I gave him two large plastic totes one for books he wanted to keep, and one for books he wants to get rid of.

When we were done we had two full totes of books. The books he wants to get rid of are going in to the school, I know they go through tons of books there.

The books he wants to keep we put on the bookshelf (it’s really two old apple crates we use for a bookshelf). He still has quite a few chapter books on the bookshelves in my office, and up in his room.

We don’t have a shortage of books at our house.

Images (c) L Gerlach

Post from: Play Library

In addition to the series itself, there are Research Guides that include additional facts to the times, places, and situations that Jack and Annie have experienced. My daughter enjoys these as well, but the Twisters and Other Terrible Storms did have her a bit freaked out and watchful of storms for a few weeks!

Post from: Play Library

Where Did Daddy’s Hair Go? by Joe O’Connor, illustrated by Henry Payne, shares a fun story of little Jeremiah and his dad. It begins with Jeremiah’s realization that his dad is, in fact, bald. You then get to go on the search for his dad’s hair, Jeremiah’s imagining of what his dad would look like with hair (love the illustrations there!), and his love of his dad just as he is.

I love the portrayal of the dad as accepting and unfussy about who he is, and his willingness to entertain all of Jeremiah’s many questions. It reminds me of my own Bald Man. The kids do occasionally ask him questions about his lack of hair, and he is more than willing to answer them. And the fact that he is very comfortable with himself, hair or not, I think will help them to be comfortable with themselves.

Do you have a favorite children’s book that deals with acceptance of differences?

Post from: Play Library

What are your favorite books based on kids’ songs?

Post from: Play Library

Apparently, Spudville is not, I repeat, NOT in Ohio. I don’t think you can walk a block without hitting a yard sale in Ohio during the spring/summer/fall months! But the story told by Modarressi of Mr. Flotsam’s wares, and of their new owners’ experiences with them, is enchanting and endearing. The idea of a neighborhood coming together to share their problems and enjoy their resolutions together is a story I hope to tell my own children many, many times!

Post from: Play Library

So, when the librarian pulled out The 108th Sheep by Ayano Imai at storytime yesterday, I could immediately empathize with the struggle of the main character, Emma, and her struggle to find that one thing that would bring her slumber.

The story is well told and delicately illustrated. So many children’s books are illustrated with bright, vibrant, bold, loud colors, which kids love. I enjoy this one, though, particularly for the simplicity of the illustrations that seem like lovely and elaborate pencil drawings. The style of the pictures conveys the tranquility of bedtime that I’m usually trying to maintain with the kids (on those rare occasions when I actually go through the bedtime rituals!).

I’m so glad that we were introduced to this book, and can’t wait to add it to our collection.

What are your favorite bedtime books?

Post from: Play Library

We try to hit storytime at the library each week. The kids love the songs and dances and the animated ways that the children’s librarian reads the stories to them. Every once in a while, we’ll “play” storytime at home. The kids think it’s hilarious to pretend that we’re sitting in the library while really just singing, dancing and reading in the living room. I don’t, however, play the ukelele like the librarian does. I might have to work on that feature.

Anyway, How to Speak Moo! by Deborah Fajerman was one of the books we chose for our pretend time this week, and the kids got a kick out of it. There was so much mooing going on that you’d think you were at a dairy farm! All of the different nuances of the moo language presented had all of us giggling, laughing, bouncing, snoring, and–of course–mooing. And that was one of my favorite aspects of the book, it was as fun to the 1 year old (who just learned that cows say “moo”, and emphasizes the behavior by making horns when he does it), as it was to the 3 and 6 year olds. This may become a new favorite at our house!

What are the favorite books in your house for getting everyone giggling and being silly together?

Post from: Play Library

The book contains colorful illustrations of each of the seven continents of the world (but you could’ve figured that out now, couldn’t you? ). Each of the 7 puzzles is made up of 48 pieces, and the images include the animals, crops, and other information about the land and surrounding waters.

The opposing page of each puzzle shows the complete image to help guide you as you complete the puzzle, contains bits of trivia about each area, and also has prompts for “I Spy” types of searches for each image. Our copy came with a plastic sleeve wrapped around each of the puzzles. I’d recommend keeping the sleeves on to prevent all the pieces from getting loose and mixing up altogether, unless you’re looking for a good puzzle challenge!

Post from: Play Library

A lot of toys these days are marketed as “educational” and such, but I think some of the best toys for teaching and learning are the simple ones, many of which have been around longer than any of us have been alive. The following is my list of toys and such that have stood the test of time, and some of the things that can be learned through their use. As always, I’m about as forgetful as they come these days, and I’m bound to forget some very basic toys. Feel free to set me straight in the comments section!

• Blocks: Great for early hand-eye coordination and grasping, stacking, etc. Good for learning about balance and spacial relations.
• Puzzles: Useful for learning pattern recognition and spacial relations (I should have done more puzzles as a kid, my spacial abilities are horrid!). Also fantastic for practicing patience as each piece is attempted to be fit into a space.
• Books, books and more books!: From learning to name the objects around us, to identifying our first letters, numbers and colors, to learning our first small words, to reading our first chapters books, and way, way beyond—books are with us for the long haul.
• Musical instruments: From the time that we can first grasp, we can appreciate the gentle shake of a rattle. We learn to associate our actions with an aural reaction. It’s a good foundation for making music for years to come.

One thing I like about each of these items listed is that versions of them are along with us for the expanse of our lives. As soon as we can begin to grasp items, we’re surrounded by blocks of all shapes, colors and textures. We graduate from those to Duplos and Lego, and on up until we’re building towers in the sky. Some of our first toys are three piece puzzles big enough for our clumsy, unpracticed hands to grasp. We move onto 24 piece puzzles featuring our favorite Pooh characters and eventually are putting together puzzles well into the thousands of pieces (well, some of you are ). Books and musical instruments both can be introduced as the youngest age, and used and appreciated to the last breath. Amazing, yeah?

Another thing that I appreciate about all of these is that none require batteries! Can’t go wrong there. And all of them are much more fun when introduced by a parent or caregiver. Because, no matter the toy or book, there is true value that can be received from just being told that I love you enough to sit and play together.

I’m sure I’ve left out tons, but the clock is telling me that I need to wrap this up. What toys and items would you include on a favorites list? Let me know in the comments section!

Post from: Play Library

My daughter received the book Easter Bugs by David A. Carter from a family friend for her second Easter, I think. Over these past four years, this little pop-up book has done it’s best to weather the test of time and toddlers! Most of the pop-ups have survived the kids, and they love the little Easter and spring-themed bugs! Very cute book.

Post from: Play Library