So I've been bad...

I haven't been posting reviews here. There are reasons...mostly legitimate. I'm on the Cybils YA panel. Which means I've been reading, reading, reading YA books. And most YA books aren't that short. Sure, some are just under 200. But some are really, really long. And they're definitely more time consuming. Normally in my bloggy routine, I read one maybe two books a day. Which leaves plenty of time for picture books. Now, I'm reading three books a day thereabouts. Sometimes four. And while I do have *some* spare time in the day, I'm just not feeling inspired to review books here.

I could lie and say I plan to review a book a day here on the site. But chances are I'll stay sporadic for the duration. But I will be back to blogging as soon as I feel inspired to do so.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Here Fishy Fishy: Fun Gift Ideas 2008

One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss (also board book)
Fabulous Fishes by Susan Stockdale*
Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood
Hooray for Fish! by Lucy Cousins
This Little Fish (board book) by R. Powell
Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
What's It Like To Be A Fish by Wendy Pfeffer
How Many Fish? by Caron Lee Cohen
A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer
Papa Fish's Lullaby by Patricia Hubbell
Feed Matisse's Fish by Julie Appel and Amy Guglielmo*
Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On by Lois Ehlert
Big Fish, Little Fish by Ed Heck
Not Norman by Kelly Bennett
The Birthday Fish by Dan Yaccarino
Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Dear Fish by Chris Gall
The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
The Fish Who Cried Wolf by Julia Donaldson
Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Will Grace
Fidgety Fish by Ruth Galloway
Fidgety Fish and Friends by Paul Bright
Ugly Fish by Kara LaReau
The Little Fish That Got Away by Bernadine Cook (illustrated by Crockett Johnson)
Pattern Fish by Trudy Harris
Fish Wish by Bob Barner

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Family-friendly Gift Ideas 2008

The Read-Aloud Handbook (6th Edition) by Jim Trelease. "Since the publication of his first Read-Aloud Handbook, Trelease has made a serious avocation of spreading his gospel about the value of reading aloud to children and teens." You can find out more about Jim Trelease at his website. And you can even read excerpts from his books. (Small snippets are available from each chapter. But there is more than enough there to "sell" you on the idea of the book.)

How To Get Your Child To Love Reading: For Ravenous and Reluctant Readers Alike by Esme Raji Codell. "Codell gives an admiring nod to the work of Jim Trelease (The Read-Aloud Handbook), while presenting her own theory that interest (finding the right books for the childHow to Get Your Child to Love Reading: For Rave...), integration (using reading as a springboard into other disciplines) and invention (when a child's unique ideas are inspired by the writing) can make the difference in how a youngster approaches reading. Codell, a teacher and librarian, resists grouping books by age level, explaining, "don't let somebody else's scoring system define your child, and don't let reading levels level your child's love of reading." Instead, she offers a simple method for determining whether a book is too difficult while pointing out that kids may listen on a much higher level than they read." Visit her website.

Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox. "An introduction for parents about reading aloud to their children. Fox explains that babies are born learners, discusses the importance of books in the home, and stresses the value of a read-aloud ritual. She also includes a chapter on how to read aloud, which novice readers will find useful." Here is a site listing Fox's Read-Aloud Commandments. Mem Fox's website.

George and Martha: The Complete Stories of Two Best Friends Collector's Edition. James Marshall. My thoughts? Best. Book. Ever. Seriously. Someone could easily write a book called All I Needed to Know About Life I Learned From George and Martha.Perfect for kids. Perfect for adults.

The Frog and Toad Collection Box Set by Arnold Lobel. My thoughts? These are timeless for a reason. I loved these growing up. I still love them.

Little Bear Boxed Set by Else Holmelund Minarik. My thoughts? I can't remember if I read each and every Little Bear book growing up, but I do know that the ones we had...I read and enjoyed a lot.

The Complete Adventures of Curious George by H.A. Rey. Who doesn't love a curious little monkey like George? How well do you speak monkey?

The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. There aren't enough words for me to explain all the reasons YOU need Pooh. I love, love, love this book. It's timeless. It's practically perfect. It's food for the soul.

Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales. Do I really need to explain this one?

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Have you met Mrs. P?

Who or what is Mrs. P? It is a website--to be more precise it is a free children’s entertainment and educational website, celebrating books and reading.

Mrs. P, played by Kathy Kinney also known as Mimi on the hit sitcom, “The Drew Carey Show,” will read 15 classic fairy tales from her “Magic Library.” Some of the current fairytales available include: “Jack and the Beanstalk” "Little Red Riding Hood,” “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and more. A new story will be uploaded to the site every 3 weeks for your children’s reading pleasure!


© Becky Laney of Young Readers

The Boy On The Bus

Dale, Penny. 2007. The Boy On the Bus: A Sing Along Storybook.

Sugarcookie told me I needed to review this one now so that it could be his for keeps. And since it isn't always the easiest thing in the world for a book to really grab his attention and keep him entertained and happy...there must be something about this one. (This is reading done within Sunday School hour--not reading at home.)

The book is based--loosely based--on the popular song for kids. But it introduces variations. Fun variations. Who is riding on this bus? Ducks. Pigs. Cows. Horses. Chickens. Goats. Sheep. Etc. You get the idea. It's silly. It's fun. It's playful. You've got singing. You've got animal noises. It has the potential to be truly interactive.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Fly Me To The Moon: Fun Gift Ideas 2008

Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh
The Ultimate Interactive Atlas of Space (2008) by Scholastic
Moon Landing: Apollo 11 40th Anniversary Pop-Up Book by Richard Platt
The First Moon Landing (Graphic Novel) by Thomas K. Adamson
11 Planets: A New View of the Solar System by David Aguilar
When Is A Planet Not A Planet by Elaine Scott
Our Solar System by Seymour Simon
The Moon by Seymour Simon
Galaxies by Seymour Simon
Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin
The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons
The Planets by Gail Gibbons
Stars and Planets by DK Publishing
Space Exploration by DK Publishing
The Moon Seems To Change by Franklyn M. Branley
The Magic School Bus: Lost In the Solar System by Joanna Cole
Papa, Please Get The Moon For Me by Eric Carle
Space Boy by Leo Landry
I Took The Moon For A Walk by Carolyn Curtis
If You Decide To Go To The Moon by Faith McNulty
I Want To Be An Astronaut by Byron Barton
On The Moon by Anna Milbourne
Moon Plane by Peter McCarty
Comets, Stars, The Moon, And Mars: Space Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian
A Child's Introduction to the Night Sky: The Story of the Stars, Planets, and Constellations--and How You Can Find Them In the Night Sky by Michael Driscoll
The Kids Book of the Night Sky by Ann Love
Zoo in the Sky: A Book of Animal Constellations by Jaqueline Mitton


© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Snugglebug's review of Does A Cow Say Boo

Hindley, Judy. 2002 Does a Cow Say Boo. Illustrated by Brita Granstrom

Miss Becky reviewed this book in July, and now Snugglebug is taking his turn to review it. This is a cute book, and Snugglebug agrees that animal noises are fun. At 8 months, Snugglebug isn't old enough to make those noises yet, but one day he will be joining in as we read this book. He really enjoys this book. It is by no means a favorite, but he finds the noises and the illustrations entertaining. We do read it quite often, but not as often as aforementioned fish books. But, Ladybug thinks that is just a personal preference of Snugglebug. We recommend this book to those at least 6 months of age or older.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Snugglebug's review of Welcome Winter

Ackerman, Jill. 2008 Welcome Winter. Illustrated by Nancy Davis.

Welcome Winter is an anomaly in Snugglebug's library at the moment. Miss Becky, who previously reviewed this book, shared it with Snugglebug because of its touch and feel characteristics that should appeal to infants his age. Ladybug would agree with this point since Snugglebug loves feeling the pages of the books and stroking the animals or fish as we read. But, Welcome Winter, oddly enough, does not attract his interest at all.

On the first page, the book begins, "It's winter! Snowflakes fall in front of your eyes." Soft snowflakes cover the page for the little one to touch. But Snugglebug finds no interest in this page or any other, and neither touches it or pays attention.

Ladybug likes this book, and reads it anyway for her own enjoyment. A kid at heart, she likes touching the snowflakes, crunching the snow, and feeling the rough wind. She hopes that 8 month-old Snugglebug will grow into it and enjoy the book with her later down the road. It could be the book would be more appealing to toddlers than infants.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Hooray for Fish

Cousins, Lucy. 2005. Hooray for Fish!

Written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins, this book is cute, fun, and educational. Little Fish is a bright orange baby fish who introduces the reader to all his fish friends. The fish themselves introduce the baby reader to concepts such as colors, spots, and stripes and to opposites such as happy and gripy. By the end of the book, Little Fish has introduced, Spotty Fish, Stripy Fish, Happy Fish, Gripy Fish, Ele-Fish (yes, she looks like an elephant), and so many more. But alas, Little Fish asks,

So many friends, so many fish, splosh, splash, splish!

But, where's the one I love the best, even more than all the rest?

"Hello, Mom."

"Hello, Little Fish."

Kiss, kiss, kiss,

Hooray for fish!

What mom doesn't love that ending! For that reason, Ladybug loves this book. But Snugglebug loves it because he has a thing for fishy books. Big Fish, Little Fish by Ed Heck is still one of his favorites. The illustrations of this book are bright and fun and far from realistic, keeping Snugglebug's attention quite well. Ladybug loves the unique way Cousins introduces such ordinary concepts, making this book one of our everyday readers.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

My Big Book of Spanish Words

Emberley, Rebecca. 2008. My BIG Book of Spanish Words

Rebecca Emberley is a fabulous children's author and illustrator. She is one of Ladybug's favorites. Emberley's series of bilingual board books were first published in 2000 with more books added in 2002 and 2005. Each book originally had ten pages and one subject. The page had one illustration and the word in English and Spanish.

My BIG Book of Spanish Words is a compilation of 8 of her original books and three new ones. The pages are large with each page being the equivalent of one ten page book. Each page has the same vibrant illustrations that have captured Snugglebug's interest from the first time he saw one of her books, as well as the words in both English and Spanish. The subjects in this compilation are colors, food, toys, clothes, rooms, animals, things that go, shapes, numbers, bath time, and bedtime.

As readers of several of her original bilingual board books, Ladybug and Snugglebug highly recommend this latest publication.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Have you seen this yet?

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Walk Like An Egyptian: Fun Gift Ideas 2008

Fun With Hieroglyphs by Catharine Roehrig. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Includes 24 rubber stamps, ink pad, and full-color book.)

Pyramids and Mummies by Anne Bolton.


Egyptology.

Egyptology Code-Writing Kit.

50 Hands On Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt by Avery Hart and Paul Mantell

Mummies Made In Egypt by Aliki.

Pyramid by David Macaulay

© Becky Laney of Young Readers