August 18, 2010 · Filed under General
I’m going to make this a sticky post and am hoping people have suggestions on great books for 2-3 year olds. I’ve gone to three of the public libraries in my area and am overwhelmed by the number of books in the children’s area. I don’t know where to start and I often find myself picking up books that I later find out are geared towards 4-8 year olds and my daughter doesn’t find interesting. I know I am probably missing out on a ton of great books so please leave any suggestions in the comments of this post. Thank you!
March 31, 2011 · Filed under Uncategorized
Daughter’s age when read: 3.5 yrs old
I was fortunate enough to get a preview of this book when I visited the Chronicle Books office in San Francisco. I knew my daughter would love it so I pre-ordered it and got it yesterday. We read it for the first time tonight and it was an instant hit that required reading it 3 times. I had to put my foot down that it was time for bed and we would read it again tomorrow. The concept was so cute and it’s great for those kids who love interactive books. It opens up with a yellow dot and instructions to press on the dot. When you turn the page you now have two yellow dots. The whole book has step by step directions to do things like pressing dots, tilting the book, shaking the book and seeing what happens as the dots multiply and move around. My daughter was amazed that pressing a dot would make them multiply or change color and was giggling the whole time waiting to see what would happen on the next page. She really got into it as it had you clapping your hands to make the dots grow larger. There are just so many great things about this book. It definitely lived up to my expectations and was so much fun to read to my daughter. I highly suggest this book to everyone with kids. You can check out this post if you want to see a video with more about the book and kids reactions.
March 29, 2011 · Filed under 3 year olds · Tagged mo willems
My daughter is a huge fan of the Piggie and Elephant books from Mo Willems and has also enjoyed the Knuffle Bunny books so I was really excited to see that Mo Willems is coming out with a new series next month! Here’s the description from the HarperCollins website:
6½ stories about 2 surprising friends.
Having a stuffed alligator for a best friend can be surprising.
Sometimes Amanda surprises her alligator with books. Sometimes Alligator surprises Amanda by eating them.
But what happens when Amanda brings home a special—and not entirely welcome—surprise? The result might be unexpected indeed.
Beloved author-illustrator Mo Willems has created a funny and tender portrait of friendship that readers of any age will love.
It will be available April 26. I cannot wait to check it out.
March 9, 2011 · Filed under Crafts · Tagged (, crafts
Not book related but munchkin related. Here is my first attempt at sewing something for my 3 year old daughter.
It turned out kind of rough but not bad for my first attempt if I do say so myself. I am totally not a crafty person so I am amazed I didn’t totally botch it. Hoping she likes it when I give it to her. I got the pattern from Etsy along with a hedgehog pattern that is so cute!
This will be my second project (the one on the bottom right):
March 7, 2011 · Filed under 3 year olds, General · Tagged gardening, plants
Daughter’s age when read: 3 years old
In this book Zinnia starts planting her spring garden and watches as it grows from seeds to a garden full of flowers. She then talks about what she does in her garden, then as fall and winter come she gathers seeds and dreams of what kind of garden she will plant next season. Each page is like a scrapbook with a central picture and little drawings, explanations, etc going around the picture.
This is the perfect book for this time of year. My daughter and I just recently planted strawberry, blueberry and celery plants and are watching them grow. She has her own little watering can and she helps me weed the yard. So we have a lot of fun going through each page of this book and talking about what is going on in the main picture as well as what the little pictures in the borders are or what the diagrams are showing. She now knows the stages of the seed to the sprout, the plant, the bud and the flower. We just started talking about the picture that shows the different parts of the flower. The terms are a little technical for her to remember but she still has fun going over it. If you have a little one that enjoys working out in the yard this is a fun book to pick up. I think we might be referring to this one as spring and summer progresses. My daughter has always been fascinated by how plants and trees change throughout the seasons.
February 24, 2011 · Filed under 2 year olds, 3 year olds, Animals · Tagged colors
Daughter’s age when read: 3.5 years old (also good for younger children)
If you have a child that is trying to learn their basic colors or even if they are an older child who is learning how you can combine two colors to create a third color this is a good book to pick up. When Farmer Gray leaves the farm one day Blue Goose, White Duck, Red Hen and Yellow Chick decide to add some color to the farm. We follow them as they paint the barn red, the sky blue and so on. Then we also watch as they mix the colors together to create greens, oranges, light blue and purple to add even more color to the farm.
My daughter loves reading this book because a) she loves the farm animals, b) she can “read” most of the book to herself as she turns the pages and can see what color each animal is going to use to paint and c) we have been working on the concept of mixing two colors together to create a third color. She does not quite have that idea down but this book along with the Blues Clues video we periodically watch about colors is starting to sink the idea into her mind. So if your little one is working on colors this is a great book to pick up.
February 15, 2011 · Filed under 3 year olds · Tagged robots
Daughter’s age when read: 3.5 years old
This book is about four robots that live together in a house and each has their own functions like cooking, repairing steel things, gardening and cleaning. One day they are caught in the rain and that causes them to start malfunctioning. So they start cooking clocks, digging holes in the house and raking the windows. They solve the problem by swapping heads and all the robots go back to their normal functions and are happy again.
It’s a very simple book but the images are colorful. You see a depiction of what each robot does so my daughter and I will sit there at night and talk about what the robots are fixing, cleaning, cooking, etc. It makes it a fun book to read together and it branches off into things we have been doing around our house. Like in one page a robot is tending a lemon tree and at our house we have a cherry tree and just planted some strawberry plants and a blueberry bush. So my daughter talks about caring for those. We also do the sillies like are you supposed to be cooking clocks? No! Would they taste yummy? No! A fun, colorful read that the little ones will really enjoy.
February 8, 2011 · Filed under 3 year olds, General
Daughter’s age: 3 years old
This was just one of those random books we happen to pick up from the library and I am glad my daughter chose this one. It opens up with Ed, Ned, Ted and Bob the dust bunnies playing a rhyming game as they try to avoid the broom and vacuum that’s trying to clean them up. Only Bob notices what is going on but he is scolded by the rest of the dust bunnies because he’s not following the rhymes as he tries to warn them.
My daughter found this one hilarious and it was perfect timing because she has been on this rhyming kick. Every day she asks me if this word rhymes with this other word over and over. So when one dust bunny throws out a word like “car” I ask my daughter what words she thinks rhyme with it and once she gets that sound we work on recognizing what the first letter is in the rhyming words so she can sound out the words. So this has been a great learning book as well as a fun reading book.
February 3, 2011 · Filed under 3 year olds, Animals, General · Tagged kids can press
Daughter’s age when read: 3 years old
This is the second Scaredy Squirrel book we have read and this one was a huge hit. If you haven’t read this series it’s about this squirrel who is afraid of pretty much everything and always has a plan on how to deal with different situations. In this one he does not want to go to the beach because he’s afraid of things like pirates, pinching crabs, hordes of jelly fish, etc. So he instead plans on building his own private beach. After he is done he realizes he is missing one thing-the sound of the ocean. So he decides he will go to the real beach, find a sea shell and bring it back to his own private beach so he can listen to the sound of the ocean. Of course he has this elaborate plan but something goes wrong. When he gets to the beach he’s surrounded by people and is surprised to find he actually enjoys being a part of the crowd.
The best part of this book was the illustrations. There are so many things to talk about as we go over his emergency plan and the map he draws. She also finds it funny when we read what happens to Scaredy Squirrel when he plays dead (this is always his last resort when in trouble). The ending was her favorite when he realizes that the shell he finally brings home with him has a crab living in it. I was amazed after we read it the first time she remembered when I said hermit crabs live in shells and she told her dad that the next time we read the book together. If you are looking for those giggles and lots of fun this series is one to check out.
February 1, 2011 · Filed under 3 year olds, General · Tagged chronicle books
Description from Chronicle Books: Press the yellow dot on the cover of this book, follow the instructions within, and embark upon a magical journey! Each page of this surprising book instructs the reader to press the dots, shake the pages, tilt the book, and who knows what will happen next! Children and adults alike will giggle with delight as the dots multiply, change direction, and grow in size! Especially remarkable because the adventure occurs on the flat surface of the simple, printed page, this unique picture book about the power of imagination and interactivity will provide read-aloud fun for all ages!
A few months ago I went on a tour of the Chronicle Books office in San Francisco and this was one of the books I saw while on the tour. It looks like a wonderful book and a lot of fun for the kids. It starts off telling you to press the dot and then on the next page it turns a different color, you flip the book and the dots multiply or move around and I think my daughter would love it. I just saw it mentioned in today’s Shelf Awareness and that reminded me to pre-order it. It looks like loads of fun for the little ones so go check it out! You can view a video of kids reading it here.Press Here Preview (pgs 30-44)
January 22, 2011 · Filed under 3 year olds, General
Daughter’s age when read: 3.5 years old
This story is about Joey playing fetch with his dog Jet. Joey throws the ball and Jet goes through the birds, over the water, around tables, in and out of holes, etc, etc. and then after catching the ball has to do all of it again to get back to Joey. And what does Joey do when Jet brings the ball back? He throws it again! Jet thinks to himself that a dog’s work is never done.
I have to admit at first this book seemed like a dud. I did not browse through it at the library because it was one my daughter picked out herself and insisted we had to borrow it. Through most of the book she just lay there and did not say much but once we got to the end and she saw the look on that poor dog’s face she started cracking up. I had to do a little bit of ad-libing too but she then thought it was hilarious. The best part was after we had finished reading it twice and were laying in bed she started making her own stories up. She was telling me she wanted to get in the car, go to the library, look at the books, tell grandma and grandpa goodnight again and then get back in bed. Then she wants to do it all over again. She also made up a story about riding an airplane across the ocean because we kept telling her that grandma and grandpa are catching an airplane home tomorrow. I think books that my daughter takes and expands on are the best ones. So you may need to do a little extra work pepping this one up but it certainly was a hit and had my daughter chattering for quite awhile during bed time.
Munchkin's Book Journey 