Behind the makeup: Tre's Bookshelf: September 13, 2013

Welcome to the first post of Tre’s Bookshelf! Let’s get started!

This is an old picture!

First let me say that I never have time to read through the books I pick and I don’t have a particular strategy. I have a small window to pick books out because after a while my son is going to turn the library into a track. Lol! Therefore I look for books that seem different, that might encourage language development, books that expand on something we’ve already mastered and something he can have fun reading. It’s a mad rush to think about all of that, review the toddler section, and keep an eye on him while he plays in the puzzle area. Once we get home I will then sit down and read through every book I picked up and begin to work on my reading voice delivery just in case a book I picked is too “boring.” From there it’s an everyday adventure reading the library books and learning more ways to teach and discuss with him.

As a refresher here are the books we read these last two weeks:

Hippo says Excuse Me- Michael Dahl

Mommy Sing me A lullaby- Marci Butler

Swing like a Monkey-Harriet Ziefert

Morning, Mr. Ted-Crystal Bowman

My “S” sounds book-Jane Moncure

Mommy Sing Me A Lullaby-Marci Butler

What makes this book appropriate?
This book incorporates a bedtime routine in a manner that is easy to see and comprehend through listening. Routine is an important part of a child’s life and many Child Development enthusiasts are not afraid to let you know that routine is something that children THRIVE on. It helps to guide them because they know what to expect which makes it easier for the parent to parent successfully.

What was mommy’s favorite part of the book?
Oh wow! Parents this book is amazing! From the illustrations, to the step by step flow of their routine which mirrors the routine I have at the house, I enjoyed seeing African American characters.The book not only encourages a family unit, which is often unseen in the black community, but it also incorporates involvement from both parents as well as an emphasis on having a nightly prayer, singing Jesus Loves Me, and speaking about God watching over them at night.

What did Tre love about the book?
There is a part in the book where the toddler is taking a bath and one night he asked me what the yellow bottle on the tub was and I told him it was shampoo. Ever since that night he will pause on that page and say the word shampoo over and over and crack up laughing.

Hippo Says Excuse Me- Michael Dahl

What makes this book appropriate?
This is an awesome book that teaches children different scenarios of when to say excuse me. It’s full of repetition and animal characters which many children enjoy learning about but also seeing the animals doing things that they might do or need to do. If you are in the process of teaching your child manners this is a great book to use as a learning tool. We have also read Penguin Says Please as well as Ducky Goes Potty both by Michael Dahl and those were the top reads when we checked them out!

What was mommy’s favorite part of the book?
As a mother, my favorite part was at the end when all of the animals are on the elevator and a baby chick says, “excuse me may I ride” and all of the animals crammed onto the elevator shout “NO ROOM! NO ROOM!” but the baby hippo says, “excuse me there’s always room for one more.” It’s a great example of kindness as well as the reality that everyone won’t share the same manners as you do but that shouldn’t stop you from displaying them.

What did Tre love about the book?
Tre loved saying excuse me over and over! He would name the different animals on the page sometimes determined to make the giraffe a zebra but none the less it was one of the top two books he wanted to read every night.

Morning, Mr. Ted-Crystal Bowman

What makes this book appropriate?
This book has great visuals for each page which is perfect for asking your child questions about what they see and to find out what they know. The book begins with the young girl saying, “the sun peeks through my window. I wiggle out of bed” and it ends with her saying goodnight to the world around her. Another book, full of repetition and activities, they can relate to, such as coloring, playing in the sandbox, and taking a bath.

What was mommy’s favorite part of the book?
My favorite part of the book was the prayer at the end. Prayer is very important to my family and I am instilling it in my son so it makes me so excited to find books where they are praying because he says a prayer every night and it makes the characters relatable. I also love that there is a spiritual encouraging message for mothers at the end of the book. While doing this post I realized that Crystal Bowman, the author, has a TON of Christian books for children! I will definitely be looking for more books written by her.

What did Tre love about the book?
If you follow me on instagram you might remember me mentioning him having a “fallout” because he wanted to eat oatmeal for every meal of the day and I wasn’t having it. Well in this book when the girl wakes up she says, “Good morning oatmeal! Good Morning Juice! Good Morning Mr. Ted!” Once he heard the word oatmeal he learned that section very quickly and that was all he cared about. In the video you will see what I mean:

Swing like a monkey-Harriet Ziefert

What makes this book appropriate?
Swing Like a Monkey is a very descriptive book with a lot of verbs for each animal. Here you will stomp like an elephant, swing like a monkey, leap, prance, run, and any other movement you can think of for animals. It is a book with great word usage to expand on your child’s vocabulary as well as helping them connect new words to the behaviors of animals.

What was mommy’s favorite part of the book?
I loved that this book was interactive! It is definitely not a book you read sitting down! We would do a lot of movement with this book and it made reading a lot of fun!

What did Tre love about the book?
Of course Tre loved being able to move and jump and leap and RUN while reading but he also loved that the cover of the book has a reflector of a monkey who “swings” when you move the book from side to side. A great visual to encourage reading.

My “S” sounds Book- Jane Moncure

What makes this book appropriate?
This book is a great read to help your child hear different words that begin with S. This book is a part of a series of alphabet books on individual letters that expand on words deriving from each letter. If you are looking to connect some words to your child’s initial this is a great book to do so.

What was mommy’s favorite part of the book?
I picked up this book because it had a “S” on the cover. Again not knowing what to expect I knew that I wanted to share the letter S with my son because he knows how to spell his name and recognizes the letter S wherever we go! I will say that this book might be better suited for a 3 or 4 year old because it has a lot of the same sounds but not enough to draw in a 2 year old, in my case.

What did Tre love about the book?
The first day we read this book Tre loved seeing the letter S which he would say, Mommy S for Scott. However, after reading the other books and definitely picking his favorites, this was not one of them. He did gain a love for the alphabet pictures in the back of the book. Primarily he loved learning that the word and picture for the letter Y was yo-yo and just like shampoo he thought that was hilarious!

Here are my “rules” for reading with my toddler:

1. Make it exciting! I give voices to each character. I emphasize the exclamation points. I express each emotion with facial expressions included and he LOVES it. If you ever hear me read a book to children it will probably be entertaining but I bet YOU won’t want to miss what happens next. ;)

2. Make it plain! Sometimes I venture outside of the board book section and if you have a toddler you know you have a small window to WOW them because their attention will redirect *snaps fingers* like that. So if I get a book with LOTS of words on the pages (ex: The Bernstein bear collection) but the pictures are descriptive enough that they can visually understand what’s going on I FREESTYLE! I will create a story based on the pictures in such a way that he can understand.

3. Make it interactive! I don’t know about you but there is no fun in having someone read AT you. Through our reading I am constantly asking him questions about items in the background, what characters are wearing, colors on the pages, who the characters are (i.e. mommy, daddy, etc), and if there are letters that stand out I will even ask him about those.

4. Make them read to YOU! No matter what age or how extensive the language children possess the ability to point to something familiar and associate a word they’ve learned, even if it’s just one word, and tell you about it. When Scott was younger I would still ask him read the book to mommy and the story might consist of 4 words based on the items he could identify but I would fill in the gaps by explaining the rest. An example would be if he/she sees a bottle on the page and all they can say is “bottle” you might fill in the gaps by saying, “Yes that is a bottle! It looks like the baby is drinking from the bottle while her mommy reads her a bedtime story.” In that time you have validated their ability to identify items, you have encouraged them to read, and you have expanded on their language by filling in the gaps.

What books did you read to your little ones this week?

Happy Reading!

All My Love,

Caneeka

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