Oscar is now 15 months old. Time flies, I remember his birth as though it was yesterday. I remember his first favorite book, Squishy Turtle and Friends, a touchy feely fabric book I had memorized. We had two copies so we could keep one at home and send the other to daycare with him. We haven't read it in quite some time now. Oscar can turn pages on his own now and he has moved beyond fabric books and into the board book world. In fact we've even started reading paper paged books together. Time does fly.
So as Oscar grows older his favorite books change. It is somewhat bittersweet, I'm sad that my knowledge of every line in the Squishy Turtle is now useless, but I'm also relieved; I was really getting sick of that book. So Oscar doesn't have one single favorite book at this moment, but he has a number that he wants me to read over and over and over and over and over again. I usually humor him, but reading a book five times in a row is my limit.
Twinkle Twinkle Little StarBy Kids Play
If you press the top right corner of the book you can hear a tune and see little pinpoints of light blink (like stars) on the cover. The song and stars are what makes this inexpensive (not board but not quite paper, more like card stock) book a hit with Oscar. The only annoying thing is that I'll be three pages in and he'll flip the cover back so he can see the twinkly lights. I have enjoyed learning the additional verses to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; the book has five verses, accompanied by lovely illustrations of nighttime critters following the star and meeting friends along the way.
Bright Baby Touch and Feel
By Roger Priddy
Oscar loves the bright and colorful photos in the bright baby touch and feel books. And he wants me to read the books to him over and over again: Truck, Apple, Dress, Shoes.... I have to admit that I will be most happy when he grows out these books. They are good books, he loves them, but they sure are boring to read aloud.
By Nina Laden
Peek-a-Who? has been one of Oscars favorite books since he was about six months old. And he still likes it. He likes the die cut pages that peek at the picture coming, and I think he likes to repetitive "ooo" sounds. He still doesn't understand the book, he doesn't know what a zoo is, or even what the choo choo of a train are. Because so much of the book is still over his head, it may be a favorite for years to come. We'll see.
Mole and the Baby BirdBy Marjorie Newman
Illustrated by Patrick Benson
This is a FANTASTIC story about Mole, who finds an abandoned baby bird, nurses it to health, and then has a hard time letting go as the bird grows up and learns to fly. One of the lines tugs at my heart every time I read it:
"He opened the cage door, and he let his bird fly away because he loved it. Then he cried."
Oscar is only 15-months-old, he has one word, "hi"; but he'll let me read him the whole book. He is interested in the pictures, some of which are breathtakingly beautiful and sweet. I'm thrilled that this is one of his favorite books.
Moo Baa LaLaLa!By Sandra Boynton
The majority of my friends with children are BIG Boynton fans. Oscar (and I), oddly did not jump on to the Boynton bandwagon as early as some of his friends, but with Moo Baa Lalala he is joining in! If I had the patience for it he would have me read it ten times in a row. The book calls for making a lot of animal sounds, something both Oscar and I enjoy.
By Sylvia Long
Though this book has been in the bookstore forever, I never picked it up. I have never been a fan of the Hush Little Baby song. Fortunately a co-worker keyed me into the fact that Sylvia Long was also not a fan of the song, and in this lovely little board book she has re-written it! No longer is mama buying everything under the sun for her little baby, instead mama is showing her baby the wonders of the night, shooting stars, the harvest moon. I sing the book to Oscar every night, it is part of our routine.
The Giant Jam Sandwich
Though this book has been in the bookstore forever, I never picked it up. I have never been a fan of the Hush Little Baby song. Fortunately a co-worker keyed me into the fact that Sylvia Long was also not a fan of the song, and in this lovely little board book she has re-written it! No longer is mama buying everything under the sun for her little baby, instead mama is showing her baby the wonders of the night, shooting stars, the harvest moon. I sing the book to Oscar every night, it is part of our routine.
The Giant Jam SandwichBy John Vernon Lord
Verses by Janet Burroway
In truth Oscar rarely sits through this full-story board book, but he does like it, and I don't mind that we often skip a page or four. I love the rhyming verse, and I love that I remember the book from my own youth; it was first published in 1972. I think Oscar loves how excited I am when he brings it over to me to read. He also enjoys pointing out the picture in the book that is on the cover.
By Green Start
The board book has sweet rhymes, and Oscar will mostly sit through it, but what he really likes are the memory match cards. He can't match a single card. They are color coded, so that the mama panda has a green border and the baby panda has a green border, but even with that color assistance he cannot yet match the mama and baby panda together. But still he loves the cards. He loves taking the cards out of the box, he loves putting them into the box, he loves handing me cards, and taking them from me. Eventually we may actually use the cards to play a game of memory, but I doubt it will happen any time soon.
