Where's Ellie? (The Infinite Loop)

 

What's more fun than a periwinkle pachyderm?

 

Playing hide-and-seek with a periwinkle pachyderm!

 

Salina Yoon has created another fun book for the under 5 set: Where's Ellie?  This little board book will have you reading, talking and playing with your child as the two of you  move through this colorful, bright world.  Together you can help a little ladybug find her friend Ellie.  It's not as easy as it sounds.  Is that Ellie hiding behind the plant?  No, it's just a teapot!  How about behind the cactus or the flowers?  Not there either.  Naturally, Ellie is hiding behind something much larger.  (I don't want to give it away but it starts with a "tuh" and ends with a "ree.")  Fair warning though, the book ends with the line, "Let's play again," and your child will most likely want to!

 

Although as adults re-reading the same board book or picture book can quickly become tedious, reading the same book over and over helps your child to develop early literacy skills.  Becoming familiar with the story allows them to predict what will happen next and helps them to engage more fully in the reading process.  Pretty soon, you can take a break and ask your child to read the story to you.

 

When you're ready for more reading fun, bring your child to one of our storytime programs and see what other fun books you can discover.

  

 

 

     

Hippospotamus

Read the first sentence of this picture book and you'll likely want to turn the pageamus. "Hippopotamus had a  spotamus...on her bottomus." Hippo is happily swimming along in her cool pool of water when she notices a reddish spot on her bottom.  All of hippos animal friends have a different idea about what the spot might be. Weasel thinks it's measles; fox says it's hippopox; and bear is sure it's an ingrown hair.  None of their cures rid the hippo of her spot.  Written by Jeanne Willis with illustrations by Tony Ross Hippospotamus  is a fun, tongue-twister, read aloud with a surprise ending!  Your preschoolers will giggle at the funny sound of some made up words like notamus, snottamus, and shotamus and very soon they will be making up their own silly, rhyming words. Encouraging your child to play with smaller sounds in words will help them later in learning how to read. You and your children will like this book alotamus.

Miss Julie

Pancakes for Breakfast

Tomie de Paola's Pancakes for Breakfast is a charming picture book that reminds us how much work the simple things in life, even pancakes, can be. 

Our central character wakes up early, hungry for pancakes.  She gets out the flour, but has no eggs.  She goes to the henhouse for eggs, but has no milk.  She milks the cow, and makes some butter to boot.  She now has everything she needs for pancakes!  Except maple syrup.  And everyone knows you can't have pancakes without syrup.  So out she goes, to buy some from her neighbor.  Alas, her pancake dreams are dashed by her naughty dog and cat who have ruined everything in the kitchen by the time she returns.  Luckily the neighbors are having pancakes too, so she gets to have her pancakes at last!

The fact that it is a wordless book allows each family to tell the story in a way that resonates most for them, by noticing different details.  And ideally, children get to be involved in making those decisions.  When they do so, they are honing their narrative skills.  These skills allow them to understand that each story has a beginning, middle and end.  As they learn to read, sharp narrative skills will clue them in quickly that they need to go back for information they missed, or help them to make smart guesses about unfamiliar words.  Don't be afraid to tell your own stories with books that already have words too!

This book gently reminds us that sometimes we have to work hard and be persistent to get what we want.  There can be a lot of little steps involved in something as delicious as pancakes (or as important as reading), but the pay off is certainly worth it.  Now, would you please pass the syrup?

Miss Kate

Little Nelly's Big Book

What's gray, has large ears, a skinny tail, and weighs 11,000 pounds? Answer: a mouse! Little Nelly has determined what kind of animal she is by reading "The Big Book of Knowledge." There's only one itsy, bitsy, teensy, weensy problem: the book has no pictures.

At Little Nelly's insistence, a mouse family takes her in. Granny Mouse makes this unusual situation work in spite of everyone's reservations--until Little Nelly realizes that something's not quite right. After an Internet search, Granny convinces Nelly that there are other mice just like her at the zoo. While Little Nelly settles into her new home, her friend Micky reads "The Big Book of Knowledge" and discovers he's an elephant! (Albeit a mighty small one...)

The phrase, "Just the facts, ma'am," takes on an entirely different meaning as Micky and Nelly explore their identities in Pippa Goodheart's chuckle-inducing Little Nelly's Big Book. Thanks to Andy Rowland, the illustrations are filled with "subtle" sight gags that complement this sweetly-humored story about kindness, friendship, and self-discovery.

MightyM

Lullabies: Powerful Sleep Aid

Are you having trouble getting your little one to sleep?  Try a lullaby.  The slower cadence and repetitive melody soothes your baby to sleep while also relaxing you and relieving any frustration you may be feeling.  Singing while holding your baby strengthens your bond with each other and signals to your baby that you understand his/her feelings.   Singing at stressful times shows empathy, support, and respect for your baby's feelings, and models for baby a positive way to calm and soothe himself/herself.  Children who are sung to regularly often learn to sing themselves to sleep.  How's that for a powerful sleep aid?!!

You can find some wonderful lullabies in the library.  In fact, you might learn a new one when you attend Babytimes!  Once you're there, you can ask your children's librarian if he/she has any suggestions.  Another good start is Wee Sing for Baby, which includes lyrics to the songs on their accompanying CD.  For a full list of CDs featuring lullabies that you can borrow from the Pima County Public Library, click here.  And remember, the only voice your baby wants to hear is yours, so have fun singing!

Family Fun Time

Trying to limit screen time at your house?  Does Peter McCarty have a heroine for you!

Chloe, (the love interest from  Henry in Love), is an exceptional young rabbit who lives for family fun time. Being a rabbit, Chloe naturally comes from a really large family.  She has "ten older brothers and sisters, and ten younger brothers and sisters,"  which places her exactly in the middle.  McCarty's illustrations of Chloe's family are charming, and you and your child can have fun picking out the subtle differences that make each member of this family unique.   

One day Dad brings home a brand new television for the family to watch after dinner. Chloe is less than enthused. Watching TV doesn't feel like family time to Chloe, so with the help of her littlest sister she entices her other siblings to play with the cardboard box and pop the bubble wrap that the television came in.  Eventually, they make their own "television show" by climbing into the cardboard TV.  Thanks to Chloe, family fun time rules the day.

She may not know it, but Chloe is right in step with  The American Academy of Pediatrics  which recommends no television viewing for children under two, and no more than 2 hours of TV per day for older children.  So, when it's time to turn off the television, try reading a book, playing a simple board game or even putting on your own show like Chloe and her family did.  In order to promote your child's development of early literacy skills, just remember to read, sing, talk, write and play with your child every day!

For little "pea-ple" everywhere!

Do your kids like to eat peas? Maybe, or maybe not. But I believe they will find the little green peas, (other wise known as "pea-ple") in Keith Baker's concept books very likeable.  In LMNO Peas the pea-ple are busy being artists, builders, climbers, dancers, etc., as they highlight an alphabet of occupations. Each giant, colorful letter is contrasted by many tiny green peas illustrating a variety of careers and activities.   This delightful book, as well as 1 2 3 Peas can be enjoyed on many levels.  Teach your child the alphabet and how to count with these books that are packed full of color, action, rhyme and  lots of new vocabulary.  Keith Baker's illustrations are so clever and just plain fun.  Play a game of finding the Ladybug who appears in every two page spread.  Take your child's pointer finger and help them count each of the pea-ple from 1 to 100.  And if you don't mind messy fingers let them press their pointer finger in a green stamp pad then onto clean white paper to create their own story world of little pea-ple. Those uneaten peas on their plates just might become the new characters in their pretend play.  So go ahead, let them play with their food and check out these books at your local library!