We have started to frequent the library again. The kids love the library! Both of them pick out any books they want and then check them out with their own cards. Here are three we keep going back to…..
1. We have taken this one out twice in a row and my kids don’t want to take it back. Inside this book, the Dinosaur versus everything from spaghetti to talking grown-ups to tooth-brushing. It is a really fun read and the kids love helping out with the roaring. I have even used this one to convince them to do other things they don’t like. For example, “Hunter vs…..SPINACH! Who will win?” I don’t know you Bob Shea but you are a genius and you wrote a really fun book that has turned out to be infinitely useful.
2. Nicholas Oldland we discovered at a book fair at Izzy’s school when Husband saw and fell in love with “Up The Creek”. “Up The Creek” stares all three animals, the bear, the moose and the beaver, on an ill-fated canoeing trip. They must all discover how to work as a team instead of arguing. We loved reading it and the kids loved listening and the genius pictures drawn in it. I happened to wonder if he had written more books….well I say “happened to” but it was more like I was forced to because I had read “Up The Creek” 500 times…..and when I found out he had written one book for each character in “Up The Creek” the kids were over-joyed. I reserved them at the library immediately. We renewed all three books twice. The image above is my fave, and my Husband’s fave too come to think of it. The book is “Making the Moose Out Of Life” where the timid Moose who says no to every exciting opportunity is stranded on a desert island and is forced out of his comfort zone. Also in the series is “The Busy Beaver” where Beaver realizes how his carelessness and impulsiveness may be hurting others and “Big Bear Hug” where gentle Bear finds out not everyone is as willing to love as selflessly as he does. “Big Bear Hug” is my kid’s favourite and it has some really profound lines in it, such as the scene where a lumberjack is about to cut down Bear’s beloved tree and the Bear thinks that since the lumberjack(or woodsman) spends, ““so much time looking at this magnificent tree that the bear thought he must love trees, too.” Bear must then decide if violence is the answer. Just really genius and subtle story-telling that covers every personality type and teaches, without hitting you over the head with it, different life skills such as teamwork, looking out for others, empathy and how to handle bullies.
3. When I looked up Nicholas Oldland on Amazon it suggested this title as well. I caught it out of the corner of my eye at the library as we were leaving the other day and grabbed it. It’s such a great book, I can see now why everyone raves about it. Plus, my heart is made happier by the subject matter as I am becoming more and more obsessed with my renewed love of crochet and knitting. (My crochet and knitting obsession has ebbed and flowed since I was 9 years old. I pick it up every couple of years). The girl in the book finds a box of yarn that never runs out and sets about beautifying her drab little town, to everyone’s delight, but someone has his eye on this box and is determined to get it. Not overly wordy, this book makes every book count, and the drawing is wonderful. See?
So I recommend this magical little book heartily. The little girl’s spirit of giving really gives this book its most magical quality. You will love it, I am sure.
On Thursday I will post my favourite books. I have a few picture books, graphic novels and what have you that I keep going back to look at. You never grow out of it I think.
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