Books of the week

So, I don't know if this would be helpful for any other mom's of toddlers out there. But, I decided to start posting our favorite books of the week (or whenever I get around to it) as we check out new ones from the library.

With a toddler running around and a parking meter counting down from my 2 hour limit after story time and craft I find it hard to do much in the way of methodical picking out of books when we are at the library. So, we pretty much get the luck of the draw when it comes to books. Sometimes we get really terrible ones but most often I'm pleasantly surprised at the little treasures we find. It is always really interesting to see how Jaden reacts to the different books and which ones he chooses as his favorites.

Last week I thought the Monster Truck one was going to win out. But, by the end of the week, these two ended up being his "most requested."

I have seen LOTS of blogs about incorporating different activities and craft projects with the books you are reading. We're totally not there yet. We just read books! Like I said, I can't really get my brain and time around that level of planning - and I find the children's section of the library hard to find what I want in. Maybe that's because I'm wanting to look by topic when I should be looking for author - for books that have good recommendations.

If anyone has any suggestions that are easy, quick, and foolproof, I'm all ears!

Here are last week's favs.

Toot Toot Zoom

Jaden loved this one and it was pretty fun to read. I was surprised because about the middle of the week he started telling me the story at times when he thought of it - even when we didn't have the book around. He would "read" his version of the story from memory and then expand into some other silly story he made up as he went. Developmentally this was surprising to me because he had never done anything like this - and he was getting pretty creative!

Tucker's Apple Dandy Day
I chose this one because we were GOING to start learning letters this week. A - for apple! But, it didn't happen - and probably won't formally happen for a while still. But, he loved this book anyway. In fact, today my new nickname became "Tucker!" and Jaden declared that "we need pick apples and make an Apple Dandy pie!" I haven't found an apple orchard in these parts yet - but I told him that we could go to the store and buy some apples and he could help me make the pie like Tucker helped his mommy. He was pretty excited about that! I guess I better add it to my to-do list this week!

I love seeing how reading is expanding his creativity, vocabulary, and spilling over into his imaginative play! AND, it hasn't even been hard to implement! Just get some books and spend time READING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!