Last weekend my family finally made it down to Portland to visit one of my oldest and dearest friends and of course had to stop in at Powell’s Books! I mean can you even imagine going to Portland and not stopping there? No, I didn’t think so.
I have wanted to go to Powell’s for years, but never seemed to be able to get there for one reason or another. This time we finally we got to go and it was AMAZING! If you’ve never been and love books this is a must stop bookstore. It is huge. My petite family spent almost three hours wandering around with our shopping cart, yes they have shopping carts! We filled ours by the way with some amazing titles!
You simply cannot go wrong with owning an Elephant and Piggie book. My oldest loves them and loves reading them to her little sister. As a parent I love that these books are accessible to little ones, the lessons taught are so important, never pushy, always easy for little ones to understand and relate to. As with all of Mo Willems books, this one does not disappoint. There is even a cute Thank you surprise that made Zoe squeal when she saw it- I wouldn’t dare ruin your surprise.
Technicolor Treasure Hunt, by Hvass & Hannibal (Wide Eye Editions, 2016)
We love seek and find books, but at times they can be rather one note. This book is perfect for teaching little ones colors, and lots and lots of new words. This book is geared toward 12 months and up and with its little tabs on the side toddlers will adore looking at these brightly colored pages. Vivi’s favorite page is the pink page, it has some of her favorites, lots of sea creatures as well as her favorite bird…the flamingo, or mingo as she calls it. This book is perfect for learning colors as well as counting. It is going to be my new go to board book gift for petites.
I’ve shared my love for Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long before, they have this amazing series of highly engaging, gorgeously illustrated nature books. As budding naturalists my girls love pouring over the detailed drawings of their books. This is a book we’ve checked out numerous times from the library and earned many fines for keeping it way too long. We decided since we have painted lady caterpillars at home that recentently turned into chrysalis and any day into butterflies that this would be the perfect book to finally add to our library. If you know a junior naturalist, I highly recommend any and all of their books.
Dan Santat is by far one of the most imaginative author illustrators out there. After his Caldecott Medal win last year for Beekle, I was curious as to what he would put out next; well Are We There Yet? is absolutely spectacular. For every petite who has ever had to endure the boredom that ensues when on a long car ride this book is the answer! Some of our favorite aspects about this book are a surprise visit from Beekle and of course, the facial expressions that lead to the most amazing discussions about feelings. The incredibly fun component of needing to turn the book to the side and upside down while reading is so unique and entertaining, we love a book with something new and novel. I can only hope that the long road trip my family is planning in a few months is as entertaining as the trip Santat has depicted in the pages of this must have book.
This is a hometown classic in the making. Although I am not originally from Seattle, this book is certainly a treasure. My husband grew up in the Pacific Northwest and loves baseball, so this was a book that he was incredibly excited to share with the girls. I love that Mark Holtzen mentions places as Huey runs through the neighborhood, mainly because they are still in existence today, Borracchini’s Bakery and Mutal Fish Company (now in a new location) as well as the Barrel burger joint. I personally think these little tidbits of history are really important. This is also just a really fun story about a little boy, who misplaced his ticket to the biggest game ever – the Pennant we follow him as he runs around town looking for where he might have misplaced it. But don’t worry it has a happy ending.
My oldest loves seek and find books, recently she fell head over heals for Pierre the Maze Detective, read more here. This book brought so much enjoyment to our story time, we have been wanting to add a new seek and find and found this one. What we love about this book, is the lens to look for the hidden items in the pages, it is too cute to watch the girls hold the little lens to their eyes as they look over the pages. So much fun for ages 4-7.
We have a thing for oversized books here at The Petite Stag, they are just so much fun to lay on the floor and really spend time pouring over the illustrations. This book is perfect for the petite historian! This book starts with a big bang…Dinosaurs, Mesopotamia, First Settlements, Viking, Incas, throughout the centuries, all the way to the 2010s and what has been happening this decade. What I love about this book is that there is so much to see. This book gives really great facts about key people, places and dates thoughout history. This book is geared toward older kids 4th grade and up. However, I’ve been reading it to my 6-year-old and looking at the pictures with her and we’ve been having the most interesting discussions.
If you like what you are reading here, please consider following us on Facebook or Instagram.
The Petite Stag 