Balmy and busy January day

It was a hectic day, with the taste of days to come as lessons have started up again. We read:

• Boo!, a Clifford the Big Red Dog book - Who says that Halloween books can't be read in January? I like to see Jetta being taken down a peg; she can be a bit hard to take. Emily Elizabeth does, too, for that matter.
• Stella: Queen of the Snow by Marie-Louise Gay - Stella is so "knowledgeable" as she guides Sam through the delights of his first snow.
• Dinosaurs' Day Out by Nick Sharratt, one of the Discovery Toys Reading Together at Home collection - this book tells a simple story and much of it references the map that they consult near the beginning. Of all the books we have and have read, this is the only one in which a map plays a key role.
  
• Pocoyo and Friends: A first book of friendship (no author) - this book is for kids who are 18 months or 2 years old, as is the show upon which it is based. Reid used to love watching Pocoyo and I still miss it but we only read the books now.
  

Sunday's books

In the midst of other Sunday adventures, we read:

• Franklin's Neighbourhood by Paulette Bourgeois and illustrated by Brenda Clark - I like that Franklin's favourite part of his neighbourhood are the neighbours. I should get out and speak with our neighbours so that Reid will know them.
• Stella: Princess of the Sky by Marie-Louise Gay - Sam seems bolder in this tale but Stella loses none of her confidence or omniscence.
• Stella: Fairy of the Forest by Marie-Louise Gay - the Stella books were my suggestions, I've missed Stella and Sam as they sat on the shelf while we focused on Christmas books instead.
• Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan London and illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz - I think that Froggy's tale of fear of school and eventual success seems a good one to keep in our reperatoire since Reid will be in school in 9 short months.
  

Now that is a good Saturday of reading

We went read many books today:

• The Greatest Parade, a Clifford the Big Red Dog colouring book that Reid got for Christmas. She hasn't asked to colour in it yet but she stopped unwrapping presents on Christmas morning to have me read the sentences along the bottom of the page. Today, it was Ken who was picked for the unlikely task of reading a colouring book.
  
• Clifford's Best School Day, a Clifford the Big Red Dog book, by Quinlan B. Lee and illustrated by Steve Haefele - Emily Elizabeth is oh so perfect, isn't she? We need to see some examples of her doing something wrong and being redeemed.
• Mom and Me by Miela Ford - a book of photographs of a baby polar bear and its mama that has just a few words. It was just the right topic for a girl who was being uncooperative at naptime to ask for when she finally snuggled up with her own mama.
• Santa's New Jet by David Biedrzycki - Reid grins at the chubby and out of shape reindeer and I like to mention the aviation museum references in the illustrations since that is a favourite museum of Ken's.
  
• Mama Loves You by Caroline Stutson -Reid knows that she can sometimes get an extra book before bed if it is a short one and this one is particulary hard for me to say "no" to as it is a favourite of mine.
  
• The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton - It's important to remember to dial back the energy when reading this book. Boynton's rhymes are rollicking.
  

From the library's Sharing and caring: a preschool approach to bullying prevention kit
we read:

• Crabbit Comes to Stay by Julie Hegarty and illustrate by Ritchie Collins - featuring Michelle, a girl's head in a clam shell that seems to be somewhat important since there was a super-title "Michelle in" but I don't know who Michelle is otherwise. Knowing Michelle didn't seem important to appreciate the illustrations and story.
  
• The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and translated by J. Alison James - This book is an Abby (American Bookseller Book of the Year Award) Winner, I hadn't heard of the award before. I'll have to check out other winners for ideas.
• Franklin is Bossy by Paulette Bourgeois and illustrated by Brenda Clark - Reid is awfully bossy at home with us and if she is like that at daycare, she'll be suffering the treatment that Franklin receives from his friends and I'm not sure that friends are so quickly forgiving in real life.
  
• Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes - I recognized the illustrations as being similar to books featuring Lily and enjoyed the story as we have enjoyed the Lily stories. The story describes Chrysanthemum's dilemma well. I like the titles of the books that the father is reading throughout the story.
• Is it Because? by Tony Ross - The text offers an interesting exploration of why a person might bully another.
  

Getting a head start on Friday's quota

Reid and I read a story in bed before getting up and another at breakfast. It made me feel calmer, knowing that I was only 1 book away from our 3 book minimum. We read:

• If My Dad Were a Dog by Annabel Tellis - a book that I would have to like if only because of the correct use of "were" rather than "was" in the title. The story itself is a whimsical imagining of a day with your dog/dad/.
• Winnie the Pooh Friendly Stories (Disney Musical Treasury) by Guy Davis - and I sang the song only twice (or maybe four times)
• Stanley's Party by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Bill Slavin - I had tried to read this book to Reid a few months ago but she wasn't interested. She was more patient today and enjoyed the story of such an outrageous pooch as Stanley.
• Very Best Friends by Ann Braybrooks and illustrated by Arkadia - Hearing Reid's "Winnifred!?" makes this book worth reading. The message that new friends don't replace old ones is a bonus.
• Can You Find Me? by Susan James Frye and illustrated by Andrea Eberbach, a Kindermusik book from the fall session that has a skunk in it and Reid is very fond of skunks lately.
  

Pjs, toothbrush and 3 books

We were out to supper at Melissa's last night and as we drove home I was reminding Reid that we needed to be quick to get her into her pajamas and brush her teeth so that she would have time for 3 books (my daily minimum but Reid doesn't know that):

• Two Christmas Mice by Corrine Demas and illustrated by Stephanie Roth - I'm not sure why Reid chooses Christmas books for Ken to read to her but she and I enjoyed the story and he restrained himself to only a couple of pithy comments about the book.
  
• Time For School, a Clifford the Big Red Dog book, by Gail Herman and illustrated by Jim Durk - We've been reading this one for months. I'm not sure if Reid is drawn to all of the fun things that Clifford and Emily Elizabeth do during the summer or that Clifford is sad at the end of the summer. I think that there is a lot of the latter in the appeal of the book to her.
  
• The Big Bad Cold, a Clifford the Big Red Dog book, by Liz Mills and illustrated by Carolyn Bracken and Ken Edwards - I like reading this book because I love doing Emily Elizabeth's stuffy nose voice. Reid is a receptive audience.
  

It's day 2 and already the titles are repeating

It was our first back to work day and we read:

• Touch and Feel Tractor, a Dorling Kindersley board book that Reid really loves despite it being, well, a board book. She has enjoyed rubbing the smooth hood, counting the lights, touching the chunky tires and bumpy field (differently shaped corrugated board) and a spiky bale of straw for the last 3 years.
• Tummy Trouble, a Clifford the Big Red Dog book, by Josephine Page and illustrated by Ken Edwards - Reid giggles at the silly dogs eating more than they should although I don't think that she has ever eaten so much that her belly troubled her.
  
• Handa's Surprise by Eileen Browne, one of the Discovery Toys Reading Together at Home collection - Reid hasn't chosen this book in a while. With all of the zoo visits we made in 2007, Reid and I were able to name all of the African animals in the book. Reid liked "knowing" about the fruits being eaten when the protagonist did not.
• I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child, again, even though Reid gobbled tomatoes happily at supper and even though Ken seems a bit weary of this particular text now that he has read it daily since the 29th.
  
  

Starting the Year off right

Well, it was started off right but maybe not great in terms of reading. Reid was persuasive about writing some of her new dvd shows. Still, we read:

• Santa's Suit: touch-and-feel Christmas fun by Kate Lee and Edward Eaves - Reid is getting to be too old for this book but she is enjoying it but it is probably for 0-3 years old.
• Merry Christmas from Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and illustrated by Pat Schories - Reid got this book through Scholastic and it came with a Biscuit ornament which was given pride of place at the top of the tree, along with Dora and the smallest nesting Santa. This was the first time I read the story and discovered that there were pages at the end to place pictures of our Christmas celebration.
• The Donkey's Christmas Song by Nancy Tafuri - This board book is one of my favourite Christmas stories. The illustrations are lovely and each of the animals offers their song to the baby in the manger, even the donkey with his noisy song, that makes the baby laugh and me, too. Reid likes it, too. It'll be making an appearance next year.
• Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Christmas by Joy Cowley and illustrated by Elizabeth Fuller - The illustrations to this series are odd but appealing nonetheless and the story is bouncy and offers good lines for the cow and the pig and the duck.
• I Will Never NOT Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child - Reid received this book from Melissa and her family. It features Charlie and Lola (characters from a tv show we don't watch) but the story does not depend on knowing who they are. Since Reid is a tomato-lover, it was an apt choice.
• Bear's First Christmas by Robert Kinerk and illustrated by Jim LaMarch - I love this story and its illustrations. Reid was angling for a Clifford book and so I agreed to an extra story if she would sit quietly while I read this one.
  
• The Big Itch, a Clifford the Big Red Dog book, adapted by Allison Inches and illustrated by Robbin Cuddy - Reid received 11 Clifford books for Christmas. They were read at least twice on Christmas Day and are still making appearances.
• The Dog Who Cried "Woof!", a Clifford the Big Red Dog book, adapted by Bob Barkly and illustrated by John Kurtz - We read this one twice at Reid's insistence. She doesn't get the pun in the title but she does love Stinky the Skunk Ghost, just saying it makes her giggle.