Little Pea, Little Hoot, Little Oink

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Jen Corace

Published by Chronicle Books October 2009

Ages: 4-8

Pages: 80 Total (3 Individual books)

The Turkeybird Takes Over: “Let me just take the reigns while Littlebug goes off to chew on some other book. I’m not sure exactly why my parents thought that these books would be more appropriate for Littlebug, but they were wrong. She received them this Christmas and no sooner had she received them did she toss them to the side for a more flashy glowing singing worm thing. In my opinion, she’s made a grievous mistake. These books will soon become classics, as anyone with any taste will obviously see upon their first reading.

“Now, I’m not going to say that Littlebug doesn’t have any good taste (she must, she likes my “That’s Not My Truck” book), it just so happens that in this particular case she has fallen a bit short. In fact, I think she may have fallen asleep.

“But that’s besides the point! These books have everything! From skateboarding to playing with dad to going to school and even cleaning up my room (which believe it or not, I like to do). Just incredible books with wonderful fun friends I’m sure you’ll enjoy. Pea, Hoot and Oink are some of the best characters in modern literature and you would be just silly not to pick these up!”

Mom’s Two Cents: “When the Turkeybird speaks, he speaks. I won’t argue one bit. We judged a book by it’s cover so to say and by so doing gave the wrong book to the wrong child. That’s not to say that Littlebug won’t enjoy these in a year or so from now, because I’m pretty sure she will, she just doesn’t today.

“He’s right though, these are great books! For me as well as for the kids. I honestly LOVE reading these aloud to The Turkeybird. They’re so fun and entertaining, but also have a twist of teaching to them. Each book focuses on a different point of a child’s life of learning, be it sleeping, what to eat or cleaning up. Each one is taught in such a way that it makes each task seem like the enjoyable part of the day and not the chore to be completed. The illustrations are simple and beautiful. And overall wonderful books, great for the whole family. (I think I’d even read them without children.)”

The1stdaughter Recommends: Age 3 and older, boys and girls alike will love these delightful stories.

“If you’re still thirsty for more take a look at this adorable book trailer for the third book in the series Little Oink”:

These books were purchased for our home library.
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Baby Plays Pat-Pat from Begin Smart Books by Susan Baum

Published by Sterling Publishing Co.

12 Pages

Ages: Newborn to Six Months

Publishers Summary: The animal illustrations here are so simple and attractive—with white pictures on black backgrounds and black images on white—but they’re thoughtfully designed to help baby focus. And the irresistibly shiny embossing will tempt little ones to reach out and touch, adding an extra tactile dimension to the reading encounter.

“Smack! Smack! Smack! Ever since my mom taught me that this book is all about me hitting the pages I just can’t seem to help myself. Smack! It has some fuzzy animal pictures on it, but I can’t really bother to look at them. Smack! All I want to do is hit the book! Smack!

“In all honesty I do like the book and the other ones like it. I like playing with my mom while we flip through the pages and giggle every time my mom joins in the fun, occasionally patting one or two of the animals. Granted she just doesn’t know how to get into it the way I do. This is one of my favorites to read with mom, and dad too.”

“My two cents…well, on the cover of the book it says the following: ‘This book encourages – early visual activity, language development, hand control, and bonding.’ Also, the book is primarily for newborn to six month old children and Littlebug is now almost eleven months old. Although, I don’t always agree with age ranges on books, this is one I feel is rather appropriate. That being said, we did purchase this book back when Littlebug was much much younger and have used it since well before her six month birthday. To this day she still loves the interaction with not only the book, but whomever is reading it to her. Even if, I feel she is a bit beyond it developmentally and according to the publishers recommendation this is appropriate.

“Initially I purchased this book after seeing it in a local bookstore and thinking I would really like to try it out. Then after reading Booking Mama’s review of these books and our own personal trial with them I decided to pick up a few more. They’ve been great and even The Turkeybird has had a hard time keeping his hands off his little sister’s ‘pretty’ new books. I’d actually like to pick up a few more just to see how she likes the rest of the series.

“Another thing about these books that I like was the information provided to the parent by Begin Smart Books themselves. In each book there is a small section talking about how best to help your child to take advantage of the book. Also, on the Begin Smart website they have all sorts of suggestions to parents on how to pick books as well as tips on how to get your child involved in reading during everyday activities. All of the advice they provide is smart, to the point and very helpful.

“Final opinion: Great books for early early readers and unlike some books the age ranges are very accurate. If you have a newborn to two year old I highly recommend purchasing or trying them out from your local library. The claims I mentioned early in regards to development I think vary depending on your child, but for the most part in some way to have a good affect in the long run. However they may help your child, I do believe that if nothing else these books are great for bonding with your little one and are a delight to read.”

This book was purchased for our home library.
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

“That’s Not My Dolly” and others… by Fiona Watt and Illustrated by Rachel Wells

Published by Usborne Publishing Limited November 2003

12 Pages

Ages: 4-8

Publishers Summary: Babies and toddlers will love touching and feeling the shiny, spotty, fluffy and silky surfaces in this delightful board book. Young children will soon be reciting the simple repetitive text from memory, and the textured patches help develop sensory awareness.

Sweet Littlebug Says:

“These are great books and the main thing I love about them are the different textures. Right now I really like to put everything in my mouth and occasionally when my mom isn’t looking I will lick the pages to feel the different textures. Yes, I know you think it’s gross, but oh well, what can I say? I’m not even a year old yet. But I love these books and if I can, I even steal the ones from my big brother’s collection.”

Mom’s Two Cents:

“Worth every penny. The great thing about these is that a lot of the time you can find them at a 4 for the price of 3 deal (usually on Amazon).  Not only is the price great, but they are truly great books. The Turkeybird first started out with That’s Not My Truck and has continued on until we have almost twelve of these titles. Now that The Turkeybird is almost three I feel he’s getting to the point where he has about grown out of them, although the publisher recommends they are good until age eight. I have no doubt in my mind that they will entertain for years to come, but as for educational purposes I don’t see it carrying on much past the third or fourth birthday depending on the child. Each of these books helps develop word association and the ability to differentiate between varied textures. Littlebug has been reading them now for about four months and I know will continue on for just as long as her older brother. Great books for young beginning readers!”

Also, if you are looking for seasonal varieties of these wonderful books try out these titles:

These books were purchased for our home library.
Purchasing products by clicking through the links in this post will provide us a modest commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.