In the continuing series of “What we’re reading at our house” here is the January 2012 edition. I’ve noticed we’re reading less these days – maybe only six books a day as compared to over a dozen at the high point. However, Clare’s books and attention span have gotten longer so we still spend quite a bit of time reading. Clare also loves to “read” on her own, study the pictures and “read” to her stuffed animals and dolls.
Clare calls this book “Amos McGee!” and it’s become one of my favorites as well. It’s a pretty simple little story about a zookeeper whose animal friends visit him when he gets sick, but it has really sweet illustrations and nice descriptions. Clare’s a sucker for an animal book, and the illustrations are complex enough to give us something to talk about. A new development with reading books together is the conversations we have around why characters do certain things, how they are feeling, what we like or don’t like, etc. It’s pretty fun.
I’ve loved Olivia ever since I managed the children’s section at a book store 12 years ago, I’ve loved the Olivia books. I brought this one home to Clare and it immediately became a favorite. Olivia is also a feisty, imaginative little pig (much like a feisty imaginative girl I know). It’s another one of those books where the pictures tell a much bigger story than the narration does, so it’s as much a conversation starter as a simple read through. Clare’s gotten to where she can recite each page, and will often start reciting the book at various times through the day.
“The Moose Book!” Grandma T brought this book on her last trip and may have lived to regret it, since I think she probably read it 50 times in her five days here. Since then we’ve limited it to reading it no more than once a day and its popularity is starting to wane, however she still loves it. It’s a fun book because there are hidden moose on specific pages that Clare likes to point out. It’s also a repetitive book with silly phrases and made-up words – all the things a silly two year old loves.
The Sneetches book has several stories in it, and Clare’s favorite is the last story called What Was I Scared Of? It’s a cute little story about being afraid of a pair of person-less pants. The story begins with the narrator being afraid of the pants and by the end of the story the narrator realizes that the pants aren’t scary and are, in fact, friendly. Since Clare is prone to being occasionally nervous and scared of the unknown this is a nice story to begin conversations about feeling scared and being brave in spite of fear.
I bought The Snowy Day before our trip to Tennessee. It’s a classic story and very simple but Clare loves it. I think she can really relate to little Peter in the story and his adventures. It’s nice to have a shorter favorite book in the rotation for hurried reading sessions.
Lastly, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. J’s been reading this one to her for over a year, even though I’m not sure she understood it back then. It’s a fairly complex story but Clare has always loved it. It’s not very character-driven, and she prefers character-driven stories, but I think she likes the illustrations of food falling from the sky. She’ll also quote this book periodically, especially when we’re eating.