Stop, Drop and Blog

I’m raising another generation of book lovers. LittleBrother loves to sit and read. In fact, if you sit in the recliner in the living room, he will throw a book in your lap and demand, “REA-READ!” Also, before naptime and bedtime, you absolutely must sit in the rocking chair and read some of his favorites. Otherwise, bedtime will be a complete fail. Trust me.

So, what does this opinionated one year old prefer right now? Let’s take a quick look.

1. There’s a Wocket in My Pocket! (board book version) by Dr. Seuss. We’ve actually had this book since BigBrother was a wee one but he never took to it. LittleBrother loves the snot out of this book. It is one of the ones we now have memorized. FireDad will be sitting in the chair, reading it to LittleBrother, looking at me as he recites the words. My guess is that LittleBrother likes the rhymes. Who wouldn’t? It’s Dr. Seuss.

2. The following Sandra Boynton books: But Not the Hippopotamus (much laughing), Blue Hat, Green Hat, Moo Baa La La La, Belly Button Book and Pajama Time! We own many (many) Boynton books but these are the ones that LittleBrother gravitates toward when picking books off of the shelf (or shelves, as it were). Again, BigBrother liked Boyton but had a few different favorites. Both The Belly Button Book and Pajama Time are actually in the bedtime pile. They must be read or the world ceases to make sense.

3. Mommy Loves and Daddy Cuddles. LittleBrother loves these and FireDad and I use them to our advantage. While the pictures are beautiful, the focus of our reading of these books is that, as an example, I will read Daddy Cuddles when FireDad is away at work. FireDad then reads Mommy Loves when I am not present at bedtime or naptime. It’s just nice.

4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This is likely because it remains BigBrother’s favorite book and is read multiple times per day. We have three copies: two board books, one paper page book. His initial attraction was to the circles on the title page. He calls them balls since he loves anything ball. He now loves to stick his fingers through the holes and say “apple” when I do. He also recently took a liking to his brother’s copy of The Very Quiet Cricket (paper pages) and can be seen toting the big book all around the house

5. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Another Eric Carle book but it needed a mention of its own. This book is one that LittleBrother can now ask for by name. Granted, Brown and Bear sound remarkably similar but I know what he means as he chants it over and over as we rock in the rocking chair. As we read this book, we go over the sounds that the animals make. He simply loves making animal noises (which is the attraction to one of the Boynton books on his favorite list). So, yes, he loves this book. However, BigBrother is now mad that the book (board) has been moved to LittleBrother’s room. Do I really need two of everything?

6. And he’s finally started to sit through at least one story at BigBrother’s bedtime as long as I start with Flashing Fire Engines or Tough Trucks. I wouldn’t quite call them his favorites just yet but he will sit through them, sitting next to BigBrother, with a big old smile on his face. I’ll take that.

There are many other books that are brought to us throughout the day. We no longer keep BigBrother’s paper paged books solely in his room. They are out in the living room and LittleBrother has proven himself capapble of turning pages without ripping. BigBrother only ripped one book back in the day. LittleBrother has not yet purposefully ripped a book. He had an accident with getting caught under the chair and pulling too hard. But, other than that, yes, we allow him to handle paper pages as well.

One of my goals (see 1a) for the year was to add 50 books to their library. One month and a week into the year, they’ve already added ten (I still need to add one to their Goodreads 2009 bookshelf) with two more waiting for Valentine’s Day gifts. I think I’ll way overachieve on this goal, but, really, couldn’t we all use a goal that we find easy to complete? Perhaps I’ll make it a bigger number next year.

Because you can never have too many books.