In Our Library Bag

More book suggestions/reviews!

• The Growing Story by Ruth Krauss - I don't know about everyone else's kids, but our kids are obsessed with growing up, getting bigger, etc., etc., etc....  They love this story about a boy and his little farm animal friends!  The story begins in the spring when the weather starts to warm up and the boy's mother puts away his warm clothes in a box.  Throughout the summer, the boy sees the little animals grow and the garden grow, and he asks his mother if he is growing too.  He's never really convinced, though, until the weather cools down in the fall and he must get out his warm clothes again!  Very cute and sweet!
• The Sleepy Men by Margaret Wise Brown - Another great bedtime story from the author of Goodnight, Moon!  The kids like to do the yawning, stretching, etc., along with the big man and the little man in the story.  It's one of those books that if you read it right can have everyone very quiet and sleepy by the end.  (But, then you tell them to hop into their beds and chaos breaks loose again.  *sigh*)
• Red Light, Green Light by Margaret Wise Brown - To tell you the truth, this book is boring to me!  Whenever the kids pick it, I feel like saying, "Really?  You want to read this one?  Really?  Are you sure????"  But they like watching all the vehicles and animals get up and come out and drive around and go back to their respective homes through the book.  They like to say "STOP!" when I say, "Red Light" and "GO!" when I say, "Green Light."  I suppose that's probably why they like it.  
• Cecily G and the 9 Monkeys by Margret and H.A. Rey - While I think this story is cute, it does get a little long to read.  It's kind of a meandering story.  But, the kids like it!  This story is about Curious George before he became a star of his own series of books.
• Tell Me about Your Day Today by Mem Fox - As far as bedtime stories go, this one should be a classic.  It follows a little boy (who loved bedtime, by the way!) and his 3 stuffed animals as they talk over their day before falling asleep.  The recurring refrain, "The whole wild day turned out okay" is fun for the kids to "read" for you, plus it sends a positive message to them.
• The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, illustrated by Loren Long - If you haven't checked out this book with the newer illustrations by Loren Long, you need to!  He did an amazing job, and we all love looking at this beautiful book and reading the classic story!  It is a long-standing favorite of Bret's!
• Billy's Picture by Margret and H.A. Rey - A lesser-known book by the authors of Curious George, this one teaches some lessons to children as they watch different animals each want to draw on a picture features that look like them without regard for what anyone else is trying to draw.  In the end, they each draw their own picture, and it ends happily.  ;)
• Katy No-Pocket by Margret and H.A. Rey - This story is really cute, and had Serena pretending to be a kangaroo for a few days!  Poor Katy Kangaroo has no pocket to carry her baby in, but when someone gives her an apron with lots of pockets, she is able to carry around lots of little friends!  Such a cute, happy story!
• Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen - Here's a great story with humor, suspense, sadness, happiness, and friendship!  We love the story of the Library Lion!
• My Big Little Golden Book about God by Jane Werner Watson, illustrated by Eloise Wilkins - I love basically everything illustrated by Eloise Wilkins!!  Her pictures are so beautiful and tender!  I felt like this was a good book for the kids to learn more about God.  I try to have conversations about Him daily, and books like this give them more familiarity with his attributes, and make Him more visible in their childish world.