Day 157: Alphabet (and other fun books by Matthew Van Fleet)

We recently discovered Matthew Van Fleet's fabulous series of interactive books at my good friend Katie's house and my kids couldn't get enough of them.  Fortunately, our local library has several of his titles, so we decided to bring Alphabet home with us last week.  Believe me when I tell you that this book is full of flap-lifting, texture-feeling, scratch-n-sniffing, tab-pulling fun!  In fact, I can't even keep the book near me while I write this because my son keeps wanting to read it and explore each page!  Alphabet brings us from A to Z with an array of creatures and plants along the way, including several species that were completely new to us (such as uacaris, xenops, and zorillas. My son just came flapping over to me pretending to be an Io moth.  I love it!)  The back of the book features a list of extras to go back and find once you're done, as well, including 3 other creatures and one plant that begin with each letter of the alphabet.  The playful rhymes make it fun to read -- "Striped iguanas climb, spotted jaguars pounce.  Playful baby kangaroos -- bounce, bounce, bounce!" -- but most of all, kids will love all of the tactile components of the book.  My son's favorite is the sticky octopus.  The book is rather sturdy, but with so many flaps to lift and tabs to pull, you should probably expect to have to mend it from time to time.  Don't let that deter you from getting it, though.  The amount of fun your child will have with this book makes it too great to pass up.  I also love that Alphabet comes with an amazing fold-out lift-the-flaps poster (seen above) that my children absolutely love!  As with some of our other favorite books, this is one that grows along with your child and is appealing to a wide age range.  Babies will love feeling all of the fluffy tails, fuzzy coats, and bumpy scales, and older children will love learning about and looking for all of the animals and plants.  I can't wait to get this book someday, as it really is a must-have for our collection.  Be sure to check out some of Van Fleet's other titles, too, which are equally fun and fabulous:  Heads, Tails, Dog, and Cat, to name a few.  We hope you love them as much as we do!

Day 138: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

This rollicking alphabet chant has to be one of the popular ABC books out there for young children.  We were given a copy of one of the abridged versions, Chicka Chicka ABC, by one of my former students as a baby gift when my son was first born.  I'll admit that the first few times I read it, I thought it was a little annoying.  I wasn't always sure I had the tempo of the rhythm just right, and often found myself adding in a few words here and there to make it flow better as I was reading and singing it.  My son, on the other hand, LOVED it.  He was completely obsessed by Lois Ehlert's illustrations -- the simplicity of the design and the bright bold colors make it incredibly appealing to infants -- and wanted to read it over and over and over (which we did.... many times.)  Eventually, this book really grew on me, I think because my son loved it so much and I could see how educational it could be to a baby or young child.  To this day, I'm convinced it's part of the reason he learned his alphabet at such a young age (I was always sure to point out each letter on the page as we read), especially his lowercase letters. The lyrical rhythmic quality of the book is fabulous for kids, too.  It's the kind of book that you can't help but read with a little bounce.  I honesty can't imagine someone picking it up and just reading the words in prose.  In fact, our original ABC board book version came in a set with a little plastic maraca.  So fun!  My daughter (now 18 months) loves this book just as much as her brother did, and has for some time.  After many readings of Chicka Chicka ABC, we finally got the parent version, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, out of the library.  Naturally, it shares all of the fabulous qualities of our shorter ABC version ("A told B and B told C, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree") and goes on to make the story even more lively and fun ("Skit skat skoodle doot. Flip flop flee.  Everybody running to the coconut tree.")  Uppercase letters are introduced here, as well, and I love the way the "younger" lower case letters get into trouble along the way.  "Next from the pileup skinned-knee D, and stubbed-toe E, and patched up F.  Then comes G all out of breath."  With children who are two and a half years apart, it can be hard to find stories that they both love to read equally, but Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one such book.  It's engaging, fun, and well worth a read whether you have a newborn or preschooler. And if, like me, you don't love it at first, give it another chance or two. Seeing your child light up when you read it is bound to change your mind.

Looking for some great activities to accompany reading this book?  Check out these fabulous ideas over at Mommy and Me Book Club!  I can't wait to crack open a real coconut with my little guy!

Day 92: Animalia

Magnificently marvelous menagerie makes a masterful, meticulous monograph.  Base's beautiful book of beasts bestows brilliance beyond belief.  Without a doubt, Animalia will be one of the most beautiful books you ever read with your child.  Ever.  "Within the pages of this book, You may discover, if you look, Beyond the spell of written words, A hidden land of beasts and birds.  For many things are 'of a kind', And those with keenest eyes will find, A thousand things, or maybe more -- It's up to you to keep the score."   This is not your ordinary alphabet book.  On every page from A to Z, Graeme Base creates an amazingly intricate illustration, complete with an alliterative tongue-twister that will test even some adult's vocabulary.  A few examples include "Crafty crimson cats carefully catching crusty crayfish," and "Ingenious iguanas improvising intricate impromptu on impossibly impractical instruments." Or perhaps the biggest tongue-twister of all, "Victor V. Vulture the vaudeville ventriloquist:  versatile virtuoso of vociferous verbosity, vexatiously vocalizing at the Valhalla Variety Venue."  Of course, it is the illustrations that truly make this book amazing.  They are beautifully detailed, exceptionally clever, and masterfully done.  I read in an interesting interview of his that it took Base months to complete each drawing.  I can certainly believe it!  Each incredible picture is full of things that begin with that letter of the alphabet.  You could literally look at some of them for an hour and not find everything.  As my son loves playing alphabet games, this book is a huge hit with him lately.  He loves looking for everything hidden in the pictures, including a small boy who appears in each one (intended to be Graeme when he was a child.  As he points out in the interview, this was even before "Where's Waldo?" came to be.)  This book can certainly be enjoyed by the older child, as well, and in fact might even be intended for a more sophisticated audience.  We especially love the lions on the L page.  My son always calls them the "library lions", after another one of our favorite books, featured back on Day 34. (One little warning to parents of very young children:  the "K" page features a picture of "Kid Kookaburra and Kelly Kangaroo kidnapping Kitty Koala," with some type of gun in their hands.  My son doesn't even seem to notice and loves looking for all of the other "K" things, plus it is illustrated in a cool, 1930's style, but some people might be turned off by the gun.  Just throwing that out there.)  We've had hours of fun with this book, and I love that it is the type of story that can grow along with your child.  There are so many other things you can do after reading this, too.  Make your own alphabet letter pictures, or see how many words you and your child can name that begin with one letter (my son loves doing this!)  We also happen to have an Animalia puzzle, which he loves doing, too.  Animalia is a beautiful work of art that is bound to captivate minds both young and old. 

Day 79: Eating the Alphabet

My son loves playing the game where you take a letter of the alphabet and think of as many things as you can that begin with that letter.  Sometimes we name only animals (his favorite "Q" animal that he's learned about is the quokka), but other times it can be just about anything.  He likes to play while we're in the car, eating lunch, doing puzzles, or just playing.  Out of nowhere he'll suddenly say, "Let's start with R.  Rabbit, rhinocerous, race, rocket..." I love hearing what he comes up with as play, alternating back and forth.  Another great book I found at our last library book sale was Lois Ehlert's Eating the Alphabet.  It's a simple alphabet book, with the names and colorful watercolor collage illustrations of fruits and vegetables for each letter of the alphabet (shown with both lower and uppercase letters.)  My son loves reading it, and it has given him some great new words to add to his vocabulary and use during our words game:  kumquat, currant, endive, huckleberry, persimmon, quince, rutabega, ugli fruit.  I also have learned some new things from reading it, as well, thanks to the fabulous glossary at the back that gives some fun and interesting facts about each food.  Who knew "xigua" is the chinese name for watermelon?  If your child loves learning fun, new words, this book is bound to be a hit.