book love

We currently have nineteen books checked out of the local library system, and two more on hold. I've also got three of a friend's checked-out books. I can't tell you how much I love libraries.

Here are some of the children's books we're particularly enjoying right now:

-- The Quiltmaker's Gift, written by Jeff Brumbeau and illustrated by Gail De Marcken. The overall message is so in-line with how I'd like to live my life (I'm working on it) and the pictures are so intricate and beautiful and we could pore over them for hours. We'll be checking out The Quiltmaker's Journey next.

-- I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, written by Alison Jackson and illustrated by Judy Schachner. Pic has had me read this to her so many times that I'll soon have it by heart. She's fascinated with it. It's wonderfully silly.

-- It's Not the Stork!: A Book about Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends, written by Robie H. Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley. This has definitely generated much discussion, but it was also much discussion about anatomy and birth and such that led to us checking this out. Actually, the first time I checked this out was for a rhetorical theories seminar presentation. I'm still not exactly sure how we used this in the presentation and I suspect that I must have been pretty close to brain-fried by that point in that semester. However, I was happy that I had come across the book because I knew that I'd want to come back to it when Pic was a bit older.

-- With Love, Little Red Hen, written by Alma Flor Ada and illustrated by Leslie Tryon. Cardo really liked this one. I have to admit that I think I like it, but I'm not exactly sure, as I was reading it aloud with my mind half elsewhere. We still have it and I'll read it again before I turn it in to the library. I think it would be a great book for introducing letter-writing. Also, it would be cool (I just said 'cool' like I'm ten-years-old again) to use it as a basis for a writing project, doing something similar with other children's stories. We might return to it when Pic is a bit older and can better grasp the whole story.

-- Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face, and Other Poems: Some of the Best of Jack Prelutsky, written by [of course] Jack Prelustsky and illustrated by Brandon Dorman. I am loving this collection. Prelutsky's poems are fun and use some great vocabulary. I also enjoy Dorman's illustrations. We're having fun with this collection now and I predict we will still be for a long time to come.

And, finally, last and certainly not least:

-- Te Amo, Bebe, Little One, written by Lisa Wheeler and illustrated by Maribel Suarez. This is one of Pic's all-time favorites. Cardo's too, actually. I love that it has become such a happy part of our lives. Often, Cardo will start reciting this and then Pic will join in. They do a kind of call-and-response with the verse. Little things like these make me happy.