story time

I Love This Book…

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Pandora

When I first saw that Pandora by Victoria Turnbull was coming out, on April 4th,  I had no idea what it was about, I simply loved the cover art and knew it was immediately being added to our library hold list.  When it arrived, it was clear as we opened the cover we were the first people to check this book out and have the privilege of reading it.

Pandora is a little fox, who lives in a world of discarded and broken things all alone.  She has made herself a handsome home (which my petites thought was quite fun and now they call their rooms handsome) she uses her time repairing and restoring items that she can mend and fix.  However, she is lonely and no one ever comes to visit her.

One day something falls from the sky, it is a tiny blue bird with a broken wing.  Pandora doesn’t know how to fix its wing, but does her best to take care of it and over time the bird regains its strength and begins to fly small distances.  Always returning with small gifts from its journeys, until one day, the bird doesn’t come back.  Pandora is alone, again.

As the days pass, slowly something lovely and beautiful starts to grow until one morning Pandora wakes to the sound of her bird friend and the stunning changes that have happened to her once broken and discarded world.

petite-stag-favoriteWhen we finished reading this story, my seven-year old picked up the book and held it to her chest and sighed and said oh mommy, I love this story so much.  How much is it?  Can we buy this book so I can always read it?  This is a story that is so much more than a story, it is about loving what you have, appreciating what you have, finding the goodness in what others may discard, taking care of others, being aware of feelings and what it means to have joy.  This is an absolutely perfect story for petites.  We have read it every single day since we have checked it out from the library.   It is quite clear that this is a new Petite Stag Favorite.

This is Victoria Turnbull’s third book, she is an author from the UK who has incredible talent – her words are so carefully chosen and her illustrations evoke such incredible feeling.  We cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.  To see more of her other two books and Pandora check out her website.

Finding Dory Inspired Book List

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We took the petites to see Finding Dory yesterday and it was FANTASTIC, I seriously cannot handle how amazing Pixar is at putting out such quality films.  The girls love the ocean and all the things that live beneath the surface, so when I started thinking about the books that we already have on our shelves that are tried and true and a few others that we borrowed from the library  it was quite clear that we needed to put together a list of our favorites.

 Breathe by Scott Magoon (Simon & Schuster, 2014) This book is all about Dory’s message, just keep swimming.  The story follows a baby beluga through out their day, a lovely message of play, swim and breathe.  Perfect for 2-7 year olds, also a really great first read book as the text is sparse.

1001 Things to Spot in the Sea by Katie Daynes (Usborne, 2009).  This is a really fun book that will keep kids busy for a while searching for all of the hidden items.  We love the Usborne 1001 books they are really well done, with fantastically busy pictures, perfect for 3-7 year olds.

Coral Reefs by Jason Chin (Flash Point, 2011) is a perfect book for transporting you to another world.  This book is full of mystery and intrigue, filled with opportunities to talk about “what if”.  This book is perfect for 5-9 year olds.

Commotion in the Ocean by by Giles Andreae and art by David Wojtowyez (Tiger Tales, 2002) is a silly read that will have your petites giggling in no time.  The poetic verses will be sure to capture the attention of your petites along with the vibrant colors, and you are set for an undersea journey with your petite.  Perfect for ages 2-6.

 24 Hours in the Coral Reef (DK Children’s, 2005)  This non-fiction book is so unique and so stunning in its gorgeous photographs, much like all the other DK books you’ve grown to love.  This book is a unique look at what happens hour by hour in a coral reef.  My girls find this book to be enchanting and love looking and talking about the pictures.  This book is geared toward 10-17 year olds because of its scientific text, however, with guidance this book can be accessed at a much younger age.
Usborne Lift The Flap Under the Sea by Jessica Greenwell and Peter Scott (Usborne, 2010) is a gorgeous book that your budding marine biologists will love.  This book is perfect for 2 year olds and up, however, if your petites doesn’t rip the flaps, then this can be for an even younger babe.

National Geographic Ocean Animals by Johnna Rizzo (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2016) is a gorgeous book filled incredible pictures to pique curiosity and help petites who are interested in learning more about the animals in Finding Nemo and Dory.  Get to know the real animals in this stunning fact filled non-fiction book is perfect for 8-12 year olds.

 Life in the Ocean:the story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A Nivola (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012) is a gorgeous look at the life of Sylvia Earle.  This book is gorgeous, we have checked this book out from the library quite a few times.  It tells the story of how Sylvia’s passion for the ocean was sparked as a young girl in the Gulf of Mexico and how she went on to work as an oceanographer.  It is gorgeous and reminds me a little of Me…Jane which we love so much.  Perfect for the 4-8 age set.

 The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by  Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen (Scholastic, 1994) let’s just start by saying who doesn’t love Ms. Frizzle?  Who doesn’t wish that she could be your teacher?  Okay, so lets talk about this book, it is just like all the other books, busy pages with little perfect conversation bubbles.  Ms. Frizzle with her fantastic wardrobe, and you get to learn about science in a fun way.  Yes, please.  These are tried and true books, perfect for budding scientists.  Suggested age range is around 4-8 years old.

Now for my favorite part, do you have a book that would fit perfectly into this list?  If you do, we would love to hear about it and add it.

Happy Reading!

 

 

Library Love – Part One

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Library Love Part One

Here in the Pacific Northwest it’s the time of year where the weather gets a little drizzly and we find ourselves seeking out indoor entertainment on those really rainy days.  That is where our deep love and appreciation of the library comes in.  Here are some of our favorite books about libraries.

The Boy Who Was Raised by Librairians The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians –  Carla Morris has created such a sweet story about a little boy named Melvin, who visits his library frequently and his three librarians help him learn all there is to know about all of his changing interests.  This story places a true emphasis on what a fantastic librarian, or in Melvins’ case a team of fantastic librarians, can do to support a young mind.  They show him books, websites, and a general interest in everything that Melvin wants to know about.  Such a great story, the ending is fabulous, you going to have to check it to see what happens to Melvin.

Check out this link to a YouTube video.

<a href=A Library Book for Bear (Bear and Mouse) – This is an incredibly cute book, by Bonny Becker, about a bear who is convinced that he already has enough books at home, he is convinced by his pal Mouse to go to the library and although he is one picky bear when it comes to his literature choices, he has a most enjoyable time.

If you want to know more about Bear, he is a very interesting character, read his most recent interview with a certain Mr. Pig from The Little Crooked Cottage.  Mr. Pig ask some very thought-provoking questions you might have been wondering about yourself.

No Pirtates Allowed Said Library LouNo Pirates Allowed Said Library Lou – Argh Matey, Rhonda Gowler Greene, has written this fantastic story about a strong-willed librarian named Lou, who can handle anything that comes her way.  This is a silly story about a pirate and his parrot too, they come to the Seebreezy Library looking for buried treasure.  Pirate Pete is not prepared for the adventure he encounters when he meets Lou the Librarian.  If your petite loves books and pirates you are in luck this book is a fantastic story.  This would be a great read for a little one who needs reminding about library behavior and manners.

Activity: It might be a fun time to make a treasure map for your little one with clues about finding a certain book, maybe even this book.
Bats at the LibraryBats at the Library (A Bat Book) – I’ve written about this lovely book before, Brian Lies has written this amazing story about a colony of bats that has quite the fabulous evening at the library.  What my girls love about this book is that the bats just can’t wait to get into the library and enjoy their time reading books and exploring.  This book is so much fun, we have had some great conversations about what the bats might look forward to the most, and what would happen if the library was open every night.  My favorite is when we talk about what book we would jump into like the bats.  The illustrations make this book so special, Brian Lies is a new favorite author in our house.

Activity: Brian Lies has this awesome bat story activity: http://www.brianlies.com/Activities/activities_fold_a_bat.html this is an incredibly cute activity where your petite to color a bat and talk about their favorite book, or make a whole garland of bats with their favorite books.

 

Stay tuned for the next installment of Library Love!

Library Love Part Two

Just How Big Can a Petite Dream?

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My Name Is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream? and My Name Is Not Alexander are two books that I ordered for my daughter from scholastic last year.

My-Name-is-Not-Isabellamay-name-is-not-alexander

Okay, back to the two books that my petite is loving at the moment by Jennifer Fosberry.    What is so cool about these books is that they are about strong, smart, brave, daring people and Isabella and Alexander embody these characteristics of the famous people who are highlighted throughout the story.  My petite loves to know more about the real life people they are talking about and in the back of the book there is a little biography about the women and men discussed.   Another terribly cute aspect is that at the end of the story Isabella and Alexander are not themselves, but Mommy and Daddy.  I find this to be so incredibly nice that a child can look up to their parents as a hero and want to be like them.  I love books that inspire petites to dream about all the possibilities that are out there for them.  These books do just that.  Not to mention that Mike Litwin does a fabulous job with the illustrations.

Sally Ride - My Name is not Isabella

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Isabella Girl on the GoI’ve also seen these two but have yet to add them to the petites shelves. Isabella Star of the Story

Isabella: Girl on the Go
In looking through these I am again in love.  Isabella is off on a magical journey around the world, she travels through her yard in her sandbox to the pyramids of Giza and on and on.  It gives a sense of adventure for any petite who likes to dream of far off places.
Isabella: Star of the Story is so incredibly cute.  Isabella starts her day out at the library and then she travels into the world of the story books that she is reading.  What is not to love about that?  So cute!  Again the illustrations are just adorable.

These books are just fantastic reads and so much fun to look at new vocabulary that go with the people they are discussing; my four-year old is now gliding around the kitchen and trying to whirl her little sister around like Fred Astaire.  I think I am going to have to go and get Girl on the Go and Star of the Story to add to our shelves.
Happy Reading,

Erin

If you enjoyed this post check out some of my other book recommendations

Tilly and Friends Books | Let’s Go on a Journey Together | Ordinary People Change the World: Biographies for Petites | A Cute  New Addition to the Book Shelf

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Children’s Book Week – Tilly and Friends Books

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This week is Children’s Book Week, how exciting is that?  Recently I’ve spent quite a bit of time writing about the books that my petite is loving these days.  I have a not so secret desire to open a children’s book store.  When I told my fabulous husband I was adding owning a children’s book store to my ten-year plan, he said “great, what do you know about running a business”, to which I responded “oh, absolutely nothing, but I do love children’s books”.

So…with all that said, this love affair with books is genetic, I am convinced that this is true.  One of the very first things we put into my petites nursery was a bookcase and then we lovingly stocked it full of books.  We all know reading is so important and critical to brain development and to school success.  So this week I am going to highlight some of our all time favorite stories.  I link the books to Amazon so that you can read more about the books, but I think it is also important to check out those independent book sellers in your town too.

Doodle The first story that we love to pieces is Doodle Bites, but Polly Dunbar.  This book was a gift from a family friend and our little one just loved it.  She loved it so much that she was able to memorize the words when she was about 2 years old and her little squeaky voice saying things like “Doodle woke up feeling bitey!” “Ouch that’s my tail!”  Too cute.  It also came in handy when she was at daycare and one of her friends bit her, we read the story a lot more and talked about why it’s not a good idea to chomp on your friends.

The fun thing about these books, is that they all have a really sweet message or moral and that they are hardback so they are able to handle lots of reading by tiny hands.  This is also a series called Tilly and Friends.  There are a few: Hello Tilly, Happy Hector, Good Night Tiptoe, Pretty Pru, Where’s Tumpty. Pretty Pru is also a Petite Stag favorite, because she wears lipstick.  I am partial to Hello Tilly, because she’s just so darn cute.

Tilly and Friends

Have any of you seen the new lift the flap books that Polly Dunbar published?  They looks so cute, but we’ve not have a chance to check them out yet.

Happy Reading.  If you like this post you might also like some of my other posts:

Let’s Go on a Journey Together | Ordinary People Change the World | A Cute New Addition to the Shelves | Little Green Thumbs | An English Majors Daughter

Keep checking back or follow my blog for more great book picks,

Erin

Let’s go on a Journey Together

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Journey by Aaron BeckerJourney, a 2014 Caldecott Medal Honor book written and illustrated by Aaron Becker is stunning from the first to the last page.  This is a wordless story which allows for your petites’ imagination to soar.  A sweet little one is armed with a red crayon and in using her imagination she goes on, you guessed it, a remarkable journey to far away places.  The illustrations are just amazing.  With her crayon she escapes her boredom and travels to far off places and having some quite extraordinary adventures.

Journey 1Journey 2

This book provides the opportunity to talk about making predictions and problem solving.  What’s not to love?  For children to be able to make predictions and identify problems and possible solutions are fabulous talking points to prep little ones for critical thinking and school.  Really fostering the use of imagination is such an amazing skill that I think is all too taken for granted; but when you have a book like this it is such an amazing platform.  All you need to do is get this book and embark on your own journey.

I thought some cute activities would be to have your petite use this as a platform to talk about or draw about the journeys that they might like to go on.  I love using stories like to this have kids think about things that they would like to do and places they would like to go.  After all, it never hurts to dream a little now does it?

Happy Reading,

Erin