What My Child is Reading

Selena and I took advantage of a cold sunny day on Wednesday to go to the library. She truly wanted to walk to the library, but with the temperatures dropping and waking to a little bit of snow I told her that we would drive the 4 blocks. Once there I grabbed a hand full of books that I had put holds on, then started looking through the shelves of books. There was a young man, his girlfriend and her 2 year old at the library. The 2 year old quickly spotted Selena and began to follow her wanting to play with the toys in the children’s area. It was cute as they played, the laughter filled the little corner where they sat. Selena would have to every so often politely remind the 2 year old that she needed to share the toys and play nice. I thought how sweet it was to hear my 4 year old trying to explain to this younger child that play can be real fun if they play together, sharing, and played nice. At a point when Selena could have gotten angry over this 2 year old grabbing the toys away from her, as if they all belonged to her, Selena just so softly and politely tried to explain how to be a friend.

How Big Is The World by Britta Teckentrup was one of our finds from the shelves. It is a cute story about a small mole who wants to know how big the world is. The small mole’s Papa tells him to go out and find out for himself. Each insect and animal he comes across has a different idea as to how big the world is. It isn’t until he comes across a seagull and a whale who truly take him on the trip of his life and shows him that the world can be as big as you want to make it. This will be a book that we will revisit and maybe even look at a project to go along with it. I truly want Selena to understand what the book is trying to say when it says that the world can be as big as you want it to be.

Tom’s Tree by Gillian Shields and Gemma Raynor was another one of our finds from the shelves. It is a cute story about a little boy who plants a seed knowing that it will grow into a tree. While his brother tells him it won’t the Tom continues to dream of everything the tree will hold for him, such as a tree house that looks like a pirate ship, red juicy fruit, and it will span as wide as a rainbow. The following Spring he discovers that indeed a small tree is growing where he planted the seed. He tends to it sweetly and carefully. As the tree grows though Tom grows too. Soon he forgets all his dreams about the tree, and goes out into the world to make a life of his own. One day though he returns with his son, and announces to his son that this is his tree, the tree he planted from a seed many years ago. His son is thrilled and begins to see all the things his father seen as a young boy that this tree could grow to be. Selena enjoyed this book, but mostly she enjoyed the rainbow, and had to stop my reading several times to sing the rainbow song, “Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet” She is so proud of herself that she knows the colors of the rainbow.

Otis & Sydney and The Best Birthday Ever by Laura Numeroff illustrations by Dan Andreasen was a book I had placed a hold on in hopes that we would get it in time for Selena’s birthday. That didn’t happen, but we still enjoyed the book very much. It is a cute story about two bear cubs who become best friends. Otis decides he wants to throw Sydney a Surprise Birthday Party. He plans the entire thing, sends out the invitations and really plans on making this birthday the best for his best friend. The big day comes, he decorates, plans the games, bakes the cake, but none of their friends show up. It is at this point he realizes he put the wrong date on the invitations, it is too late though, he hears Sydney coming home. He throws the surprise party anyway. He then admits to his friend what he did and why none of their friends came. To his surprise Sydney announces that it was truly the best party ever, since it was a party with his best friend.

To find out what others are reading in their homes come on over to Natalie's at Mouse Grows Mouse Learns.