Lauren's Favorite: The Sleepy Little Alphabet by Judy Sierra & Melissa Sweet (Illustrator) This cute story goes through an alphabet of sleepy kids -- mopey M, naughty N, yawning Y -- with adorable illustrations of each letter and its bedtime antics. Rhyming between each verse, the story clicks along with hilarious interpretations of each letter's personality: "F is full of fidgety giggles. G has got the googly giggles. H tries standing on her head, I and J jump on the bed." It's quick, so Lauren's toddler-attention was held, but she's also in love with the alphabet song, so this book was a clear favorite. At the end of each reading, we quietly sang the song so the letters could fall asleep, as their Capital parents wanted them to. While I secretly hoped the alphabet song would lull Lauren into a dreamy state. Unfortunately, it just left her singing to herself -- loudly -- for many bedtime minutes. But I didn't mind too much. If it hadn't been the alphabet song, it would've been something else, anyway.
This story about an imaginative little girl was my little girl's absolute favorite. The main character's bedroom becomes her kingdom, her toys become loyal subjects, and sweeping dress-up clothes become royal gowns. She pretends all the details of her princess life, from the knights to the ladies in waiting, and understands that having a true princess attitude -- always kind and generous -- is important. But really, she's just a regular little girl, and is very willing to pass her princess status on to the reader. At the end, the story asks, "Who is this girl? I wonder who...Of course, my love, it's Princess YOU!" Mia squirmed and smiled and became sweetly shy each time we finished this book. Being named princess by a book? It was her dream come true.
In this book, a little red bird contemplates the world beyond her window. It happens one day that her cage door is open, the bedroom window door is open, and she gets the chance to soar across the sky, fully enjoying her new freedom. 'Then in front of her eyes was quite a surprise! The window was open! It's true! It looked scary out there. Should she leave? Should she dare? I wonder what YOU would do?' With the setting of the sun, the story ends with the little red bird wondering what she should do next. She sees the window and her cage from across the wide, free park. She knows it's full of food, water, and safety...but...she wonders....what would YOU do? Stay in the beautiful, spacious park? Or go back to the safe, cozy cage? I love that the book ends on a question for the reader to ponder and discuss. Which we did, in depth. This is a lovely read-aloud book, and its innocent, comic-book-like illustrations are wonderful. Bright, colorful, simple, and adored by both my daughters and myself.
What books did your family enjoy this week? I can't wait to put your suggestions on our book list!
I'm linking up this week! With an adult book!
ReplyDeleteThe Sleepy Alphabet looks great!!I love that it talks about lower case and capital letters! It's definitely going on our list.
ReplyDeleteSo what did you guys decide (about Little Red Bird)? Did your girls opt for the safe, cozy cage or the wide-open wild? Those sound like some interesting discussions!
ReplyDeleteWait, did I miss something? Which book inspired the title from yesterday's post?
ReplyDeleteEmily - Der. Ooops. I was writing the library post for time and thought it was the one for this time. Oy. So, in two weeks, it'll be there!
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the Litte Red Bird, Mia mostly chose to go back to the cage. I was happy with that at first (hello Dr. Freud...I don't want my daughter to ever leave the nest), but the more we read it, my mind changed. The book never says anything about it, but a little yellow bird is peeking in on the last few pages, curious and interested in the red bird. So Litte Red would have a FRIEND! And there are popcorn crumbs scattered near a park bench: FOOD! And there's a newspaper fallen down: READING MATERIAL! Little Red should definitely bite the bullet (Ugh. That's a horrid image.) and stay in the wild blue yonder...er...park.