It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. These weekly roundups are a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share some of the titles you’ve been enjoying, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.
Happy Monday!
If you read my poetry post on Friday, you’ll know that I’m none too fond of snow…
Well, as I sit here typing, there’s a veritable blizzard going on outside my window. It’s March. March. I’m not too pleased…
But, enough about the weather (snow, snow, SNOW!). Here are a few books I’ve read and/or shared this week!
I Can Blink by Frank Asch
My toddlers absolutely adored this simple animal picture book. We all took turns sticking our face through the pages’ large circular cutout, which had the little ones in absolute stitches! Lots of fun, highly recommended, especially for toddlers. Funny faces for the win!
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
I love, love, love Jan Thomas. Simple stories, silly characters, bright colours, bold lines – perfection! There’s also such a wonderfully surreal element to these stories – who else could have imagined a group of colourful dust bunnies who love to rhyme? So fun!
But….this one just did not work in a recent daycare story time. In fact…I think it would be fair to say it went over like a lead balloon. We really struggled with the concept of rhyme, which is a pretty central element in the story. Still, I managed to salvage the situation by encouraging a conversation about where dust bunnies might want to hide out from the scary broom! When in doubt, talk it out! It’s definitely a great book, but…sometimes even the best stories just fall flat!
Grumpy Pants by Claire Messner
I love penguins, so of course I had to pick this one up! And having read it, I’m pretty sure it was based on a true story – my own true story! What is a grumpy penguin to do after a crummy, cruddy day? In the case of this little penguin, the answer is simple – a bubble bath, a mug of hot chocolate, favorite pajamas, a bedtime story and a teddy pair wash all the grumpiness away! As a passionate believe in the restorative power of a soak in the tub, this very sweet, simple story is right up my alley. Kids love penguins, so this was a hit with the kids – everyone can relate to having a grumpy day!
So, I hope you all have a warm week, wherever you happen to be!
That Owl book looks really fun. I can totally imagine kids would love that book.
Snow in March definitely seems a little wrong. It’s been raining for days here.. Summer can’t come fast enough.
Have a great week and happy reading!
It feels like this winter has just dragged on forever! I’m definitely needing some sunshine to pick me up!
I love love love love love love love love your Hello Kitty meme at the bottom! Soooooo cool. I love Hello Kitty. Oh, you’ve noticed. Hope there will be less snow this week! Happy reading and thanks for stopping by my blog earlier on.
When I was in Japan I was just surrounded by so much Hello Kitty – even after all these years she’s still going strong!
That rhyming book looks cute! I hope you enjoy reading this week.
My It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? post.
I’m just a sucker for a good rhyming book, they’re just so much fun to read and share! ?
What delightful looking books! I always enjoy a cute picture book, and the ones that encourage participation are definitely the best.
Thanks for sharing…and for visiting my blog.
Yes – getting kids involved in the story is so much fun, and great for learning!
Vancouver weather is just crazy these days. Today of course, now that you have to work, the sun is shining and it looks gorgeous out there. (I’m still in my pj’s so haven’t been outside yet) I’ve added I Can Blink to my list of books to read with my future grandchildren. Thanks for the heads up.
This year has just been nutty!! My adult students have been in shock – “everyone said it doesn’t snow in Vancouver!!” I do have one student from Saudi Arabia who is absolutely thrilled with the snow, but the rest of us are just longing for spring!! ?
Although I’ve not been reading books for the wee ones lately, I loved your post, Jane, and despite your tears, too, I wish you could send that storm our way. All we have today is wind and more wind, and colder. The fire danger is very high because of being so dry.
Oh no! Here’s hoping some of our stormy weather will head your way. When I was a child I used to think that other places had droughts because we’d somehow taken everyone else’s rain! ?
I think we have snow in the forecast for the Chicago area this coming weekend. Boo…..
It is interesting – how you think a book will go over and it doesn’t. Sometimes I tell the kids they really should be laughing 🙂
Sometimes it can just be baffling – stories that seem like sure winners can totally flop! You always have to expect the unexpected!
Snow?? Yuck. It’s March now, I wish there was a rule- no snow after March 1st. Grumpy Pants looks cute- you always seem to find such good kids’ books.
Hello Kitty is awesome! 🙂
We very rarely even get snow in February ( we’re kind of the weird non-Canadian part of Canada), so this is downright bizarre!!
I do have such a soft spot for wonderful picture books, there’s just something so special about the way two individuals can combine their talents to create a story that works visually and orally. Pretty amazing!
Sounds like a cute book. I sympathize with you about the snow! Hate is a strong word, but it’s exactly how I feel about snow. We had a blizzard here in Massachusetts a few weeks ago, but since we’ve had many days above average temps (even a record 70 degree day in February!) so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the snow has passed.
Nope, hate is the absolute right word in this case – I hate, hate, hate snow!! Let’s all cross our fingers for spring to finally show up – I promise I won’t even complain (as much) about my springtime allergies!! ?
I’ve had a Jan Thomas title fall totally flat before and it actually… shocked me! 😉 I love her books so much, and my colleagues and I use them regularly but you’re right, it SO depends on the audience. I’ve started doing ‘Let’s Sing a Lullaby with the Brave Cowboy’ more as I love being as wacky as possible in my singing of the lullaby…:)
I’m going to have to check out ‘I Can Blink Like an Owl’- looks great!
Now I am imagining you hanging out with grumpy penguins. Yesterday really was crazy weather!
That first one sounds like it’d be so much fun for younger kids! And the dust bunnies one sounds cute, that’s too bad it didn’t go over well. You’re really good at thinking on your feet with the storytimes, I’d have just floundered in that situation lol.
Well, sometimes I can salvage things, and sometimes I can’t! I still have times when I walk out of a program and just want to curl up in a ball and cry because nothing seemed to go right and everything seemed to go wrong! It’s just par for the course, and you can only hope to have more successes than you do utter failures. 😉
Sending you lots of sun – we have eternal summer here in Singapore (with the occasional monsoon rains, of course).