Friday, June 26, 2020

Things Luke & Sam Like - 7¼ & 2¼

On Instagram, most Thursdays I post about a picture book that I've read and enjoyed with the boys.  I took a break for awhile with COVID, libraries were closed and we were really struggling to find books to read by the time our library opened back up for curbside pick-up.  I am back to posting picture books I've really liked over there but here are the ones my boys have really liked lately.  Sometimes there is overlap.  Sometimes...there is not.


{5} Books Luke Likes (7)
1) The Box Turtle by Vanessa Roeder
This is one I've recently featured on Instagram but it's also one that Luke has pulled out from our library stack many times when we are pulling picture books to read.  We've read a lot of turtle books lately, maybe they are having a moment??  This one is about a Turtle named Terrance who was born without a shell and the box his parents give him as a substitute shell draws teasing from classmates.  He sets off to find what he deems to be an acceptable replacement shell, with his trusty friends.  It was cute and had a nice lesson about self-acceptance.

2) The Berenstain Bears' Knight to Remember by Stan and Jan Berenstain
We've seemingly set out to become Berenstain Bear completist recently (we've read 250+ and that's still not all of them!) and this was a favorite of Luke's when, I think, we read it digitally through one of the library apps.  The Bear Country society stretches the imagination at times but we already have talking bears, why not add a society that randomly grows and shrinks?  Luke found this one fun with a knight that seemingly comes to life. 

3) McBroom Tells a Lie by Sid Fleischman, illustrated by Walter Lorraine
My Mom read my sisters and I some of the McBroom books when we were kids and those are the exact copies I recently read my kids.  Luke really loved these, about a farmer, his 11 kids, and their magical farm.  I hate admitting that my attention span has diminished but these were longer than picture books we typically read now however Luke stayed really engaged with them.  The stories are all a little magical and far-fetched and having dirt that can grow a full crop in an hour feels like a lot of work to me.

4) Berenstain Bears: The Haunted Lighthouse by Stan & Jan Berenstain
There are quite a few Berenstain Bear books set over their vacation on Gull Island (have I read too many when I didn't even need to look up the name of their fictional vacation island?) and this one is set when they didn't think to reserve a cottage ahead of time and end up staying in an abandoned lighthouse that seems to be haunted.  This was a short chapter book that I read on my phone to Luke.  He LOVED it and begged for a chapter every time we read but also wanted there to be more pictures.  I don't think he would have found a real haunted lighthouse as interesting!

5) Once Upon a Goat by Dan Richards, illustrated by Eric Barclay
Maybe it's that some of Luke's cousins have goats, so the idea of one magically appearing on the doorstep sounds like an adventure.  Whatever it is, a King and Queen getting a goat instead of the kid they were expecting from their fairy godmother, well, it leads to some problems.  I've very glad neither of our children turned out to be goats.

{5} Books Sam Likes (2¼)
1) Don't Touch This Book by Bill Cotter
Sam really likes the first "Larry" book, Don't Push the Button, and now he's taken to pulling out the two follow-ups frequently too.  This one included more motions than just pressing a button and he is starting to have them all memorized, just like Luke did at one point too!  


2) I Love You Just Like This by Lillian Jaine
This book quarantined with us and it's one of the very few that we still haven't returned from that time.  We read it A LOT but Sam also really likes it and it has a cute message.  At some point soon our renewals will run out and then it'll go back but it stands a nice memory from especially those early quarantine days.

3) Curious George and the Bunny by H.A. Rey
This is one of Sam's absolute favorite books, maybe because, due to it's size, it sits on the top of a stack of books?  It gets grabbed frequently.  I had it memorized back when I was regularly reading to Luke and now I have it memorized again!  Sam really enjoys finding the bunny and pointing out the bird and/or bug on most pages.

4) The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
Sam has been more into the Sandra Boynton books than Luke ever was and this might be his second favorite after Moo, Baa, La La La!I do wonder why the monsters "take a bath in one big tub" before they "all go out to exercise", those seem like they should be reversed, in my opinion but it does have a nice rhythm to it!

5) The Little School Bus by Margery Cuyler
We quarantined with The Little Ice Cream Truck and the other 3 books in this set were among the first books I put on hold, once we could again.  Sam LOVES school buses, seeing them, pointing them out, both in person and in books.  I don't think I'll be returning this one for awhile either!

Those are some books we've been reading (and rereading and rereading) lately!

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