What We Found At The Library, #15

Welcome! Have a seat, pull out your 'To-Read' List, and grab a cup or glass of your favorite reading companion -- mine is icy cold and refreshing: WATER! But feel free to come with coffee or tea or smoothies or margaritas. I promise to withhold my assumptions. At least until you post your OWN book list (which I'm assuming you will. Right? Right!!), at which time I will try to guess which beverage you were consuming at the time of publishing. It'll be fun!

(Did someone say 'digress'?)

Now, on with the show!

Lauren's Favorite: Shhhhh! Everybody's Sleeping by Julie Markes and David Parkins (Illustrator)

Ah, Lauren. She is adorable and so sweet, much like this book. On each page, someone is sleeping -- the grocer, the policeman, the librarian, the zookeeper -- and each of them is snuggled up in a cute bed which perfectly fits their needs. The grocer sleeps on a bed of lettuce. The farmer snuggles atop a sheep-y pillow. The police man's blanket is covered with traffic. The people we only see in their waking hours are funnily transformed in sleep, as in a child's imagination: surely the teacher sleeps at school, and the baker at the bakery right? This book is so fun to pretend along with, but my favorite part was Lauren's reaction to the sleeping characters. They are all quite unique in their appearances, and Lauren -- being a wary-of-strangers toddler -- didn't like the way they looked. "Mama, I don' yike him,'' she said with concern as she shook her head at the policeman...and the grocer...and the doctor...and everyone else! As the days went on, she relented with a few at a time until now, when she loves them all. Just when we're ready to return the book, she's comfortable with the characters. Oy.

Mia's Favorite: Piggies by Audrey and Don Wood

This book was a recommendation from Dawn and it is WONDERFUL! It's oh-so-simple, but the artwork is both gorgeous and whimsical. Mia had the best time trying to match her hands to the shapes of the hands in the book, which are covered with tiny piggies with huge personalities. They pull stunts and play so animatedly on the fingertips of these hands, that I can see exactly how a child's brain would be engaged for hours (okay, minutes, probably) staring at the pictures and wondering about how it would be to have actual piggies on their PIGGIES. So cute. We've read this book almost every day, several times a day, for 14 days. And it still makes the girls laugh. This book is a must-read. A must- see. A must.

Mama's Favorite: Who Will Sing A Lullaby by Dee Lillegard and Dan Yaccarino (Illustrator)

When I read this book, I suddenly start yearning for a baby. (Disclaimer: I'm usually in a state adjacent to baby-yearning, so it doesn't take much to push me right over the edge.) The illustrations are so...calm. Yes, that's it. They're calm. And the words...they're calm, too. With ryhme and ryhthm and cadence, they're beautifully soothing to say. There's a tiny baby crying in the midst of several well-intentioned birds, and they all want to help the baby fall asleep. One by one, they carry the baby away on their wings, hoping to soothe. But after each bird successfully flies the baby to sleep, they caw or hoot or honk their pleasure, only to wake it up again. Meanwhile the small and unobtrusive nightingale wishes she could help. As each bird gives up, the nightingale offers one last time to sing the baby to sleep -- and her song works. Sigh. This book is terribly sweet and soothing. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find a baby to soothe to sleep with a nightingale's song.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I can't WAIT to see what you've been reading! (Hint: That means you have to TELL me, either in the comments or by linking up. Oh look, there's the linky list, now!)

PS - Madeline at Barefoot Childhood is having an AWESOME children's book giveaway that ends TODAY! Go check it out! The books she's promoting are from Barefoot Books -- a truly fabulous book company whose products I'm a little in love with. As much as I hope to win, I'd be happy if one of YOU won, too. So go enter!)