More from Mo...

Ahh, nothing like a great villian.  A villian who is a know-it-all, annoying, needs-to-be-right kid.  A villian with a FANTASTIC NAME.

Reginald von Hoobie Doobie

That's right, Reginald von Hoobie Doobie.

Go ahead, try saying it.  Reginald von Hoobie Doobie.

Maybe try a funny accent.  Try saying it like it's the punchline of a joke.  Say it as fast as you can.  It's a truly brilliant name.  And one that had my daughter rolling with laughter all afternoon.  While eating pasta in her highchair, hours after we read the book, she was saying "Hoobie-Doobie" to herself and chuckling.

Warning:  This book may make you crave chocolate-chip cookies.  In fact, maybe make sure you have some in the house before making your way to the library or bookstore for this book.  But then enjoy!  Enjoy the story, enjoy the villian, and enjoy the cookies!

First Books: what to expect when you are expecting.

If our daughter had to rate the things in her life that she has always loved, I would guess the list would look something like this:

#1 - Daddy
#2 - Mommy
#3- Books

I inherited a ton of board books from a friend while I was still pregnant.  It was probably the single most influential gift I received. But I know not everyone is so lucky.  And in some places they don't even consider buying books for a newborn to be an important thing.

In an effort to create a new generation of bibliophiles, here is my list of the top five books that I would buy for a new mom.  These are intended for new babies.  I will do some additional lists to address later issues like bedtime routine and language development, but these are a good start.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle: Eric Carle will loom large on this list.  His illustrations are like baby magnets.  This was the first book my daughter ever really latched onto - at two months old.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear? by Eric Carle:  This book has great repetition, which babies love.  It also has several pages that are primarily black and white, so infants can really see and enjoy them.  It's companion book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? is also wonderful.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown:  This book was first published in the 1940s.  There is a reason that multiple generations of parents have embraced this book, the cadence of this book is soothing.  The ritualistic nature of saying goodnight to things is comforting.  In the beginning, when a parent is soothing and comforting 24 hours a day, but feeling neither soothed nor comforted, this book really helps everyone to relax.  We still recite this book every night.  Every single night.

Bright Baby: Animals:  I am not a fan of books without a story.  I am not a fan of flashcards.  BUT, there are exceptions and Bright Baby books are one of them.  They have bright  photographs with simple fonts.  My daughter really preferred photographs to illustrations for many, many months.  These books also have a lot of great contrast, so they are great for infants.

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman:  I know this book is intended for toddlers.  And I don't know why my daughter loved it so much, maybe because you can read it with a good dose of drama or maybe because the idea of the mother looms large in their little lives, but she loved it.  And she continues to love it.

Other books that are not essential, but that we enjoyed greatly in those first months were:
On the Night You Were Born
Magritte's Imagination
Perfect Pets
Peekaboo Baby
The Very Lazy Lion
But Not the Hippopotamus by Sandra Boynton (actually anything by Sandra Boynton is great)
Any of the "Baby Faces" books - we own several by several publishers.  She loved all of them.

Oh and I cannot forget the wonderful Squishy Press Books (www.squishypress.com) - which use paper and ink that are safe for babies - should they end up in their mouths.  I was a dictator about books being NOT FOR CHEWING, but these books were what I would give her in those few stolen, unsupervised moments.   I didn't panic if they ended up in her mouth.

For the record, I read all our books to her from the very beginning.  There were some she would not sit through - some of them she still will not sit through, but I sometimes needed a break from the same five books.

Author Alert: Mo Williems

Mo Williems is a rockstar.  He has won awards.  He has written for Sesame Street.  What else do you need for your children's book resume?

My daughter's endorsement, of course.

She loves the Knuffle Bunny series.  In each book, a young girl named Trixie loses her beloved lovey.  They have drama and intrigue.  They have happy endings.  They are perfect.  My daughter now wanders about the house asking "Where is Knuffle Bunny?"

We also love the Pigeon series.  You might wonder why someone might let a Pigeon ride a bus, but after you read the book and experience the persuasive powers of this underestimated guy.  I think I might enjoy them a bit more than she does, but perhaps that's because they are so fun to read aloud.

Our favorite Mo Williems book so far though is.......  Leonardo the Terrible Monster.

It's cute.  It's fun to read.  It taught my toddler words like "research" and "candidate" - and for me it's never too early to learn to love research.  She reenacts the main action, she pretends to try to scare people, she asks to read it by name.  It's awesome.

We recently returned it to the library and after several days of her asking for it, we returned to see if we could check it out again.  It was gone.  We were crushed.

Looks like we need to go ahead and add it to our personal home library.

Author Alert: Taro Gomi

Most people know about Taro Gomi, the famous and prolific Japanese children's book author.  Before I had children, I only knew one book: Everyone Poops.  Now I'm addicted and so is my daughter.

Everyone Poops has certainly been helpful as we begin to introduce potty training topics into our lives, but it is also a great source of laughter and embarrassment to our older nieces and nephews.  It was a hand-me-down book, and my husband loves to go to the bookshelf and bring it out in order to make the kids in our lives laugh.  It is very straightforward though, and I actually don't find it distasteful at all.

But all things Poop aside, Taro Gomi's other books are wonderful.  They range from very simple, like Spring is Here to a bit more complex like I Lost My Dad.

In Spring is Here, we follow a small calf through one whole season, with beautiful illustrations at each change in the season.  It is succinct in words, but clever, and has just enough emotion to be interesting.  We read it at bedtime, because it has a poetic quality that we both find relaxing.

I Lost My Dad is more of a cautionary tale for early elementary aged children.  Keep your hands on your parents, or you might have more of an adventure than you expect.  It's ending is a bit flat, but the clever flaps and adventure of the rest make it a worthwhile read.

By far my favorite Taro Gomi book is My Friends.  A small girl takes us through each of her friends and how they have contributed to her life.  It is sweet and touching, but also makes connections for how the things around us inform our lives and our personalities.  It's simple enough in language for toddlers and it comes in a board book version, but complex enough to be a sweet gift for a young elementary child in your life.

Author Alerts.

I have always been loyal to authors.  If I like a book, I will often read as many other books by that author as I can lay my hands on!  The same has been true of  how I choose books for my daughter.  Occasionally, instead of reviewing a book, I will review an author instead, giving you several books that we have enjoyed.  If you are an avid library-goer, then this can be a helpful way to find some sure-bets in the massive stacks.  

Llama Llama by Anna Dewdney

First, a lament about the closing of Borders.  While it has never been my favorite bookstore (Hi over there Barnes & Noble), I hate to see bookstores of any kind closing.  Even if it means a discount at the store closing sale.

But I dragged myself and my daughter into our local Borders today to see if I could find some of our library favorites.  I was looking specifically for any of the Llama Llama books.  We have read two of them over and over again, Llama Llama Mad at Mama and Llama Llama Misses Mama.  Both have a great build-up, an enthusiastic crescendo, and then a sweet and practical relaxing phase.  My daughter recognizes them, asks for them, and has a very emotional response to the storyline. 

For more information about the Llama Llama series and about Anna Dewdney, visit:

http://www.llamallamabook.com/index.html

Jeremy Draws A Monster, Peter McCarty

I don't believe in just buying books, I am an avid library-goer.  Today's find at the library was this book, Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty.

My daughter has several toy monsters, but has not yet developed any fear around the idea of monsters, so I was delighted to find a book where the monster was not scary.  The illustrations are wonderful.  The monster looks to be drawn in pen, which adds greatly to the idea that this little boy is drawing it himself.  It is fun to read, not too wordy, and quite funny.  The library volunteer was even chucking to herself while listening to me read this story!

This is a fun choice for older toddlers that can handle paper books without tearing them.  Even early school-aged children that are interested in art would enjoy this book and find it funny. 

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Jeremy-Draws-Monster-Peter-McCarty/dp/0805069348