Author: Katie

It’s Raining, it’s Pouring by Kin Eagle – Favorite, both of my boys loved to read this book and sing the song. It has been raining a lot here in Nor Cal and it’s a fun song to sing. My 3 year old learned all the verses from this book.

Mother Goose by Dan Yaccarino – Almost Favorite, we go to Mother Goose on the Loose weekly at our library and my boys know a lot of these Mother Goose rhymes because of it. They enjoyed reciting or singing them with me.

The Night before Valentine’s Day by Natasha Wing – OK Favorite, my son didn’t seem to like this book as much as the other ones we had. It wasn’t that memorable.

Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems – Favorite, we read the first Knuffle Bunny a little while ago and now we know why both books won awards. My 3 year old loved both books. Both stories relate to children and their attachment to blankets or teddy bears or knuffle bunnies.

Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes – Almost Favorite, my son enjoyed seeing this cat try to get the bowl of milk, which was actually the moon. We’ve read other books about the moon and my son likes to imagine that it is a cookie or milk just like this kitten does.

How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers – OK Favorite, this was a cute little story about catching a star. I think my son enjoys reading about stars because his favorite song is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

The Big Honey Hunt by Stan Bernestain – OK Favorite, I love Berenstain Bear books and I even thought this one was boring. Too much repetition and not enough change of scenery in each picture.

Brush Mona Lisa’s Hair by Julie Appel – Almost Favorite, my boys both liked to look at these different paintings and touch them. Each picture had something added like a touch & feel book. The pink feathers as the baby angel’s wings were their favorite – fun to blow around and touch.

Paddington Bear and the Busy Bee Carnival by Michael Bond – Almost Favorite, my son likes Paddington Bear and is also learning his letters lately. This book focused on the letter B and my son really enjoys that letter since his name starts with B.

All by Myself! by Aliki – OK Favorite, we got this book a few months ago and my son loved it…I guess he outgrew it because he did not want me to read it again.

Mrs. Claus takes a Vacation by Linas Alsenas – Favorite, I know Christmas is over but it’s hard to give it up after reading and talking about it for a month. My son really enjoyed reading about Mrs. Claus and seeing Santa and the reindeer.

The Three Pigs by David Wiesner – Favorite, when I first read this book I thought it was really strange, but my 3 year old LOVED it. He wanted me to read it all the time. He does love the normal 3 Little Pigs story, but this one has a twist which he seemed to enjoy.

The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster – OK Favorite, I was not a fan of the pictures for this book, but I thought the story idea was good. My son didn’t seem to agree. He would usually skip over this one and say he didn’t want to read it again.

My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann – Favorite, there isn’t much of a story to this one, but the pictures tell the story really well and my son enjoyed it. Even though Rabbit didn’t always have the best ideas, he was a good friend

Hey Diddle Diddle by James Marshall – Favorite, my boys both love this song at the moment. I’m not sure if the 2nd verse is really part of the song or if James Marshall made it up, but my son learned it and sings it along with the 1st verse now.

Skip to My Lou by Nadine Bernard Westcott – Favorite, my 3 year old just learned this song and enjoyed reading it over and over and trying to sing with me. It’s a fun little book that you can sing and keep your 1 year old entertained as well

Meet the Barkers : Morgan and Moffat go to school by Tomie De Paola – OK Favorite, this was an interesting book to teach my son about school, but he didn’t seem to enjoy it all that much.

Farfallina & Marcel by Holly Keller – OK Favorite, I thought this was a nice little book about two little animal friends and my son enjoyed seeing the caterpillar change into a butterfly (I think every child knows about caterpillars after The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle). The pictures were good, but the story was a little dull.

The incredible painting of Felix Clousseau by Jon Agee – OK Favorite, I think my son’s favorite thing about this book was listening to how different Mom and Dad would pronounce Felix’s last name. It changed almost every time I read it. An interesting story idea and my husband really enjoyed figuring out what would happen at the end, but my son was a little bored.

A mother for Choco by Keiko Kasza – OK Favorite, when my husband started reading this one he said to me, “How many books are there about looking for mothers?” It’s the same thing I thought when I started to read this…sounded just like Are you my Mother by P.D. Eastman (which is one of my son’s favorites), but the ending is quite different and I liked the message the author makes.

Leo the late bloomer by Robert Kraus – OK Favorite, this book went way over my son’s head. I don’t think he has any idea what “blooming” is or whether he’s done it! Perhaps this is for an older child who is learning to read and write like Leo in this book.

Good morning Sam by Marie-Louise Gay – Favorite, we’ve checked this book out before and my son loves it. Sam and Stella are fun little siblings. The best part is when Sam forgets his pants because my son does that sometimes after he goes potty…we both laugh at that part.

Here’s a little poem : a very first book of poetry by Jane Yolen – OK Favorite, my son sat through reading some of these poems, but we were both bored. I know I should teach him poetry, but both of us like stories!

Chelsea Morning by Joni Mitchell – Not so Much Favorite, this was a weird book that made no sense. I think it was the lyrics to one of Joni Mitchell’s songs. I’m happy to say that I did not pick this book out, my son did. He liked the picture on the front and the pictures throughout the book are fun of fairies and pixies, but we only read it once and then I put it in our return cupboard.

Who Said Boo? Halloween Poems for the Very Young by Nancy White Carlstrom – OK Favorite, my son enjoyed reading this because it had Halloween pictures, but I think we both prefer a story to poems.

Shawn and Keeper and the Birthday Party by Jonathan London – Almost Favorite, this was a cute little story about a boy celebrating his birthday with his dog. My son loved reading it since we just celebrated his birthday.

The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman – OK Favorite, I really enjoyed this book and thought it was such a good idea with nice rhymes. It was a little too long for my 3 year old, but he still enjoyed it. I love stories about big families, since I’m the baby of 6 kids.

Happy Birthday, Jesse Bear by Nancy White Carlstrom – Almost Favorite, this was another good birthday book for my son. We’ve read 1 or 2 other Jesse Bear stories and they are fun. My son likes this bear.

The Piggy in the Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz – Almost Favorite, I thought this would be like the book, Yummers, by James Marshall…since the pig looked similar. But James Marshall just illustrated this one, and did not write it. My son enjoyed it, but I thought it was a little too repetitive. Boys like reading about puddles though, especially my son who is obsessed with stepping in every single puddle he sees.

Good Thing You’re Not an Octopus by Julie Markes – Favorite, my son really liked reading this cute little story about different animals. He is just learning to dress himself, so he liked being compared to an octopus with eight legs or a caterpillar with 16 feet.

You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Museum of Fine Arts by Jacqueline Prei Weitzman – OK Favorite, this book had no story, just illustrations. My son did enjoy looking at these pictures and following the balloon, but I really did not like making up my own story to describe what was happening.

Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch by Alyssa Satin Capucilli – Almost Favorite, this book was mostly for my 1 year old, but my 3 year old liked it too. They both enjoyed going to the pumpkin patch this season, so they enjoyed reading about a dog going as well.

The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg – Almost Favorite, this was a cute little story about playing in the snow and losing your mitten. I loved the imagination of planting your mitten and growing a huge mitten tree so you’d have plenty of them in the future. And the story was a good length for my son.