Lance Julian and I have become avid readers. He loves turning the pages of board books and I love the post-bath time jubilee on our big bed. As an English teacher and a critic, I feel the need to share our favorite stories.
The baby book market is saturated with really crappy stuff ("Emma, this is the kind of emotional language that I spoke of in our meeting. It is unhelpful and unprofessional. Next time, try to use language that clearly labels the problem."--Ken, Emma's crappy boss).
Now, where was I? Oh yeah, the good baby books. Here's our Top Ten. I suggest you literally go out and order all of these. It gets old reading all the same old stuff, and you will be reading a lot...
1. Barack Obama, Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters.
The illustrations are great, especially the last page that illustrates America, "made up of people of every kind". The story will make you cry (and vote for Obama 2014!)
2. Bill Martin Jr., and Eric Carle, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Slide and Find)
This isn't the regular board book version! Each page has a little slider that Lance LOVES sliding to the side to view the next animal that Brown Bear sees. We spend hours enjoying this book while developing fine motor skills. It provides significantly longer entertainment than any other book we own. Thank you Bob and Joanne!
3. Calef Brown, Polka-Bats and Octopus Slacks, 14 Stories.
These wonderfully illustrated poems remind me of Where the Sidewalk Ends. They are funny and clever to both adults and children. And the rhymes are so much fun to read. Thanks Cha Cha!
4. Shaggy Parrot and the Reggae Band. Reggae Pickney: www.reggaepickney.com
It was really hard to find children's books about Jamaican children in Jamaica. Finding this one was a major success. The included audio CD has music by Shaggy that goes along with each page of the story and a narrator with a beautiful Jamaican accent (comes in handy if you're interested in practicing your Jamaican Patois).
5. Bright Baby Touch and Feel--box set of four animal books.
Cousin Michelle gave us this entertaining set of books. Each page features a 4 line poem about an animal with a touchable texture--lion hair, lizard scales, panda ears and so on. Unlike some other touch and feel books, this one is actually fun to read. They are small books which makes them easy to travel with and you won't get bored reading them hundreds of times on the plane!
6. Lisa Wheeler and R. Gregory Christie, Jazz Baby.
Another Charity discovery, this book is full of musical sounds. You can't help but bounce the baby while you sing out as "busy-dizzy baby goes round and round"!
7. Addie Boswell, The Rain Stomper.
Not only was this book written by a friend, but it's one of the few books with a female character who isn't beautiful or a princess or getting married or...you get the point. Jasmin leads her brownstone neighborhood out into the rain to play. This is another book full of fun sounds that moms and dads can read dramatically.
8. Eric Carle, Mister Seahorse.
How appropriate that this book was given to me by the biology teacher I worked with at Mandela for 5 years. Mr. Seahorse, who carries the babies for his absentee wife, drifts gently through the sea coming upon other upstanding sea-dwelling fathers who care for their young--Mr. Stickleback, Mr. Tilapia, etc. But what is even cooler then the story is that he swims through seaweed and coral which are painted on clear cellophane panes that turn to expose the hidden fish behind. Lance loves turning the pages, I love learning about sea-creatures.
9. Jan Pienkowski, Dinner Time.
I find this book delightfully un-American. Warning: there is no happy ending. The temporal animals are one by one consumed by successively larger carnivorous animals. And as you turn each page, paper engineered mouths jumped out at you menacingly. Leighton thinks it's sick. I love it.
10. Ruth Bornstein, Little Gorilla.
This very large board book is the latest addition to our library thanks to Froy and Shen. It's the story of Lance Julian's life. I love it.
And now for pictures of our amazing vacation! For more details, check out Big Lance's website: www.accidentalcruiser.com
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| Enjoying the Antiguan beach. |
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| Both Lances love Queen Emma |
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| It turns out the deck was a perfect playpen because everyone was in there with Lance! |
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| Lance enjoyed scattering his stuff around the cabin too. |
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| Wadadli, Antiguan Beer. |
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| Hike to Fort Berkeley. |
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| Our layover in Brooklyn on the way home visiting Aimee and the twins. |
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| Phoenix, Canon and Lance |
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| Lance and Canon dig for toys. |
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| Who loves bath time? Phoenix does! |
