New Book Love

Sharing a few of the new gems in our house.

Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie DePaola

  I know I mentioned this before but I truly cannot say enough good things about this book.  It's appropriate for every age, encourages storytelling, is silly and delightful and clever.  Far and away our whole family's favorite.

 White Rabbit books by Alan Baker
   I've been on the hunt for some new learning color, numbers and letter books for Louise and these are just what I'm looking for.  Rather than just sprouting information these books are stories, with beautiful illustrations and a precious bunny.  And how appropriate for the Easter Holiday coming up?

Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo
  Since Little house in the Big Woods has been such a hit I've decided we can move on up to chapterbooks for Ainsley's bedtime reading.  I stumbled across the Mercy Watson series while searching for good first chapter books and we've been so happy with them.  Picutres on nearly every page and super cute stories captivate both the girls.  Ainsley drags this book along with her EVERYWHERE.  DiCamillo is one of my favorite children's authors, Despereaux anyone?  She doesn't dumb down language for kids and her stories are witty and fun.  Perhaps the Easter bunny can find it in his budget to get her the next one in the series?

Mama Panya's Pancakes by Mary and Rich Chamberlin
   I first read this book while teaching and the 5 year olds loved it.  I've been waiting to get it at the library for the girls and thought they still might be a bit young to grasp it's wonder, but they adore it.  Ainsley loves finding all the fun animals on the pages and we love talking about the differences in the lives of these Kenyan villagers when compared to our own.  She is desperate to be able to balance a basket on her head like mama panya and loves the idea that everyone brings something to a meal to contribute so there's enough food for everyone.  A truly sweet tale about making ends meet as well as broadening little one's horizons.

Who's in the Garden?
   I'm not typically a huge fan of board books.  While babies love to look at them and the indepence of turning their pages I tire of them easily and found I've gotten rid of most of ours in the past few months.  This board book?  amazing.  The illustrations are intricate enough to capture the attention of a much older child (or me!) and the rhyming story about finding critters in the garden is so cute.  I highly recommend this very seasonally appropriate story.

Bear At Home
   In an effort to find books that both Louise and Ainsley can enjoy together I found this series of bear books by Stella Blackstone.  While our library doesn't have them all they do have some and we LOVE this one.  A simple story about a tour through bear's house with bold illustrations.  The girls love looking at all the rooms and comparing them to our own and the quick story keeps them both engrossed.  Very good.

How Big is a Pig?
  If I were to restock my board books I'd include ALL of Clare Beaton's.  Her felt sewn illustrations are amazing and this story so catchy that Ainsley had it memorized after one read.  Even Louise was reciting some lines.  The girls love it.  Me too.

Now books for me!

Wednesday Sisters
  Another Chinaberry find, I'm only 80 pages in but loving this book.  It's kind of period peice, taking place in Palo Alto in the late 60s.  I love the descriptions of the clothes and social and political atmospheres.  It's about a group of women (moms) who meet at a park and their stories.  Kind of hits close to home.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta LAcks

   A nonfiction book about the woman behind the HeLa cells, her story and how her life (and cells) affected her family.  It ended up getting a bit long winded for me (I mean we already know the punchline) but fascinating nonetheless.  I really enjoyed learning about the beginning of cell duplication and growth in labs, seeing how much medical practices and cancer treatments have changed over time.  Every once in a while I like a book where I really learn something.  This fit the bill.

So there we are.  New favorites reads...feel free to share yours!