Animals and Farm Animals by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells

Published by Usborne Books

Ages: 4-8

Pages: 10

Publishers Summary (both books): Contains four delightful two-piece jigsaws, each one featuring a different touchy-feely texture. Perfectly designed for tiny hands, these simple puzzles promote sensory awareness and the concept of matching. The brightly coloured illustrations are accompanied by clear and simple text that introduces each animal.

Sweet as a Littlebug: “Fuzzy, bumpy, scratchy and more! Of course I’m in love! Plus, they have one of my favorite animals ever, a chicken and her baby chicks. So cute and their wings are soft and fluffy. You know me…I’m a texture girl, what can I say?

“It’s also so great to see all the great things the animals eat and where they live. Did you know a Koala eats eucalyptus trees and that my mom is allergic to them? So, this is probably as close to one as I’m going to get! I could stare at the pages for days and never get tired of it. Almost everyday I go to my bookshelf and pull this one off, crawl with it to mom and hand it to her to read. I like it that much. Because…I get to play with my mom, since the animals on each page come apart and go back together again and I need a little help now and again. It’s so much fun!

Mom’s Two Cents: “Of course I completely agree with her. These are fabulous books that every little one will enjoy. Not only do they teach with words on a page, but they’re also interactive with the puzzle pieces embedded on each set of pages. Great for early readers and little hands.

“As I mentioned, each set of pages has one side with a puzzle embedded inside. The nice thing about this, besides helping with hand-eye coordination, is that it will help to keep a little one occupied for quite a bit of time. We generally take these books with us to church, the doctors office, to the park so the Turkeybird can play while I read to Littlebug, and so many other places. I keep them on hand in a lot of situations.

“Animals and Farm Animals are wonderful books. I’ve been very excited to see more and more of these types of puzzle books for early readers coming out, because they can be so useful. Their bright colors and cute illustrations show children the very basics of animal life and get them started toward learning more. Absolutely delightful. A great addition to a beginning library!”

The1stdaughter Recommends: Ages 9 months and older. The Turkeybird, at age 3, still tries to steal these from his sister from time to time and don’t see him losing interest for quite a while.

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.

So, we’ve all been there. You’re in a book store, online or in the library and there it is…the most beautiful, colorful and wonderful children’s book ever! It even has one of those bright and shiny stickers on the front. You’re thinking, “They thought it was great, why wouldn’t my son (or daughter)? I mean I LOVE it!” You take it home and that night you sit down, eager to read it to your little one for their newest bedtime treat! You’re both excited, and then…page after page, the book falls flat with your little one. Instead, they push it aside abruptly only to pick up that same old book about the car with the mouse driving it (let’s not even mention you’ve already read it every night for the last three months).

What’s a parent to do? How do you handle the disappointment when your son or daughter just doesn’t seem to appreciate the “finer” things in life? Do you hide it away and hope for another day? Or do you secretly stash it for your own personal enjoyment?

This topic came up with a friend of mine the other day. We were discussing how difficult it can be to find books that match both our little one’s tastes and our own. It can get cumbersome to read the same book night in and night out, especially when it’s one you are completely sick of and never really loved to begin with. For me, it’s a fine line, you need to keep the kiddo interested or they may never learn to love reading, but it’s also important to expose them the wonderful options out there. If we continue to allow the same book to be read every night they may never learn to love another and one that may be one they love even more.

So, tell me, are there any books that you just love that your son or daughter (old or young, I think it applies to all ages) still hasn’t learned to appreciate? And what do you do to encourage your children to try other books?

Here are a few I’m IN LOVE with that I’m really hoping Littlebug or the Turkeybird “grow” into (I know, some of you will be appalled, but that’s just how it goes!):

Toy Boat by Randall de Seve illustrated by Loren Long

Published by Philomel Books (A division of Penguin Books)

Pages: 40

Ages: 4-8

Publishers Summary: A little boy has a toy boat. He made it out of a can, a cork, a yellow pencil, and some white cloth. The boy and his boat are inseparable, until one day when the wind pushes the toy boat out into the wide lake. Alone now, the little boat must face fierce waves, a grumpy ferry, a sassy schooner, and a growling speed boat. How the little boat misses the boy! But if he is going to survive, he must figure a way to do it on his own.

Charley Harper 123s by Charley Harper

Published by AMMO Books

Pages: 20

Ages: 4-8

Publishers Summary: Charley Harper 123’s, is a board book companion to the skinny version of the ABC’s. In this book, counting from 1 to 10, is demonstrated through a colorful and playful range of creatures. From 1 Ladybug Lounging, to 2 Birds Nesting, to 3 Chimpanzees Playing, all of the animals featured are active, delightful, and easy to count.

Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton

Published by Little Simon (A division of Simon and Schuster)

Pages: 14

Ages: Baby-Preschool

Publishers Summary: It’s BIG fun from Sandra Boynton in this big, big size of this favorite title. Great for laps and sharing, this oversized edition on thick, sturdy board material is perfect for oversized fun for children of all ages. This raucous story about the sounds animals make — including three pigs who say la la la! – is just right for reading aloud.

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 40

Ages: 4-8

Publishers Summary: One boy’s quest for a greener world… one garden at a time.
While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world.

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.

The winners of Littlebug’s Birthday Bash!!!

The two winners, each receiving books of their choice up to $20 are:
Nicole of The Blooming Button
and
Shy of The Bibliophile’s Journal

The winners of the fabulous bookmarks (and a surprise, book from their comments) are:
Jenn of Book Crazy
Abbie of Abbie Rufener Photography
and…a third thrown in at the last minute!
Michelle of Michelle’s Masterful Musings

Here’s a little reminder of what we celebrated, this was taken just shortly after her birth a year ago:

Thank you again to everyone who entered! We had a wonderful time celebrating Littlebug’s 1st birthday. Don’t dismay, those of you who didn’t win…The Turkeybird’s Birthday is coming up next month and we’ve got something special in the works for that as well! So stay tuned!

All have been chosen via random.org and are being notified via email. If I don’t hear a response within 48 hours of sending the email a new winner will be selected.

So, the cake is gone, Bug is enjoying her gifts and is now feeling extremely generous! She has asked that I up the stakes…so, without further ado:

Littlebug’s Birthday Bash will be extended to not only ONE lucky $20 winner, but TWO! Also, there will be TWO winners who will each get one of the adorable book marks! Everything is doubled! We’ve been having such a great time we couldn’t resist!

To see the details of the giveaway head back to the original post and make sure to wish Littlebug a very Happy 1st Birthday!

If you haven’t already filled out the form go ahead now and do so. Look for the winning announcement on Monday February 8th (you have until Sunday the 7th at midnight CST to enter)!

Littlebug is One Year Old today! In celebration of this wonderful day we’ve decided to throw a giveaway for all of our fabulous readers! You!

The Details:

ONE lucky winner will win their choice of book(s) up to a $20 value! We will pay shipping & handling, do the ordering and such. All you need to do once we’ve emailed the winner is let us know which title(s) you’d like, not to exceed $20.

One other winner will be the lucky recipient of ONE of these lovely bookmarks! Aren’t they perfect? (If you’re interested just click on the picture to be taken to the Etsy shop where you can purchase them as well as some other fabulous items!)

That’s it! Two winners! Two wonderful prizes! The giveaway winners will be announced Monday morning the 8th of February (you only have until Feb. 7th at midnight CST to enter).

All courtesy of There’s A Book because of one special Littlebug.

*Please remember to read our Privacy Policy and know that only persons over the age of 13 are allowed to enter the giveaway.

In an attempt to inform you my readers about the happenings with both The Turkeybird and Littlebug I decided a State of Things was in order. I mean heck, The President can do it, why not us?

Recently, I mentioned that Littlebug had acquired, quite literally, a taste for good books. Well, the proof is in the picture:

Needless to say this is a disgrace to all books…so sad.

I stumbled upon Jan’s wonderful blog this week (Eating Y.A. Books) and found this quote, “Very young children eat their books, literally devouring their contents. This is one reason for the scarcity of first editions of Alice in Wonderland and other favorites of the nursery.” by A.S.W. Rosenbach.

Can I just say perfect? I can’t tell you how many times both the Turkeybird and Littlebug have been asked, “to take the book out of their mouth!” Books are for the eyes and the heart not the mouth, but it doesn’t do much good saying this at such a young age. So, in my reluctance to have “nicer” books “eaten” I have a pile of these few books sitting in a very accessible place on the bookshelf in the case I can not reach them quickly enough to rescue said book. Yes, I know, shot me! I sacrifice one book for the life of another, but it’s what you have to do around here. And actually it’s working quite nicely. I’m happy to say that with the implementation of this particular program we have successfully saved all other books on the shelf.

Mission accomplished. Expect more State of Things in the future as well as a few reviews this coming week.

Now, back to your regular scheduled programming.