According to my records, my last Monday post was all the way back in August! The past few months have been a blur, but in the most wonderful way. So many milestones, changes, and adjustments – I can hardly believe it’s only been half a year since we welcomed our Raincity Baby, and sometimes I struggle to remember what life was life before he joined our family. Our wee gentleman is a bright and happy six-month old, and every evening he spends a few cozy minutes with his daddy and a stack of books. This bouncy, wiggly baby does not like to stay still, but when daddy pulls out a book, he’s rapt! It’s so wonderful to watch these quiet bonding moments, and they warm my heart to no end. Reading was such an important part of my childhood – my parents always read me bedtime stories, and our homes were filled with bookshelves bursting with books. My parents always had books stacked on their nightstands and we often talked about what we were reading. I spent ages at the library, and we visited bookstores in every community we visited. I’m so glad that we’re able to share our passion for books with our new family and making reading an important and precious part of our time spent together.
Here are just a few of the books we’ve been sharing with baby over the past few weeks!
This picture features two of our current favourite! Trains Don’t Sleep by Andria Rosenbaum immediately became one of my husband’s top read-alouds, and he and baby read it together almost every day. I have to agree – this is a lovely book, with beautiful illustrations and a gentle rhyming text that winds down in a soothing way that’s just perfect for bedtime. Who knew that there were so many different kinds of trains? My dad was quite the train aficionado, and it’s extra special to share books like this together and celebrate Grandpa’s life. Baby was actually named for my dad, and it’s very important to both of us that we keep his memory lovingly alive.
The other favourite book that appears in this picture is Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won, which I’m sure I’ve mentioned before on the blog. I loved sharing this in my story times, so of course I had to purchase my own home copy! Bright, colourful, adorable illustrations, a sweet story of kindness and friendship, and a great repetitive text – all in one fun package. When grumpy elephant discovers a mysterious present filled with funny hats on his doorstep he can’t wait to share them with his friends, spreading good cheer and chasing away the grumpies. I have had an adult complain about the brusque manner in which each animal greets visitors (“Go away!” I’m grumpy!”) – to which I say, who hasn’t felt that grumpy at least every once in a while? While I absolutely appreciate teaching children proper etiquette, I don’t think we need to take every children’s story quite so seriously – though by all means, use it as a conversation starter for a talk about expressing emotions in socially-acceptable ways. 😉
We got the board book version, which is perfect for eager little hands (and drooly mouths). To be honest, I’m not nearly as fond of Won’s other books in the series, Hooray for Today! and Hooray for Books! – they aren’t terrible by any means, but they just can’t compare to the brilliance of the original.
We own more of these Usborne That’s Not My… board books than I care to mention. I’ve picked them up at Chapters, at second-hand book shops, and at Costco – I just can’t seem to resist them! They’re so darn cute and colourful, and baby is starting to really explore different textures with his adorable little fingers. They’re also very short, which is perfect for when this wiggler refuses to stop wiggling for more than a moment. Because they’re sturdy, durable board books, I can let baby play with one without worrying about him ripping or drooling on the pages or giving him paper cuts.
Finally we’ve got one of my recent second-hand finds – Arctic Animals by Tad Carpenter. I love lift-the-flap books, as they’re great for encouraging the development of fine motor skills. I liked that this one focuses on Arctic animals – the Arctic makes up over 40% of Canada’s landmass, which is absolutely staggering, and I appreciate being able to introduce baby to some Canadian wildlife that he won’t see in his local environment.
I hope everyone has been keeping well in the months since I’ve been active in this blogging community! I miss reading everyone’s summaries of their reading, and I apologize in advance for not being able to get to everyone’s posts – time is a very precious commodity at the moment, but I’ll do the best I can! As always I appreciate each and every person who takes a moment to visit my small corner of the internet, especially those who leave a comment – it’s incredibly motivating to know that I’m not merely shouting into the void! 😉
Have a great week – hopefully it’s not too cold and snowy where you are!
It’s been a long time since my boys were that age (they are in college!) but I remember the joys of sharing books with a wiggler. A kind great-aunt sent him Wild Animal baby and his favorite page was What Does the Say. Sharing books is one of the great joys of family!
Welcome back to #imwayr! Sometimes life gets busy, but I am so grateful that this community is always here. How wonderful it is to pass on that family love of reading to our children. My library is primarily composed of second hand finds from places like rummage sales, Goodwill, Salvation Army, garage sales, etc. I’ve been so lucky to find many books for just .10 each — they’re in great shape and normally would have been $24.99 from a bookstore. It’s such a great feeling to save so much money AND to have more great books in our home. The books you’ve shared look so great, Jane!