Day 198: How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends?

As I read this book for the umpteenth time with my daughter last night, I realized that I should probably write about it and share it with you here.  I also got to thinking about how much I love putting a little book in each of my kids' Easter baskets, and that the board books in these series would be perfect for anyone looking for a great non-sugar basket stuffer.  I just love the sturdiness and convenience of board books such as this one, which are always perfect for stuffing in a diaper bag or purse when we're on the go. But back to why we love this book...

We have many of the books in the "How Do Dinosaurs" series (again, thanks to our ever-generous Uncle Jeff), but this is one of our favorites.  It lives in a permanent pile on the little table next to our reading chair in my daughter's room, along with How Do Dinosaurs Love Their Dogs?, How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms?, Jamberry, and whichever Sandra Boynton book happens to be our favorite at the moment.  Our first experience with this series was the original How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, which, given my son's infatuation with dinosaurs, was an instant hit.  My 2.5 year old daughter loves these books, as well, and I always love:

1) How short they are.  They offer the perfect solution to the nightly requests for "Just one more story... please!" because they take less than a minute to read;

2) The cute little messages within each story to which my kids can always relate; and

3) The variety of dinosaurs featured in each book, along with the fact that their names appear somewhere on the page

The only down side to the board book versions is that they don't have the spreads on the inside cover featuring illustrations of all of the dinosaurs in the book, but the small, handy size more than makes up for that for me.  This particular story is especially perfect for any little ones who might be struggling to learn to share and play nicely with their friends.  I like the way the story demonstrates the wrong way to play (always prompting my daughter to say, "No!"), followed by the nice way.  When a dinosaur's friends come over to play, "Does he hog all the swings and the sandbox and slides?  Does he not give his friends any tricycle rides?"  No, a dinosaur doesn't!  "He shares all his toys and gives turns on his bike.  His friends get first choice for the games that they like."  It's a fun, quick, enjoyable read that my kids and I love.  If you haven't yet discovered this wonderful series by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague, look for it the next time you are at your library.  We hope you and your little reader will love it as much as we do!

Day 153: Not A Box

We have had a huge cardboard box set up in our living room for a good five months now.  Maybe even longer.  It came with my son's new car seat and has been the source of hours of entertainment for him and   little sister ever since. Our box, like the one in this great story, can be many things.  Usually, it is Mater's garage (my son loves to pretend to be Mater while racing around with one of his favorite trucks), but it has also been a dinosaur cave, house, hide-and-seek hiding place, and safari train, among other things.  If you've ever been the recipient of a giant box, you know how much fun it can be to a child.  And, if you've been brave enough to keep that box for the sake of play and let it take up living space in your house for far longer than your organization-yearning self would otherwise allow, you know how many awesome things that box can be!

If your child has ever loved playing with a box far more than its contents (and really, what child hasn't?), you've simply got to check out this book.  Dedicated "to children everywhere sitting in cardboard boxes", Not A Box is a delightful tribute to the simple joy of childhood creativity and imagination.  The sketches on each page show a rabbit in/on/playing with a box, with an accompanying question from a clueless inquisitor as to why he is doing that.  We all know it's not just a box, of course.   As the rabbit goes on to show us, it's a race car, a mountain, a building, a robot, a hot air balloon, a rocket ship... anything but a box.  I love the way the cover is made to feel and look like a cardboard box, too.  The whole story is so simple, yet so clever, and both of my kids just love it.  The simplicity of the text makes it great for emerging readers, and I know I'll be hearing my son reading this story to himself many times before it is due back at the library. Be sure to be on the lookout for the companion book, Not A Stick, too!  It was out of the library the last time we went, but I would imagine it is equally as fabulous.

Our beloved box has seen better days and probably won't last much longer, but I always love seeing what it is going to become next.  A box doesn't need to be big to be fun, of course.  Any size box has countless possibilities.  (We made my son's Halloween costume out of a cardboard box last year.)  What is your child's favorite "not-a-box"?

Day 136: The Snowy Day

Well, it's finally here.  Our first real snow of the season.  I've been quite happy about its absence up until now (in some ways, I think I'm still recovering from last winter), but it sure does look pretty covering all of the trees and branches outside.  Early this morning, long before the sun came up in the sky, I woke to the sound of the snow plow going down our street.  As I looked toward our windows, I could see the faint orange flashing of the plow's lights passing by, then again a few minutes later as it returned to plow the other side of the street.  Although still half asleep, I was reminded about how much I loved hearing that sound as a child, and how upon hearing it, I would immediately turn on the radio to listen for school closings and delays.  I'd stay snuggled up under my covers with the lights off, admiring the snow on the rhododendron bush outside my window and anxiously waiting to hear my town's name on the list. These days, we get a phone call if there is no school, though given that my husband and I are both teachers, we still get excited about the possibility of a snow day every once in a while.  We only got a few inches of snow over the night -- not enough to cancel or delay school -- but the kids and I have been enjoying a cozy morning inside.  When we cuddled up on the couch to read stories, I reached first for Ezra Jack Keats' classic, The Snowy Day.  This wonderful story, perhaps more than any other, perfectly captures the childhood bliss of waking up to a fresh snow fall.  Putting on your snow suit right after breakfast and heading out into the cold.  Crunching through the snow, making all kinds of footprints and tracks along the way.  Snow angels!  Smiling snow men!  Snow balls!  Who hasn't smacked a snow-covered tree, only to have a huge pile of snow plop down on his head?  And I'm pretty sure I tried to sneak snow balls into the house a few times.  I love Keats' descriptions of Peter's adventures that day, for although they are simple, they ring so true to all of my childhood memories of winter, such as the feeling of walking into my warm house and having my mom help me take off my wet socks.  His illustrations are brilliant, too, and earned this book the Caldecott Medal in 1963.  I just love the cutout collage-style, the contrast of the colors, the swirling clouds in the sky as Peter slides down a mountain of snow.  Somehow, when I read this story, I feel warm and happy and cozy all over, even though I'm thinking about how much fun it is to play in the snow.  I'm sure later, we'll be doing much the same thing as Peter, bundling up to go explore and enjoying the excitement of the year's first proper snowfall.  If you've ever experienced snow yourself, you'll immediately appreciate and love this book.  If you haven't, reading it will give you a glimpse of what it is like to wake up to snowy day.  I have a feeling we'll be reading this book even more now that a white winter has officially arrived.  The Snowy Day is one classic that is not to be missed.