So They Sent Me a... LION!

Dear Zoo, written and illustrated by Rod Campbell

Eliza LOVES this one. She is very interested in lifting flaps right now (at eight months old), and this book seems to really please her. She is so eager to lift the flaps, she springs to grab each flap as soon as we turn the page, as if to beat me to it.

The premise is:"I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet. They sent me a... [lift flap to reveal animal]. It was too [insert adjective]. I sent him back." This repeats from elephant (too big) down to frog (too jumpy). It ends with the zoo sending a dog, which was perfect.

The only critique I have is that the flaps are not baby-friendly. They are recessed into the page. To help with this, I secretly "prep" each flap before turning the page-- I reach under the page we're reading to make the flap on the next page just slightly "ajar" so she can get her fingers under it. (Unfortunately in her frantic efforts to grab the flap she can sometimes push it back down. So, I will help again. The funny thing is, once she sees me touch the flap, she is usually not interested in grabbing it anymore and instead turns the page to get to the next one. Miss Independent!)

Here are some pics of her in action:

And, of course, the flaps must be tasted:

Four Fluffy Feathers on a Fiffer Feffer Feff!

Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book

I like sharing this book with Eliza. She is too little to learn her ABCs, but since she is learning to speak, I like that this book covers the range of sounds of our language.

The text follows pretty much the same formula for every letter:

It is a lot of text for a baby, as you can see. I don't read all of the text every reading, necessarily-- if she is getting impatient and turns the page, we just skip a letter that time. I generally read no more than two letters per spread (some spreads feature up to four letters).

As you can expect with Dr. Seuss, the rhythm, rhyme, and nonsense humor are perfectly honed.

This book and Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, There's a Wocket in My Pocket, and The Foot Book are our favorite Dr. Seuss books for her right now (I'll review them later). Many of the others have just too much text at the moment...though I have already purchased The Cat in the Hat and Oh, the Places You'll Go! for her... for later!

Bright Copper Kettles and Warm Woolen Mittens

A Few of My Favorite Things, song by Rodgers and Hammerstein, illustrated by Renee Graef

I love this song, and I love the way it's illustrated in this book. It's a sweet, painterly style. Each scene includes a little girl and usually also her brother. The world of this pair reminds me of my childhood in Maryland-- particularly the fall and winter months (which are so different for me now that I live in the San Francisco Bay Area).

Here is one of my favorite spreads:

That just says "late October afternoon" to me.

I don't read many "regular paper" picture books with Eliza, because she can suddenly decide she wants to crumble, tear, and eat the pages. However, if she is mellow enough, she can even help turn these pages if I prop them up for her.

I shouldn't say I "read" this to her, because I find I am actually unable to just read it-- it must be sung, just like Julie Andrews did. I try anyway.

You should hear me on the last spread:

"And then I don't feeeeeeeeeeeeeel soooooooooooooooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad."

Anyway, if you love the Sound of Music, and if this song is an old familiar favorite of yours, this book captures it just right. I just wish they would make a board book out of it.