What My Child Is Reading

We couldn’t pass up a sunny day on Wednesday to head out to the library. It was actually warm enough that all we needed were our jackets. This has been the first Winter that we have lived here that we have worn our heavy winter coats so much. Sometimes I wonder why I even buy Selena one since usually she only wears it once or twice the entire Winter, not this year though she has worn it a lot. Our walk to the library was great, it gave us a chance to just talk and explore without the puppy. I have to admit we have a bit of jealousy going on in our home with the new puppy here. I will say though it isn’t all Selena as the puppy is just as jealous of her as she is of him. I wanted to find some books about bringing a puppy into the home, but unfortunately they did  not have any. We did however bring home a huge stack of books.

Priscilla Superstar by Nathaniel Hobbie illustrations by Jocelyn Hobbie is a cute story about a little girl who just wants to be the best at everything. The first day of school she signs up for everything there is, only to discover that nothing is quite right for her. Her best friend invites her to go to a stage show of roller dancing. Priscilla falls in love with the main character and decides to sign up for lessons. She discovers at her first lesson that this isn’t going to be as easy as she thought. Her instructor reminds her that it takes a lot of practice and hard work. Just about the time she thinks she wants to quit, she discovers that she is indeed getting better. The try outs for the play are coming up and she dreams of being the Star of the show. When the instructor gives them their parts she is disappointed to find out she will only be the wind. Again ready to quit, her friends remind her that her part is the BEST part to play. She goes on with the show, and discovers that one can shine on stage no matter what so long as they do their very best.

Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic was not a huge hit with Selena. We read Sitting Duck by this same author and really enjoyed it. Selena recognized all the characters, and seemed to be enjoying the book about how Duck was cooking a pot of soup, only to discover it was missing something for flavor. As he steps out to get more ingredients, his friends come in looking for  him. They find his pot of soup, but when they can’t find him they assume the worse, that Duck has fell into his own pot of soup. After a few failed attempts to find their friend, they get a strainer and pour the soup through it in hopes that they will find Duck. The look on Selena’s face changed from being happy to distressed and half grossed out when they mistake a potato for Duck’s head and some small onions for his eyeballs. We did finish the book and Selena chuckled in the end when Duck came in out of the garden to discover what his friends have just done to his pot of soup. I think had it not made such references to Ducks head and Ducks eyeballs, Selena would have enjoyed the book very much. If your child can handle the slightest idea of gross, then this is a cute book for her.

My Forever Dress by Harriet Ziefert illustrations by Liz Murphy was Selena’s favorite book this week. I thought it was rather boring myself in the beginning, but as we got further into the book, the story comes to life. It is a story about how a grandmother always makes her granddaughter a new dress every year. After making her a very pretty fancy dress she informs her granddaughter that they can’t be wasteful. Since her granddaughter hasn’t changed much in size but gotten a little taller, they both agree instead of making a new dress they can make some leggings to wear with the shorter dress. It continues with a few changes to the dress the following year adding a knitted sweater. The year after that the dress is passed down to a younger cousin and Grandma makes a new dress for her again. Selena loved this book, and immediately wanted to go in and see how many of her dresses we could change with just a few things. Maybe we will have to play a little bit with this idea for stART next week.

I am linking up at Mouse Grows Mouse Learns.