Major Distractions!

Sorry it has been a few days since I updated my blog! I am currently repainting Chloe Jane's nursery. I can't wait til it's finished and it is an even nicer place for us to hang out and read!!!

Hopefully tonight or tomorrow I will get a real post up until then I will just share a few titles we have read recently. Forgive me I do not have the authors names handy I will edit them in later.

Toot and Puddle: You Are My Sunshine by Holly Hobbie
Ella the Elegant Elephant
Goodnight, Little Monster
I Got Two Dogs by John Lithgow

Toot and Puddle and Ella are being added to Chloe's wishlist! So yup they were good!

Ballerina Day!

I'm going to start off with sharing today because this is my blog so I can! I'm so excited that Chloe's copy of Zoomer came in the mail today! Hooray! Now I just need to add it to the pile of stuff I still need to wrap for Christmas even though the underside of our tree is already exploding with gifts for her so much so that we have started lining the walls. I'm not totally crazy, I understand that she has no idea what Christmas is and we don't have to buy her presents and we certainly don't have to wrap them, but I LOVE Christmas. Skipping any part of it would feel like cheating to me. Besides, most of the gifts are clothes that she will grow into. Every bit of clothing and every toy that we had been given that I hadn't taken the tags off and washed or opened that are for later on got wrapped. That and a few small things we picked up along the way. Not important.

Yay Zoomer! Hooray! I can't wait to add it to her collection! Drew went out the other day and picked up her bookshelf for her nursery because we'd simply run out of places to put her books (they had been taking over all the shelf space on the tv stand in the living room and a good part of her closet.) Now even better news, with the introduction of the book shelf we have room for MORE books. And as the book shelf was only $20 (thank you Target!) if she needs an additional bookshelf or a bigger one I have no problem with that.

 

Chloe's library corner in her nursery!

See! Plenty of room on the middle shelf, the sheep would be happy to relocate if need be, and even more room on the bottom shelf with her Harry Potter books! (though currently I do not have book 1, 2, or 7 in there).

I have more Christmas wrapping to do later on top of some other things but those will happen once Chloe has gone to bed. She is currently napping which is why I am happily on here!

I went to the library this morning and returned 15 books and picked up 16 more. For the second time I was asked if I was a teacher of some sort and I simply smiled and told them, "No, just the stay at home mom of a 3 month old girl." I think they think I'm a bit nuts, but that is just fine! We love books!

But on to today's theme of BALLERINAS! Oh yes, I do secretly hope that reading Chloe enough books about ballerinas will make her want to take dance classes in the future but I won't force her. I just think ballet is a wonderful thing for young girls (and boys). I danced when I was younger and really liked it for a few years...then I was over it, but it always seemed to be very handy to have learned ballet. It kept me flexible, I could touch my toes until the beginning of my 3rd trimester, leaning forward without bending my knees!! Not the point. I really do enjoy a lot of the ballerina books I've read so if you're looking for some good ones, read on! If not.... well I hope then you'll enjoy tomorrow's post more.

 Miss Lina's Ballerinas by Grace Maccarone - Adorable and Rhyme-y

Miss Lina's Ballerinas maybe on the top of my new favorite books list. I found this book on my first or second trip of the library and was tempted to continue to renew it forever. The illustrations are beautiful and simple and I really enjoyed how different all the little girl's look from one another.

This book talks about Miss Lina's 8 ballerinas and how they dance and practice and do everything together, then one day a 9th dancer joins in and they are suddenly all thrown off. The girls are very upset because their perfection no longer exists. Miss Lina shows them how to work with the new girl and incorporate her into their usual dancing and suddenly they find themselves working even better!

For older kids it carries good messages and for younger ones you've got rhymes and ballerinas to keep them interested. I love this book and if you take a minute to look at it and read it I'm sure you will too! Hopefully we will be adding this, and the other Miss Lina books to Chloe's collection soon!

(See also: Miss Lina's Ballerinas and the Prince, Miss Lina's Ballerinas and the Wicked Wish)

Tallulah's Solo by Marilyn Singer - Adorable!

Tallulah is a very dedicated and skilled dancer. After watching Tallulah dance for so long her brother has decided that he wants to take dance lessons too. Tallulah is excited, hoping her brother will be in the chorus dancing behind her in the upcoming recital as she solos, but soon she becomes frustrated. Her little brother is not nearly as dedicated to dance as she is and is easily distracted during lessons. Then when the choreographer comes to cast the show Tallulah doesn't get her solo and her brother ens up with a bigger part than her. The rest you can find out yourself when you read it!

This is a very cute story that teaches the important lesson that you can't give up just because things don't go your way. Once again it has beautiful illustrations and the characters are very sweet. This is a perfect story or Christmas gift for a little girl! Another I hope to add to Chloe's collection soon!

(See also: Tallulah's Tutu)

  Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird - A Must Read!

This is the story of Angelina, a tiny mouse who dreams and dreams and dreams of being a ballerina one day. She is so distracted by her desire to be a dancer that she can't focus on anything else. She dances from the moment she wakes up in the morning to the moment she goes to bed. She dances herself to distraction. One day her parents decide that it is time for Angelina to finally have her ballet lessons. Angelina is so happy and she practices and dances so hard but makes sure to save her dancing for the right times now.

I love the Angelina books because her character is very spot on for a child. She is enthusiastic about her passion, sometimes to a fault, but she does realize when she has gone too far and she does her best to fix things. She is a sweet little mouse and the stories are adorable. Very much worth reading!

(See also: Angelina and Alice, Angelina and the Princess, Angelina's Christmas, Angelina Ice Skates, Angelina's Birthday, Angelina and the Royal Wedding, Angelina's Halloween, Angelina On Stage, Angelina at the Palace, Angelina and Henry, Angelina Star of the Show, Angelina at the Fair, Angelina's Baby Sister, Angelina's Invitation to the Ballet, and others by Katharine Holabird)

.......................................................................................................

If you read any of these I hope you enjoy! If you've read any before feel free to comment and leave your review on them!

I hope you enjoyed ballerina day, now I'm off to do more cooking, laundry, and gift wrapping before my very sleepy baby wakes up. 

As always if you have any book suggestions feel free to comment and let me know!

Follow us if you'd like! We'd love it!

(to follow click 'Join This Site' under Followers and log into your account - gmail, yahoo, or any number of other options, then click follow! You can opt to follow publicly or privately)

.......................................................................................................

Once again, book images from Amazon.com

and then some personal photos

A Few Of My Favorite Books! (Recently)

Between Drew and I both being home right now and Chloe deciding she really is a big girl and naps are no longer necessary in the afternoon, and that bedtime should now be 2 hours later, we've found ourselves with a lot of time to read to her! Which is great because I currently have 20 books checked out from the library and as of this morning 14 of the 28 books that I have on hold (and 1 dvd) are ready for pickup! Well we've read 11 of the ones we have at home and the library is awesome and allows you to have up to 50 books checked out at a time (or so I was told when I got my card) so we're in the clear! But I'm trying not to be completely selfish and check out the entire children's book section at once.

Now in case you're wondering I'm not entirely crazy. I know that Chloe is not really absorbing all these stories, at least so many in the day, and that I could read them more than once and she really would not notice. But I get bored of reading them again and again right away. I know eventually I'll have to get used to that when she is old enough to have favorites and I had to read her the same bedtime story at LEAST 5 times before she will humor the idea of closing her eyes for even just a few minutes, but that won't be for a while. And I hope we have the same favorites.

That and as I check out SO many books at once, I simply cannot help myself, I want to get them back to the library in a reasonable amount of time so someone else can find them, since not everyone is like me. Yes, I have my library website bookmarked, on my bookmarks bar, with my login saved. At night when Chloe falls asleep I peruse Amazon.com looking for titles of books that look interesting and have good reviews then I immediately search the library website and if they have them I put them on hold. I stopped at the library last on November 24th and by November 27th my request list was up to 28. All of them had been in stock previously.

Anyway! Back to today's reviews.

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin - MUST READ
(Also by Doreen Cronin, Giggle, Giggle, Quack and Duck for President)
Keep in mind a lot of the books that I put up here will be geared more towards girls. I have a daughter, so this simply cannot be helped. These books are not those books. Good for boys or girls and absolutely hysterical. My mom used to read these to me when I was little and they always made me laugh.

Start with Click, Clack, Moo and me convincing you to read the others will be rendered completely unnecessary. Beyond just a funny story the illustrations are fantastic! Chloe always seems more entertained looking at these books than others.

The main character of all these stories is Duck. Duck is such a simple character but with a huge personality that carries on through all of the books. Doreen Cronin has written more books that I've yet to read but when I can track them down I certainly will read them again.

These three books are being added to Chloe's wishlist. I wouldn't mind reading them several times over. I already have.

Zorro Gets An Outfit by Carter Goodrich - CUTE!
Zorro the little pug wakes up with his brother one morning all excited for the usual daily activities. Dog owners can all relate to the picture of the two pups with their faces smooshed against the bed, anxiously awaiting their humans waking up. That is every morning here so long as Chloe doesn't beat them to it!

He is all excited to get up and go for his walk, until his owner puts him in an embarrassing outfit and poor Zorro is humiliated.

Zorro mopes all the way to the park, and at the park, until he meets a new cool dog who is wearing a sweater, then he doesn't feel so bad about his outfit and he in fact decides that it makes him run faster! (I had a similar revelation about a new pair of sneakers my dad bought me when I was younger and visiting my grandmother at her farm. I was convinced the shoes made me run fast like Sonic the Hedgehog and I'm sure I spent at least an hour running around her front lawn trying to prove it.)

It's a really cute book and the expressions on the dogs faces are priceless! Zorro reminds me of my corgi, Oliver, with his big personality so that gave this book an extra thumbs up from me.

Julius The Baby Of The World by Kevin Henkes - Bought it!
Yes, I bought this. My library didn't have a copy and I remembered reading it from when I was little (you will see that I am a HUGE fan of Kevin Henkes' mouse books... if you have not already looked at Chloe's Christmas list). This book is wonderful. It stars Lilly (Lilly is also present in Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, Lilly's Big Day, and Chester's Way but I will get to all of those later).

Lilly is a very dramatic, opinionated, out there character and she is brilliant! She really comes to life the best out of all of Henkes's characters. I'm sure that is why she is the most written about mouse.

In this book Lilly's parents have just had a new baby, Julius. They gush over him and Lilly thinks he is disgusting. She wants nothing to do with him, and when forced she does what she can to obey her parents and disobey them at the same time like telling stories about how horrible he is, and singing the alphabet to him backwards. She even goes so far as to warn everyone she knows about the evils of babies.

In the end Lilly grows to love her little brother and it is very sweet.

I hadn't read this book since I was maybe 8 or 9 until I bought it and read it to Chloe. I started laughing so hard that I had to stop. Several times.

If you know someone who is expecting a new baby with older children this would be a great gift. But it's also great to read to any kid!

..............................................................................................................

My Tiny Pumpkin is waking up from her nap next to the Christmas Tree so it is time for me to go. We've got books to read, and laundry to fold, and the great hunt for a new bookcase for her today. Oh, and of course a visit to the library to attend to! I hope you all have a fantastic day!!

Feel free, again, to leave your reviews on any of these books in the comments section if you have read them. Also I always enjoy suggestions of other books to read. So comment! Comment away.

And follow us. ;) I'm going to try to get an update up every day... even if it doesn't quite make it to 3 books long. Some day it may be more though!

..............................................................................................................

Once again, book images from Amazon.com

New Blog & Great Deal!

 Zoomer by Ned Young - LOVE IT!
Drew read this to Chloe just this morning while I was taking a nap (I have a wonderful husband, clearly). I thought it looked cute so I picked it up. I asked him what he thought of it and if Chloe liked it. Apparently she LOVED it. She is a little over 3 months old and we've been waiting for a giggle from her. Drew said she was trying really hard to
giggle at this, big wide mouthed smile and making noises. So close!

I read this myself just now while Miss Chloe is sleeping and I must tell you, I love it too! The illustrations are bright and engaging, the story is humorous, (something that kids and parents alike can appreciate) and it is well written for kids. Zoomer is an enthusiastic pup with a lot of creativity and overall this is just a really fun and funny store.

I finished reading this and ordered it for Chloe because I loved it and...

It is on sale today on Amazon in hardcover for $6.80. You're welcome. 

Fox In Socks by Dr. Seuss - CHALLENGING!
I love Dr. Seuss. I think his stories are great and the cadence of his stories usually puts Chloe right to sleep. For this reason I reserve Dr. Seuss books for right before nap time or bed time rather than right when she wakes up. I've enjoyed most of them so far but about 5 pages into this book I was so tongue tied and stumbling that I nearly gave up! I didn't give up because I thought that wouldn't send a good message to Chloe but OH MAN! This is a one time only book, at least until she is much much older.

Now this is not to say it isn't a funny story, and that Chloe may not enjoy it when shes older...but I don't think we're going for round 2 on this one for a few years.

Fox in Socks really falls into the realm of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. You meet cute characters and there is a lot of rhyming but there isn't much of a storyline to it. Personally I prefer his books with more of a plot but I will read any of them because rhyming is always good!

This book is definitely not for someone who struggles with reading out loud, and if your child is just learning to read I wouldn't suggest having them read this or they may get very frustrated... but it was still a good book.

My copy just may be finding a new home...

Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell - Almost Awesome
This is a cute story about a very little first grader who has big buck teeth and a silly sounding voice. She is more or less unaffected by teasing because her grandmother told her to be proud of everything about herself and then everyone will respect her more. It has a good message, the illustrations are colorful and I really like most of it.

Except one thing. 

There is one page in the book that has a closeup of Molly Lou Melon's face. Honestly I turned the page and was kind of shocked. It's very up close and in your face and she looks a bit like a clown. I hate clowns. I find them terrifying. I was a bit worried that the picture would scare Chloe so I simply did not show her that page. (Chloe doesn't like to be held when you read to her so she sits in her Rock and Play and I read then show her the pages.) Other than that one page I would really like this book.

 ..............................................................................................................

 That is all for today! Chloe is awake and we are going to read more books! I hope you enjoy, please feel free to comment with more books you think we should check out or read or leave your thoughts on any of the books we talked about today.

And please follow my blog because you love us.

 ..............................................................................................................

All book cover images are from Amazon.com