Daisy Gets Dressed

Sometime last week Annabel decided she would take over the matter of picking out her clothing and, even more importantly, that she would no longer require my help when pulling on her pants or finding her way through a shirt. Every morning she carries her bathroom stool over to her dresser and peers into the top drawer containing shirts, socks, and pants. She will pull out various articles that are to her liking and arrange them on the floor: one sock placed beneath each pant leg and a shirt above the pants, just so. It is quite sweet, but bittersweet for me as well. She has always had a choice between this and that, but maybe Daisy Gets Dressed inspired her to take matters of the wardrobe- the picking, choosing, and dressing-entirely upon herself.

This rhyming story is a unique visual delight. Instead of your run-of-the-mill watercolor or pen and ink, Clare Beaton uses fabric, thread, beads- all manner of textiles, really- to create a memorable seek-and-find book. Where can Daisy’s skirt be?, and how many wavy things can you see? Along with the skirt decked out in ric rac, an octopus, spaghetti, and a wriggly snake are stitched onto the page.

The book continues on in this manner with successive pages devoted to striped, starry, and swirly patterns, to name a few. When it’s all said and done, Daisy is decked out in an eye-catching ensemble, from boots to umbrella.

Daisy Gets Dressed is part how-to, part seek-and-find, part pattern recognition, and wholly delightful.

Froggy Bakes A Cakes

t was my birthday yesterday. We celebrated with vegan carrot cake, but I would have been touched if my little frog-loving Annabel had surprised me with a mud pie cake as the green protagonist does in Froggy Bakes A Cake.

Froggy happens to be a very do-it-yourself frog who wants to make his mother’s birthday cake all by himself, something any toddler can appreciate.

The language used in the story is pure fun- onomatopoeia abounds. Flop, flop, flopping, glubbing, blupping, plopping, and one final big shloop seals the fate of the cake. Annabel enjoys the fun little song Froggy sings that goes something like this: Oogelly boogelly burbly bake. I make and I bake and I wait for the cake.

This fun book, one of many in a series, is filled with likable characters and colorful language. And mud pie!

Doggies

I’ve thought long and hard about my favorite Sandra Boynton book...and I’ve chosen Doggies.

True, I love the rhythm, cadence, and pure fun of Barnyard Dance, the silly turkey in Red Hat, Blue Hat, and those party-loving hippos of Hippos Go Berserk. But Doggies it is.

Why?

Well, maybe it is for the purely sentimental reason that this board book was one of my daughter’s first. Or, perhaps it is because I enjoy the chance to sound like a dog ten different ways.

It is uncanny how accurate she has managed to match up specific barks with particular breeds of dog. I suppose it only takes a little research and observation, but I remain in awe. “Ar-roof!” says the Afghan dog seven times, and I buy it. ”Ruff ruff, ruff ruff” says a perky shepherd, and I nod, yes: the bark fits the dog.

If you’re willing to woof and yap your way through the entire book, a total of 33 barks plus a howling session, thank you, then you really are due for a treat of some sort. Of course, there is no better prize than a child’s admiration and giggles at the story’s end, but I wouldn’t pass up a glass of water after all of that doggie fun.

Alphabet Eye Candy

Admit it: sometimes all you really want it eye candy. And Ida Pearle delivers with A Child's Day: an alphabet of play. Page after page of her beautiful collages dazzle the viewer, er, reader.

What, you say? People are lovely and all, but you’d rather gaze at an alphabetical array of animals?

Okay. Then Charley Harper is surely your man. His sturdy little board book is chock full of graphic depictions ranging from blue crab to shaggy yak.

And if you have a little person who has graduated beyond the board book, check out Animalia. It is breathtaking.

If Ida Pearle’s book is a licorice allsort, and Charley Harper’s is a peppermint swirl, then Graeme Base’s picture book is definitely a true-to-life, sparkly marzipan fruit.

Delicious reads, all three.

The House in the Night

To put it simply, this is a beautiful book. It will easily find its way onto your child’s nightstand, tucked into the sliver of space between bed and wall, or lovingly stowed beneath a pillow.

The prose is modeled after nursery rhymes of yore, with each word building on the next. It flows and has a calming, hypnotic effect, perfect for lulling a child to the sleepy land of nod.

The black and white scratchboard pictures perfectly complement the text. Full of details, light and darkness are crosshatched and configured to reward the reader with a keen eye. Do you see the whale? Oh, look a fox in the distance! Is that her house with the swing? Moreover, certain elements within the pictures are highlighted in marigold adding light and warmth to the story.

This is a comforting book perfectly suited to be read in a bed in a house, at night.

Growing Vegetable Soup

After living in cities for many years, this summer marks the first time my family will have a chance to grow a vegetable garden of our own.

I am Excited. Super excited. I have a long list of vegetables I’d love to grow, even though I know in my heart of hearts that we will not have the space for, say, four different varieties of tomatoes, plus three types of melons, not to mention summer and winter squash.

When I saw Growing Vegetable Soup at the library, I thought, “Perfect.” I want Annabel to be just as excited about the possibility of growing food at home as I am. And though Leo is too young to fully grasp the concept of the book, he will certainly reap the benefits of homegrown goodness being made in purees and mashes for his small self. I know he likes Lois Ehlert’s pictures.

And who couldn’t? They’re bright and punchy, ripe and delicious. The entire book is one beautifully vivid ode to the garden grown by a father and his child. For the purpose of making vegetable soup, of course. The reader is taken through the entire cycle of a plant’s life, from seed to soup.

I love that an actual recipe for vegetable soup appears on the back flap. And that Ehlert included a worm on her broccoli plant. And that her sliced carrot features a pale core.

We own Ehlert’s Eating the Alphabet, which I love, and we have read other stories from her prolific body of work. Her illustration style is clean and bright, appealing to young eyes drawn bold, graphic shapes. Growing Vegetable Soup is as informative as it is fun- worms, weeds, and all. Just the way it is outside of a book.

Now to try out that vegetable soup recipe…

Hairy Maclary Scattercat

Read this story not just for the rambunctious dog who wants to have a bit of fun hustling and bustling neighborhood cats, but for the cats’ names, too: Greywacke Jones, Butterball Brown, and Slinky Malinki to mention a few. My daughter Annabel is smitten with no-nonsense Scarface Claw, a big black tomcat with tattered ears, who gives Hairy a taste of his own medicine at the end of the tale.

Hairy Maclary Scattercat is a fun, easy read. Toddlers will enjoy spotting Hairy hiding behind a bush as well as seeing him scamper about chasing cats hither and tither.

Hairy doesn’t mean any harm, he’s only having a lark (I know, tell that to Mushroom Magee), much like little people with their boundless energy and appetite for fun. And Scarface Claw is not a heinous bewhiskered character which is important. He isn’t over-the-top mean and aggressive when confronted- sure, he’s a little rough around the edges- he is ultimately asserting his right to live a life unharried. And I certainly endorse that.

Props to S. Claw, but much love for Hairy M. And Slinky Malinki. And Butterball Brown. And Greywacke Jones, too.