Kids Corner

ABC
By: Eric Carle
http://www.eric-carle.com/

This week we are reading Eric Carle's ABC book, which, much like all of his books, is a fun, brightly colored easy reader. This book takes your basic ABC's and combines it with a great fold out page layout (referred to a 'fun flaps') and animals. What I really liked about this ABC book is that it did not use the stereotypical animals for every letter. Instead of "Cat" for C, we get "Crocodile". Carle even goes for some more exotic anumals, such as "Narwhal" for N and "Quetzal" for Q. If there hadn't been one of Carle's unique illustrations with Q, I'm pretty sure I would have had to go look it up! For the record a quetzal is a bird found in the tropics.

Overall, this is a great beginner ABC book that will definitly expand your childs knowledge of different animals while helping with the alphabet.

Kids Corner

I have a two month old, so we have embarked on the wonderful adventure of finding great new children's books as well as rediscovering some of my childhood favorites. I will comment on some of the greats that I come across, and won't shy away from pointing out any that I think fall short of the mark.

The Velveteen Rabbit
By: Margery Williams

This book is a classic and for a good reason. It illustrates the relationship of a boy and his favorite stuffed rabbit and what it means to be real. In this book a boy is given a velveteen rabbit, who he loves and takes everywhere. The other toys that the boy owns, specifically the skin horse tells the rabbit that eventually he will be real. After the boy falls ill and the Rabbit is thrown away, he discovers that not only was it possible for him to be real to the boy that loved him, but also become really real and live with the other rabbits in the forest. This is a great story that, although it doesn't catch my daughters eye as much as some of the more vibrantly illustrated books we have, is still a wonderful book that I'm sure she will grow to love.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
By: Eric Carle
http://www.eric-carle.com/

Eric Carle was one of my favorite authors when I was a child, I think my parents bought my sister and I the entire collection and revisiting this book did not dissapoint. Even my two month old enjoyed the colorful pictures. Since she has a short attention span, it is a tribute to both the writing and the illustrations that she seems to be able to sit and look and listen to this particular book repeatedly. There's no great story to this book, but through the pictures children will learn about what the different animals in the zoo look like and through the words will learn what each of these animals sound like. It's a great beginners book and is timeless in its pictures and story.