Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go

• Caillou: Sounds, a bath book that has been hanging around the tub a very long time but we haven’t lately. Reid pretty much read it to herself; 
• Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom, 75 times if you can believe Ken but I think that he might be exaggerating a bit. I read it once at bedtime but he refused;
• Little Bear Paints on the Farm (no author), with a query from Ken as to why “that bear” is painting the animals;
• Click, Clack, Splish, Splash: A Counting Adventure by Doreen Cronin, which I like but it worries me that one day Reid will decide to take gold fish to a pond to free them as the animals in this book do;
• The Grumpalump by Sarah Hayes, I like the range of animals featured, including a dove and an armadillo, and the way that the lump continues to grump throughout;
• Caillou: My Daddy by Christine L’Heureux, a board book with a sweet message about babies and their dads;
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, because today was a snowy day, as Ken said or at least it was the antithesis of one;
• Chitter Chatter! (no author), a book that Ken and I have each read to Reid many times but today I heard them discussing who was saying what – a discussion that hadn’t happened previously to my knowledge;
• Duck by David Lloyd, a nice watercolour that I struggle with because in the second half of the book the grandma only acknowledges the little boy when he correctly labels the vehicle and then there is the sentence, “For some time after this Tim never said a single word. He just looked and looked.” It reminds me of the Harry Chapin song, Flowers are Red, and that song makes me very sad and I always switch the radio when I hear it; and
• Oink? by Margie Palatini, I read it first thing this morning and Reid had Ken read it just before bed. Ken is offended when pigs are portrayed as dirty and dumb. The other rude animals in this book reinforce this stereotype but I discussed how rude they were and Ken explained why pigs get muddy. We’ll have to see if Reid gets picked on when she gets to school. It might be our fault.

In the car on the way to daycare, because I’d brought them with the intention of writing down the titles (I don’t know when I thought I would, now that I think of it), I read:

• The Very Bad Bunny by Marilyn Sadler; and
• At My House by Claire Clark and Susan James Frye.

At Melissa’s house, we read again from the From the Big Book of Farmyard Tales by Heather Amery:

• Hungry Donkey;
• Tractor in Trouble;
• Kitten’s Day Out;
• Pig Gets Lost;
• The Silly Sheepdog.

I’ve got the opening page memorized but unfortunately in my memory, one of the kids is named Rusty instead of the dog. The problem is that I make this mistake at the beginning of each story and it bugs me (though Reid doesn’t seem to mind).

• Bear Hugs: Romantically Ridiculous Animal Rhymes by Karma Wilson, a romantic way to start the day, as I said;
• The Great Honey Hunt by Stanley and Janice Berenstain, back when the authors used their full names. The dad is, as is often the case with this series, a buffoon. We might stop reading them. If the mama was protrayed as a foolish but harmless character, I think I would get rid of the book. It’s tough, though, because the overall messages of many of the books are good ones and I hate to think of myself as the book banning type, though of course I am only deciding that they’re not right for our family;
• Smelly Socks by Robert Munsch, a book that makes me think of a song we sang at Kindermusik about sticking your head in a little skunk’s hole, Pee-yew!;
• If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff, a book that epitomizes the way life is with a 2 year old (and, I suspect, a kid of any age);
• The Way I Feel by Janan Cain, a book that fits well with conversations that we’ve been having lately, you know the ones that start, “I see that you are very angry…” or sad or frustrated as I try to help Reid pull herself together;
• The Very Bad Bunny by Marilyn Sadler; and
• At My House by Claire Clark and Susan James Frye, that I hear in Shannon’s (our Kindermusik teacher’s) voice no matter whether I am reading it or Ken is.

I read Thomas’ Snowsuit by Robert Munsch twice today, to Reid’s delight as she loves supplying the “NNNNo” to all mentions of Thomas putting on his snowsuit and to Ken’s dismay as he seems as unimpressed by them as Reid is impressed. We also read:

• Won’t You Be My Kissaroo? by Joanne Ryder;
• What Moms Can’t Do by Douglas Wood, read by Ken because he hadn’t read it before, at least not a thousand times;
• Mama Loves by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, I like how Mama loves different things with each child, including “Her feet bare and free. Hiking and biking and being with me.” Sometimes just being with Reid is wonderful; and
• Hippos Go Beserk! by Sandra Boynton, a quick read before bed, if a little rowdier than I would usually choose.

At Melissa’s we read Love Song of the Little Bear by Margaret Wise Brown and also from an Appletree Farm treasury by Heather Amery, including:

• Pig Gets Stuck
• The Naughty Sheep
• Barn on Fire
• The Runaway Tractor
• Pig Gets Lost
• The Hungry Donkey

At home, Ken read Won’t You Be My Kissaroo? by Joanne Ryder and I read What Moms Can’t Do by Douglas Wood.

We read:

• Arthur Babysits by Marc Brown;
• Glasses for D.W. by Marc Brown, twice, once per parent;
• The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming, a good book for a hot day;
• Click, Clack, Quackity-Quack: An Alphabetical Adventure by Doreen Cronin;
• Because I Love You So Much by Guido van Genechten;
• Babybug April 2007;
• Oh, Bother! Someone’s Afraid of the Dark! by Betty Birney, a naptime story that was so soothingly read by Ken that I fell asleep before he’d finished;
• Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa by Erica Silverman,
• Best Father of All by Peter Horn, which tells us of the variety of ways that animal fathers care for their young;
• Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm by Joy Cowley, with the animals in the city where the barns are big; and
• Cheer Up, Little Duck! by Ronne Randall, and who can’t sympathize with someone who needs a hug?

During the day, we read:

• Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom, when Reid heard me mention the title, she told Ken to turn off Toopy and Binoo and asked him to read her to her instead;
• How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors? by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Mark Teague, with a good rhyme and each of the dinosaurs drawn distinctly and labelled with it’s proper name;
• Oh No! Train Can’t Go! by Heather Amery, a book that starts, “This is Apple Tree Farm. This is Mrs. Boot, the farmer …” I bought Melissa’s kids an anthology of Apple Tree farm books and they all start the very same way. Melissa and Peter have threatened to lend it to us but as a one-off, it is good;
• Iggy Pig’s Snowball Fight! by Vivian French, it bothers Ken that Iggy puts on a scarf and mittens but it otherwise naked in the snow. I hadn’t noticed but then a lot slips by me;
• Babybug February 2007, Reid really enjoys these magazines and I’m wondering if we should subscribe next year when the United Way promotion is on or just continue borrowing from the library;
• Babybug March 2007;
• Babybug April 2006;
• A Dragon in a Wagon: A Book About Ways to Travel by Jane Belk Moncure, the first in a series of book-of-the-month type books that we received for free but didn’t sign up for the rest of the series. I wonder how many people do that, take the freebie and then cancel;
• Olivia Counts based on the books by Ian Falconer, Reid has me tell her the names of her aunts and cousins when we see Olivia’s but Reid has many more of each and so we double up;
• Olivia’s Opposites based on the books by Ian Falconer, I wonder if they’re explicitly discussing opposites at daycare. Reid seemed familiar with the concept as we read it;
• The Very Bad Bunny by Marilyn Sadler, Reid seems to sympathize with PJ when he is bad without meaning to be;
• Spot Goes to School by Eric Hill;
• Good Morning, Sam by Marie-Louise Gay, a book that I heard Reid recountng to herself quite accurately but still she wanted it read to her as well;
• Poinsettia and the Firefighters by Felicia Bond;
• You Can’t Rush a Cat by Karleen Bradford, Ken took exception to the fact that the little girl says “You can’t rush a cat, Granddaddy” many times throughout the book. I love it when he gets so involved in the books;
• Mouse’s First Spring by Lauren Thompson, which has an upbeat storyline and lots of good action words.

At bedtime we read:

• Love Is a Family by Roma Downey, with my “subtitles” provided by Ken;
  Where’s That Cat? by Eve Merriam and Pam Pollack;
• Mom Mine! by Dawn Apperley;
• How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms? by Jane Yolen, the mama and daddy in the book are human but Reid didn’t find that to be odd. I guess she is more comfortable with mixed families than I am though I like to think of myself as having an inclusive outlook;
• Happy Birthday, Biscuit! by Alyssa Satin Capucilli;
• I Love You Always and Forever by Jonathan Emmett, a book about a daddy mouse and his daughter. At the end I said, your daddy loves you “always and forever”. Reid nodded seriously and then said, “And my mama.” I wasn’t sure what she meant and so I agreed that Daddy would love me and I would love her always and forever. I got a tight squeezing hug for my answer and I guess that means Reid thought at least part met her expectation;
• The Angels’ Lullaby by Joyce Carol Thomas, even though I had to open the blind again because I like it so much and Reid usually refuses. She is canny enough to know that asking for it after we’re done would get her another story. Schemer!

We actually got up on time for once, which practically counts as early in our family, and read:

• Friendly Farm: Animals All Around by Diane Muldrow, a book I love from the very first line, “‘Cockle-doodle-doo,’ crowed Rooster quite proudly. ‘It’s my job to be the alarm. Wake up everyone and greet the bright sun. It’s a lovely new day on the farm’.”;
• What Moms Can’t Do by Douglas Wood, a list that includes making beds without help, tackling very hard and giving hugs without kisses; and
  Mama Loves by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, which somehow has been in our house for a month without me seeing it. What a book I’ve been missing! It’s beautifully illustrated in watercolours and mamas loves having tea and talking with me and various kinds of flowers and gardening with me, etc.

Later we read:

• The Search for Mud Mountain (no author), which is pretty good for all that it stars the Huggies Cleanteam but the constant “TM”s after the mentions in the text are distracting and will be a good choice for riding around in the car or taking camping;
• Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems, a book that I love to hear Ken read because he nails the tone;
• No Milk! by Jennifer A. Ericsson, the tale of a city boy who wants milk but doesn’t know how to milk the cow. A reminder to me why we need to take Reid to farms;
• In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming, where we watch the caterpillar crawl along as the story unfolds;
• The Cow Who Clucked by Denise Fleming, I only noticed that the chicks follow the cow around through the book a couple of days ago even though we’ve read it many times when we’ve had it out of the library (at least twice already);
• New Cat by Yangsook Choi, with the heroic cat how can it not be popular at our house?

At bedtime we read:

• Row, Row, Row Your Goat by Bernard Most, a book that I love for it’s flexibility. Reid learned her farm animals and their sounds with it. Now, when we are in a hurry, I read it straight, saying only the words that appear. When we have more time, I say each animal’s name and it’s sound in turn and when we have lots of time, I say the sound of each animal in the boat on each page ;
  Snoozers by Sandra Boynton;
• Read Me a Book by Barbara Reid, a book that we  enjoy, especially, “Bounce me a poem” and “Let’s take a look.”;
• Itsy Bitsy Spider and Other Action Rhymes (traditonal), though I didn’t see Ken doing any of the actions as he read.