Furry Friends

Emily loves touch-and-feel books. I can remember a few months back when she really started to notice them. She would tentatively touch the book with one finger and find the spots that were different. She had this look of wonder and satisfaction on her face as she found each one. My favorite memory is when I found her reading this book.

Quack! Quack! has bold photographs of farm animals. Each animal has one spot that is furry or soft and they've done a great job making it look and feel like the animal. One day she was sitting with the book flat on the floor. As she turned each page, she leaned over and kissed the special spot. The duck's belly, kiss; the pig's nose, kiss; the dog's ear, kiss. Since the spot isn't in the same place on every page, she'd have to lean a bit one way or another to find the spot. It was so sweet to watch her give her little open-mouthed kiss to each animal! Sometimes when we read the book together, she still gives them kisses. I'd love to know what is going through her little mind!

Books We Read Today -- Snuggletime

Hide-and-Seek Baby by Fiona Watt; Illustrated by Catherine-Anne MacKinnon.
This is a sweet board book to share. Baby plays with a soft blanket and asks, "Where are my toes?" She lifts the blanket, and exclaims, "Here they are!" There are plenty of opportunities to play with your child with this one. Peekaboo, naming parts of the body, and tickling are just a few. Drawn in pastels, this is part of the "Snuggletime Touchy-Feely" series by Usborne. Each page has a soft spot where the blanket is and on the last page the blanket can be lifted.

Busy Baby  by Fiona Watt; Illustrated by Catherine-Anne MacKinnon. ("Snuggletime" series; board book)
Baby has his trusty blanket (which can be felt or lifted) as he goes about his busy day. His friends bear, duck and rabbit are back for the fun. Your toddler may mimic the repeated refrain, "I'm busy." If you have an equally busy toddler, you might try reading this while he (or she) is busy playing. It's not essential that a child sit on your lap to listen to a book. Children are often taking in just as much (sometimes more) when they are active. So while he plays with his blocks or trucks, try reading. He just might join you for a page or two.

Books We Read Today

Have You Ever Tickled a Tiger? by Betsy Snyder
I'm partial to tigers, so this one caught my eye right away. It's a touch-and-feel board book with a variety of textures. It's amazing what can be done with books these days. The ostrich has feathers and the walrus whiskers! It's a silly story, with rhymes and lots of room for actions and noises. The illustrations are lovely--collage style with nice detail. We will be sure to return to this one when my daughter gets the idea of touching the book beyond trying to eat it. (Trying to eating everything is a recurring theme in our house.)

Mary Engelbreit's Funny Mother Goose 
I love Mary Engelbreit, so this was a natural choice to check out. It includes 6 "funny rhymes to share"~ Jack and Jill, Pat-a-cake, Old King Cole, Ring Around the Rosebush, Curly Locks, and Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling. Part of the charm of ME, in my opinion, is her ability to make things both old-fashioned and modern. For me this was spot on for a set of nursery rhymes. This board book will be appreciated more when my daughter is a bit older, but for now she just likes to be read to. It never hurts to have books you like to read. Especially when you'll read it over and over and over and over...

At the Beach by Salina Yoon
A "first-words" board book, this has clever cut outs to give a 3-D feel to the pictures. This one has really captured my daughter's attention. It has bright, bold and shimmery colors. I used to think, how do you read a one-word-per-page book (over and over) and not think, BORING!? I've found it helps when the child is very excited by those simple words and pictures. Pointing out different things on the page each time you read it helps too, at this stage. First time through, it's a shovel. Second time, a green shovel, third time, ask "What do you do with a shovel?" and so on. Until it really is time for another book! This one is perfect for babies and toddlers.