August Kid Lit

 

All the Colors That I See 

(Written by Pamela Kennedy, illustrated by Holli Conger)   

An adorable board book about colors that helps young children learn early on that all colorful things (including the red berries, green forests, blue sea, yellow ducklings, orange pumpkins, and puffy white snow) come from God. Each page has a  two-sentence poem about a color and encourages young toddler hands to touch, tap, or pat colors, since little readers are usually squirmy and wanting to touch everything in sight.

The Wide-Mouthed Frog

(Written by Keith Faulkner; illustrated by Jonathon Lambert)

A short and fun pop-up book that Elliot has been loving (but wanting to destroy since he tries to pull at the pop-up parts, haha). It is about a frog with a very big mouth who loves to eat flies and enjoys hopping around the forrest to ask other animals what they like to eat... that is, until he meets an alligator who especially enjoys eating wide-mouthed frogs! It' quick -thinking for the frog as he makes an escape!

On the Go! 

(By Allie Busby)

Elliot received this board book as a reward from our public library for participating in their summer reading program. It's a cute book with big flaps for infants and toddlers to lift, which Elliot loves doing. Each page has a sentence with a motion that an animal does (Beetle is crawling, Bear is stretching, Duck is waddling, Kangaroo is jumping, Monkey is climbing). Under the flap is an illustration of a baby doing the same motion from that page and the phrase "Just like me!" 

Clap Your Hands

(By Lorinda Bryan Cauley)

This book is a lot of fun, but it will definitely wear a mama out! Each page has a lyrical phrase with multiple actions. I am doing all the work right now while Elliot watches me, either laughing at me or looking at me like I am a weirdo. On the first page, for example, it says "Clap your hands, stomp your feet, shake your arms, then take a seat." The body motions get more active and silly as the pages progress. This will be a lot more fun when Elliot is a bit older and can join in the silly body movements, but it is a favorite in our house already.

Peek-a-Who? A Lift-the-Flap Book

(By Moira Butterfield; illustrated by Rachael O'Neill)

This is another new favorite from the library. Each page has either a teddy bear, pup, cat, doll, or boy with their hands (or paws) covering their faces and a question about who it could be. For example, "Who says "Woof!" when she jumps?" is on the page with the flaps covering a dog's face. Once the large flaps are lifted, the  dog's face is clearly seen and the words "Peek-a-boo! says the pup!" are on the inside of the flap. Elliot is all about Peek-A-Boo, so this has been fun to read with him and let him lift the flaps.

Who Says Woof?

( Written and illustrated by John Butler)

An adorable book from wildlife illustrator Butler, this is a fun guessing game of animal noises. For each animal (dog, cow, duck, chicken, pig, etc), there is a simple question and answer format coupled with the illustration: "Who says woof? A dog says woof" This is a hardcover, not board book, so I have been reading it and doing the page turning since Elliot is only able to turn thick board book pages right now.

Who's Hiding at the Beach? and Who's Hiding in the Woods?

(Written and illustrated by Katherine McEwan)

Both of these charming books are wonderful, engaging  ways to to introduce the ecosystem and animals to toddler with the multiple lift-the-flaps on each page. For now, Elliot and I are reading the simple sentences (one page reads "It's a splishy and splashy day at the beach. Who's hiding here?") and lifting the many flaps. I occasionally (depending on his attention span and interest at the time) will also read the accompanying sentence under each flap about each hidden animal. For example, when we lift the flap of a tree, there is a tiny woodpecker under the flap with this sentence: "Woodpeckers tap holes in trees to drive out insects to eat"). These books usually take two sittings to complete each book because there are just so many flaps on each page and an eleven-month old, even when interested, can only stay engaged for so long. We received the Beach book from his Nana and the Woods book from our favorite local bookstore after Elliot participated in their summer reading program and won a raffle for a gift certificate to the store! 

Hello Jemima!

(based in Beatrix Potter's classic)

A cute board book with a very short phrase on each page with actions by  Jemima Puddle-Duck. On the first page, for example: "Jemima flaps, Jemima quacks" and the next page: "Jemima pecks the ground for snacks". Coupled with darling Beatrix Potter illustrations, this is a simple and sweet book about body movements of a beloved mama duck. 

Brian Wildsmith's ABC

In his vibrant artistic style with Eric-Carle-like illustrations, each page goes through an alphabet letter and matching animal. Some animals are well known (like a lion and dog), while others are more elusive (numbat, vole, xenops). 

Little Crab: Finger Puppet Book

(Written and illustrated by Klaartje van Der Put)

Elliot's Nana bought him this adorable puppet book in the gift shop of our local aquarium, which happens to be just down the street from our home! Elliot enjoys hearing the short and simple story of the crab's day as I wiggle the crab puppet around with each page. There are a ton of these puppet books, and we are about to inherit a bunch of them from his cousins who outgrew them, so we are excited because Elliot has been enjoying this one! 

The Foot Book 

(Written by Dr. Seuss)

In typical zany Dr. Seuss style, this board book is all about feet and opposites. "Wet foot, dry foot; high foot, low foot ... slow feet, quick feet... here come pig feet." Elliot likes playing with our shoes, so we think he might have a slight foot fetish, so this seemed like a good read, haha!

Go, Dog, Go! 

(Written by P. D. Eastman)

These dogs are on their way to a big bash (spoiler alert!) and they’re using every form of transportation imaginable, from skis to scooters, blimps, boats, and bikes! 

Numere

A Romanian counting book  I’ve been using to help Elliot learn some commonly used words, like specific toys ( boat, blocks, drums), colors, and food (popsicle, strawberries, apples). I find it a little odd that the book ends on the number seven rather than ten, but it’s still a winner in our house. 

First 100 Words

Another vocabulary book, except in English. It’s been fun to show Elliot the picture of a specific word and match it with the item if we have it in our home. The pages are organized by theme, from colors to transportation, bath time, bed time, meal time, food, clothes, nature, toys, and animals.

Hello World

(Illustrated by Nancy Kubo)

Inspired by Disney’s It’s A Small World attraction at Disney Land, there are greetings in ten different languages, each with helpful phonetic pronunciation in parentheses.  Languages include  French, Italian, Sanskrit, Irish, Portuguese, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic, German, Swedish, Swahili, Russian, and Mandarin. 

Counting With the Little Prince

I love The Little Prince, so I was delighted to find this board book based on the classic. Counting to five, each page focuses on things from the book, such as two red flowers and four strong birds. Elliot wasn't really interested in this one.

All Aboard! National Parks and All Aboard! Pacific Northwest  

(Both written and illustrated by Kevin and Haily Meyers) 

I adore the All Aboard! series. These two have darling illustrations and vocabulary relating tos touristsight. In Pacific NW, there are pages with hikers, skiing, flying kites at the coast,  picnicking, and Seattle’s Pike Place Market, among others outdoorsy activities.  National Parks book focuses on Acadia, Great  Smoky Mountains, Rockies, Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Zion, Yosemite, and Olympic national parks.

Adventures with Barefoot Critters

(Written and illustrated by Teagan White)

An absolutely adorable ABC primer with different activities to do in nature in alphabetical order. The illustrations with the whimsical woodland creatures are darling. From building a bridge, to floating boats, mailing envelopes, lying in the grass, harvesting honey, flying a kite, playing in leaves, finding treasures by the ocean, having a picnic, creating a quilt fort, and roasting marshmallows, there are so many fun ideas for children to try alongside these furry friends. 

God Bless You and Good Night

(Written by Hannah C. Hall; illustrated by Steve Whitlow)

A sweet bedtime book we have been reading all month long with lullaby-like phrases about different steps during a bedtime routine with sweet illustrations of different baby animals with their parents. My favorite page shows a mama polar bear holding a plate of cookies beside a cute baby polar bear: "Was that a little growl I heard? I think it was your tummy. Let's get a snack then hit the sack. You're needing something yummy!" I read this while nursing Elliot at bedtime and rub his tummy as if I heard a growl too. I also love the endearing nicknames on a few of the pages, including fuzzy head and snuggle bug.