feel.  It really reminds you how precious our children are and that they are a gift from the Heavens.  

My little miracles love reading this book and they both think that they are the little baby in the basket in the first illustration. =)  They love listening for me to whisper their name and love the whimsical drawings.  I can't say enough good about this book!  Share this with your child or grandchild and remind them how amazing they are!

"For never before in story or rhyme (not even once upon a time) has the world ever known a you, my friend, and it never will, not ever again."

Kitten's First Full Moon By: Kevin Henkes

2005 Caldecott Medal Winner

Kitten's First Full Moon is a delightful little tale about a Kitten who mistakes the full and bright moon for a delicious bowl of milk. She takes a couple comical attempts on getting the "bowl of milk" and after each failed attempt we are reminded "Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just waiting."  The "poor kitten" eventually heads back home soaked and defeated to find a bowl of milk waiting for her on her doorstep (lucky kitten)!

 

The drawings in this book are amazing!  The kitten is adorable and you can read so many expressions on her face. My girls love saying "awwllll poor kitten!"  The book is in black and white and still Kevin Henkes makes the moon glow so bright and gives life to everything around the kitten in the night!

Here is to a satisfying read that won't disappoint the kiddos!

Peter Pan By: J.M. Barrie

This post is dedicated to my daughter Emma Greyce who is having her 3rd Birthday party tomorrow.  She wanted to have a Jake and the Neverland Pirate Party and so tomorrow our house will be transported to Neverland and our yard into the Never Sea complete with the Jolly Roger and Bucky. 


Emma has a wonderful imagination and loves to dress up and play pretend.  She is always a different character and when she became "Jake" from the cartoon it stuck for over a week. She would remind me too if I forogt and called her Emma and not Jake. I have fallen in love with Peter Pan all over again through the eyes of my kids.  Who doesn't like the idea of Neverland and how fun it would be to be little for ever!  I love that innocence in a child and laugh when they say "Yuk grown ups". She has inspired me to get a copy of the original Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie and read it with them! 

There is also movie "Finding Neverland" starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet that explains J.M. Barrie's inspiration to write Peter Pan.  I am a little biased because of my love of Johnny Depp but this movie is really good.  It is heartfelt and shows how important and magical a persons imagination really is.

Here is to Happy Birthday Reading and to holding on to our child's innocence as long as possible!

Peter Pan Kensington Gardens statue

Caps For Sale By: Esphyr Slobodkina

Caps for sale is a classic children's book that I distinctly remember reading when I was a child at school.  This is a tale of a peddler trying to sell caps that he stacks rather high on his head.  When he has not sold a cap he decides to take a walk into the country and take a nap.  He wakes up with his caps missing and finds his caps up in a tree on some monkeys! The monkeys are rather silly and play a little game of monkey see monkey do with the peddler until he becomes so upset that he throws his own cap down and the monkeys do the same.  The peddler piles all the caps back onto his head and heads to town calling "Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap." 

This book is simple, repetitive and a lot of silly fun! Enjoy this classic story with your children today!

The House in the Night By: Susan Marie Swanson Illustrated By: Beth Krommes

This book will captivate you right away with the art work on every single page.  It is stunning to see such vibrancy from the use of only black, white and gold throughout the entire book. The House in the Night is a simple bedtime book that will have your little cutie pie feeling safe, protected and cozy by the end of the story.  The text starts  “In the house burns a light. In that light rests a bed. On that bed waits a book.”  The light in the book will illuminate you. It will feel like the universe is taking you in and you can rest your head knowing the sun, stars, moon and everything you hold dear to you will be there again when you awake.

My girls took to this book immediately.  It is a wonderful and calming way to say goodnight to your little ones.  Getting caught up in the pictures is have the fun and even I am in awe of the beauty in this book.

Beth Krommes won the 2009 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations.