Anansi the Spider Books

I heard Anansi and the Talking Melon at a library story time about 4 years ago.  I loved the clever story and laughed right out loud!  Since then I have enjoyed reading every Anansi book by Eric A. Kimmel.  The stories about a spider who's always trying to play tricks on other animals in the jungle and does anything to get out of doing any sort of work.  The great thing is, his tricks usually come back to bite him!  The Anansi legend originated in Africa and there are many different versions of these stories. 

Here are the Anansi books by Eric A. Kimmel:

Anansi and the Talking Melon

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock

Anansi Goes Fishing

Anansi and the Magic Stick

Anansi's Party Time  (Not my favorite, but still worth a read)

A Few Favorites

Recently I pulled out a few books I hadn't read in a very long time and I fell in love with them all over again!  Here are a few:

The Bear Came Over to My House by Rick Walton - A spin off of "The Bear Went Over the Mountain."  This Bear gets into mishap after mishap. 

Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd - A great story to teach counting and colors!  Dog goes throughout the day accidentally getting colorful new "spots" on his fur.

Over in the Meadow by Ezra Jack Keats - The traditional counting rhyme.  My kids always love having this sung to them and the pictures are beautiful.  I will tell you it says "gay mother cricket"  since it was written when that meant "happy."

Easter Books

Good Easter books are so difficult to find.  Here are a few of our favorites:

Minnie and Moo: The Attack of the Easter Bunny by Denys Cazet

The farmer doesn’t want to dress up as the Easter Bunny for his grandkids this year.  So Minnie and Moo set out to find someone who will!

Minerva Louise and the Colorful Eggs by Janet Morgan Stoeke

Easter through the eyes of the ever confused chicken, Minerva Louise.

Max Counts His Chicks by Rosemary Wells

The Easter Bunny has left 10 chicks for Max and his sister Ruby, but Max can’t find any!

Queen of Easter by Mary Engelbreit

Ann Estelle receives a spring surprise in her new Easter hat.

The Easter Egg Farm by Mary Jane Auch

Pauline is ashamed she can only lay crazy patterned, colorful eggs, until her owner discovers her talent.

I Need an Easter Egg!  by Harriet Ziefert

Little Rabbit is on a quest to find an Easter egg.

The Night Before Easter by Natasha Wing

An Easter spinoff of the popular “Night Before Christmas” poem.

Splat the Cat:  Where’s the Easter Bunny? by Rob Scottin

Splat needs to put in his Easter request to the Easter Bunny, but he can’t find him anywhere!

 Fancy Nancy’s Elegant Easter by Jane O’Connor

Love Fancy Nancy!  Nancy’s getting ready for an Easter Gala with her friends and family.

Elephant and Piggie Series

My kids and I were introduced to this series at a library storytime a few years back and we’ve read everything we can get our hands on since!  The stories are hilarious and often ironic.  Mo Willems has a knack for drawing amazing expressions and you can tell exactly what each character is thinking and feeling.  Every book is unique and creative.  This is a series even you are an adult will enjoy!

Today I Will Fly!

My Friend is Sad

There is a Bird on Your Head!

I Am Invited to a Party!

I Love My New Toy!

I Will Surprise My Friend!

Are You Ready To Play Outside?

Watch Me Throw The Ball!

Elephants Cannot Dance!

Pigs Make Me Sneeze!

I am Going!

Can I Play Too?

We Are In A Book!

I Broke My Trunk!

Should I Share My Ice Cream? (Coming June 2011)

Farmer Brown Books

Teri Sloat wrote a humorous little series about Farmer Brown that is so much fun!  Illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, Nadine Bernard Westcott, these books feature Farmer Brown and his farm animals and tell about a few crazy happenings on the farm!

The Thing That Bothered Farmer Brown  Farmer Brown and all the animals are ready for a well earned rest, but some buzzing noise keeps them all awake!

Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round  A tornado hits the farm and mixes up all the animals; cows oink, sheep cluck.  How can they fix this problem?

Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep  Time to sheer the sheep, but now the sheep are cold.  How will they keep warm now?

Maybe it's because we have Kindergarten Orientation on Friday, but I've been thinking about Miss Bindergarten Books.  This series is wonderful!  I've read it to both my oldest when he was in Kindergarten and also my Preschooler who will be embarking on Kindergarten this year.  I attribute my Preschooler learning her ABC's from reading these books to her.  

The first book in the series,  Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten follows Miss Bindergarten and her students as they get ready for the first day of Kindergarten.  Each book rhymes and all the students first names start with each letter of the alphabet, from Adam Krupp to Zachary Blair.  The illustrations are delightful and seem to have something new each time you read.  We’ve read all of the books in the series numerous times, but Miss Bindergarten never gets old!

Here are the books in the series:

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten

Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100^th Day of Kindergarten

Miss Bindergarten Stays Home From Kindergarten

Miss Bindergarten Takes a Field Trip With Kindergarten

Miss Bindergarten Plans a Circus With Kindergarten

Miss Bindergarten Has a Wild Day in Kindergarten  Definitely my Favorite of the series!

Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the Last Day of Kindergarten

Iza Trapani and Mary Ann Hoberman

I really enjoy when authors take something well know and completely recreate it.  Books by Iza Trapani and Mary Ann Hoberman take traditional songs (Like “Mary Had a Little Lamb”) and write additional verses to create a story.  I love singing the story to my kids and they are always enthralled!  Right now my youngest is stuck on Mary Had a Little Lamb and The Eensy Weensy Spider.  I can’t help but notice that my older two always seem to end up right by my side listening too!  Kids love books that you can sing!

Here are by favorites:

Iza Trapani:

How Much is That Doggie in the Window

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Shoo Fly!

Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

www.izatrapani.com

Mary Ann Hoberman:

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Bill Grogan’s Goat

The Eensy Weensy Spider (I sing “Itsy Bitsy” because that’s how I learned it!)

Miss Mary Mack

www.maryannhoberman.com

Harry the Dirty Dog

This is an older series (written in the 1950’s!), but it’s so good!  Harry the Dirty Dog is the first book in the series by Gene Zion.  Harry doesn’t want a bath, so after burying his bath brush in the backyard, he runs away.  He gets so dirty, when he returns home his family doesn’t recognize him!  I have the entire series because my kids love these books so much.  This dog gets into all kinds of mischief! 

Harry the Dirty Dog

No Roses for Harry

Harry and the Lady Next Door

Harry by the Sea

Sandra Boynton

The best word to describe Sandra Boynton’s books is silly.  She’s such a fun author and illustrator; I have quite a collection of her books.  We’ve read them so much, I have them memorized and they are starting to wear out!  Her texts usually rhyme and have a catchy rhythm.   Here are some of my favs:

Moo, Baa, La La La!

Blue Hat Green Hat

Doggies

Opposites

Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs!

Snoozers

Birthday Monsters!

Barnyard Dance!

Pajama Time!

Hey, Wake Up!

Rhinoceros Tap – A book of songs with a CD. 

Philadelphia Chickens - A book of songs with a CD.

Snuggle Puppy – This book is a sweet little song that a mother dog sings to her puppy and my kids LOVE it.  I recommend learning the song and singing it.

You can check her out at sandraboynton.com.  Even her website is silly!

Karen Katz

All the books by Karen Katz are great for babies and toddlers.  She’s written a lot of lift-the-flap board books and most her stories feature babies or toddlers.  Her illustrations are darling, the text is smiple, and my kids have loved her books.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Princess Baby and Princess Baby Night Night

Ten Tiny Babies

Where is Baby’s Mommy?

Grandma and Me

Grandpa and Me

Daddy and Me

Toes, Ears, and Nose Written by Marion Dane Bauer

Peek-a-Baby

Twinkle Toes

Beddy-Bye Baby

She has a bunch of others, including quite a few holiday books.  I haven’t even read them all!  You can check out all her books at www.karenkatz.com.

Books for Babies and Toddlers

When my oldest was a baby, I had a really hard time finding books for him.  Here are a few things I learned about babies and books:

1.  Babies like lift-the-flap books and touch-and-feel books.

2.  Pick books that only have a few words a page.

3.  Babies like books with songs.

4.  Babies LOVE books about babies!

5.  I always looked for books in the board book section at the library.  They seem to be more baby friendly.

6.  BE PATIENT!  It takes time for babies to gain an interest in books.  I started with 5-10 minutes and then built from there.  I found it helped if I read the same time and place every day.  Most babies like routine.

I get pretty bored with some baby books because you have to read them over and over (and over) again!  Here are a few I really like:

Peekaboo Morning by Rachel Isadora- Portrays a little toddler’s day with the peek-a-boo game.

Wake up, Me! by Marni McGee – All about a toddler waking up and getting ready for the day.

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell– A lift-the-flap book about a child who writes to the zoo to send him a pet, but all of them seem wrong!

I Love You As Much by Laura Krauss Melmed. – A rhyming book with animal mothers telling their babies how much they love them.

I See by Rachel Isadora – About all the things a toddler sees throughout her day.

Five Little Ducks by Pamela Paparone – The classic Five Little Ducks song.

Most the books I read to my babies they enjoyed even as toddlers.  So these books are great for toddlers too! 

More baby/toddler books to come!

Fancy Nancy

I can’t get enough of Fancy Nancy!  It’s a series by Jane O’Connor about a little girl who loves being fancy!  The illustrations are adorable and I laugh over Nancy’s over the top personality.  She’s so…what’s the word?  Posh!  Plus, she uses “fancy” words and defines them, so it builds your child’s vocabulary.  This is an absolute must for any little girl!

There are many Fancy Nancy books.  I suggest starting with these:

Fancy Nancy

Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy

Fancy Nancy:  Bonjour, Butterfly!

Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique

Fancy Nancy:  Ooh La La!  It’s Beauty Spa Day!

Fancy Nancy’s Favorite Fancy Words From Accessory to Zany

Fancy Nancy:  Splendiferous Christmas

There is an “I Can Read” Series written by Jane O’Connor, but they are not illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser.  They are still worthwhile.  There are also some paperbacks that are not written by Jane O’Connor, but they stay true to the Fancy Nancy character and are great!  Most of these are holiday books.  Anything Fancy Nancy is fabulous!  For a complete list of books and even fun and games, visit the Fancy Nancy website at www.fancynancyworld.com

Karma Wilson

One of my favorite authors is Karma Wilson.  She is best known for her Bear Snores On series, but she has written other books that are just as fabulous.  She has a knack for rhyming and her stories are very imaginative and sometimes laugh out loud funny.  Here’s a list of my favorites by Karma Wilson:

Sakes Alive a Cattle Drive-A humorous story about two cows who steal the farmer’s keys and drive his pickup truck to town.  “Sakes Alive!  Their going on a cattle drive!”

Whopper Cake- This is a great birthday book about an elderly man who makes a humongous birthday cake for his wife.  He’s so crazy you can’t help but love him!

Mr. Murry and Mr. Thumpkin- A sweet story about two mice that are neighbors.  One is wise and a little high stung while the other is carefree and foolish.  They tolerate each other until one is in a bind and the other comes to his rescue.

Hilda Must Be Dancing-Hilda the hippo’s dancing causes quite a ruckus in the jungle to her friends’ dismay.  Hilda’s friends try to get her to find another hobby, but nothing is more fun than dancing!

Moose Tracks!-Salt Lake County Library Systems describes this book best: “A homeowner remembers visits from the animals whose tracks, feathers, and other traces are visible—except for the moose whose prints are everywhere.”

Mortimer’s Christmas Manger-This is one of my favorite Christmas books that focuses on the true meaning of Christmas.  A little Mouse named Mortimer wants a new home.  He finds one in a nativity scene and moves all the statues out to make room for himself.  Along the way he realizes whose home it really is and learns about the true meaning of Christmas.

Here are a few that are not as good, but are still worthwhile:

Dinos in the Snow

Dinos on the Go

Animal Strike at the Zoo, It’s True!

A Frog in the Bog

And of course you can’t forget her classic Bear Books:

Bear Snores On

Bear Wants More

Bear Stays Up For Christmas

Bear’s New Friend

Bear Feels Sick

Bear Feels Scared

For even more books by Karma Wilson and information about this wonderful author, check out her website at www.karmawilson.com