New Faves

Over the last ten days I've developed an oh-so-attractive Lauren Bacall alto unfortunately accompanied by a not-so-attractive three-packs-a-day hack. While the hack stems from a gnarly - yes, gnarly - cold, the Bacall side of things stems from the tremendous amount of reading aloud that's taken place in our house recently. As I've said before, Stella loves books. She will literally drop anything and everything at the suggestion of a story, so it wasn't a bit surprising that all she wanted to do during our super duper crummy sick week was be held and read to. I can't say I blame her.

We read through just about every book we own, but I've discovered real value to books that are visually packed. Stella enjoys impressively long stories which is a bit unusual at this age, but she's also starting to really take in the aesthetics of illustrations. We've been reading the books below for some time now, but she really took to them on a whole new level last week, delving into the rich depth and complexity of each picture. And I must say, as a weary and sniffly mama, it was a fabulous shift for me as well. It was so much fun just perusing each page with my peanut, sometimes pointing out funny or interesting bits and sometimes just silently taking it all in. Don't you remember just losing yourself in certain pictures and stories as a kid? Even now, when I open Tikki Tikki Tembo or Paddington Bear, I'm immediately and magically transported to childhood and become lost in worlds of total fascination and awe. Pure heaven.

None of these books are new, per se, but they have made our life richer and fuller. Enjoy.

This is, by far, the best alphabet book we own. Sure, nobody can beat "Four fluffy feathers on a fiffer feffer fef," but this one doesn't even try. It's visually packed and rhythmically engaging; the opportunity for exploration and discovery are endless. Love it, love it, love it.

SouleMama turned me on to this one and I must say it's my very favorite children's book we own. I swear it's written for mamas just as much as for kids. The rhymes and story are fun and engaging, but the images of this full family's house are amazing. Watching the family and house evolve as each member grows into their own culinary peccadillos is mesmerizing.

And this one is just plain hilarious. It's my favorite number book since it doesn't talk down to kids. Sure, Stella is only twenty months, but she's a smartie. And we're way past counting little duckies in a row. This is witty, smart and totally hilarious. Each picture has me rolling and there's tons of hidden puzzles and goofiness hidden in the background. And for anyone who has an older child a bit reticent about diving into numbers and math, this would be a great source for showing them other creative ways of using numbers. Who knew the number fifteen could be used as a pair of tweezers?

So as a mama of a babe who requests a story about, hmmm, fifteen million times a day, these smart, beautiful and clever books are a welcome addition to our collection. I'll earn my Lauren Bacall stripes with pride reading such fabulous works of art and hope this short list is helpful. Happy reading.

(Oh, and hey - I'd love to hear what y'all are reading to your peanuts. We love suggestions and are starting to head to the library more and more, so bring on your faves!)