Munchkin Monday #9: Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

Farmer Brown has a problem.

His cows like to type.

All day long he hears

Click, clack, MOO.

Click, clack, MOO.

Clickety, clack, MOO.

But Farmer Brown's problems REALLY begin when his cows start leaving him notes....

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We love this book!  It's cute and fun and silly and the kids crack up whenever we read it.

It's one book in our collection that I don't mind reading over and over and over.
And over.

Munchkin Monday #8: The Night Before Kindergarten

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

'Twas the night before kindergarten,
and as they prepared,
kids were excited,
and a little bit scared.

It's the first day of school!
Join the kids as they prepare for kindergarten, packing school supplies, posing for pictures, and the hardest part of all—saying goodbye to Mom and Dad.
But maybe it won't be so hard once they discover just how much fun kindergarten really is!

Colorful illustrations illuminate this uplifting takeoff on the classic Clement C. Moore Christmas poem.

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Boy Child starts Kindergarten tomorrow.

I am not prepared.
I am not sure how I'll react on Tuesday.
(That's a lie.  I know I will be a blubbering mess.)

This book is perfectly suited for parents and kids.  The parents are the nervous ones.  The kids are excited!

We've been reading this book for two weeks and both kids demand it at least once a day.

Highly recommended for new Kindergarteners and their emotional parents.

 

Munchkin Monday #7: Love, Mouserella

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

Mouserella misses her grandmouse, so she writes her a letter. At first she can't think of anything to say, but once she starts, the news begins to flow--she found a cat whisker at the zoo, she taught her ladybug to fetch, she made shadow puppets with Dadmouse during a blackout--and just like that, the events of the past few days come to vivid life in her letter, as does her love for Grandmouse.

Children will enjoy reading the story from top to bottom, like a real letter, and Mouserella's funny drawings and lively adventures will spark their imaginations and just might inspire them to start a correspondence of their own.

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So. Flipping. Cute!

The whole family has enjoyed reading this book over the past few days.
Boy Child is just starting to understand how much fun it is to write letters.  Both kids love getting mail, and now they can give some, too!

Munchkin Monday #6: Hugs from Pearl, by Paul Schmid

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

This is Pearl.

Pearl loves to hug.

Hugs are nice . . . except when they come from a porcupine.

Pearl tries and tries to solve her problem and finally fixes it in her very own way.

From the author-artist of A Pet for Petunia comes a prickly new character with a great big heart.
Paul Schmid paints Pearl’s world with soft and dreamy colors that reflect just how sweet she is beneath her sharp-quilled porcupine exterior.

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I didn't enjoy this book.

I'm pretty sure that the moral of the story is that you don't have to change who you are, but it lacked... something.

Pearl's friends may not like being stuck with Pearl's quills, but they're still her friends.  So I don't understand Pearl's insistence that she has to cut her quills or soften them in order to reduce prickage*.

And when Pearl takes one of her mother's best pillowcases and cuts it up?  I cringed.
That is SO not the message I want to send to my kids: here, go destroy mommy's stuff.  What fun it is!
Um, no.

 

* I totally need to start using this word all the time.

Munchkin Monday #5: Song for Papa Crow

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

Little Crow loves to sing, and Papa Crow loves his song. But when Little Crow shares his crow songs with the other birds at the big old tree, they laugh and scatter. Maybe the Amazing Mockingbird can teach him to sing songs with the finches, flycatchers, and cardinals and help him make some friends. 

But Little Crow should be careful what he wishes for...

Using Mockingbird's tip, Little Crow quickly becomes the most popular bird on the block. But, in a moment of danger, he learns that singing someone else's song can have terrible consequences and that his own voice and his father's love is of the greatest value.

Paired with colorful collage illustrations, this inspirational story is complemented by fun facts about North American birds and their sounds.

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I thought this book had a lot of potential, but the kids didn't seem to like it.

They enjoyed the sounds of different birds, but they got bored halfway through.  I powered on, even though I had lost my audience.  Even The Husband was distracted.

The illustrations are beautiful, the moral of the story is perfect, and it was fun to make the bird calls.
 It's really too bad the kids weren't interested.

 I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Munchkin Monday #4: Peek-a-Boo Monsters

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

Monsters hide throughout this die-cut book from Charles Reasoner.

As you read the simple verse, small windows give you a peek at the creatures on the next page.

Each spread reveals more adorable monsters!

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The kids have been talking about monsters a lot recently.  I don't know if it's because we recently watched Monsters, Inc., or if they are starting to worry about monsters in their rooms.

I'm really hoping that they're simply talking about the movie.

In order to allay their fears, The Husband and I have kept talking about how silly monsters are.

We tell the monsters to go home and sleep.

We call Mommy Monster and Daddy Monster on the phone to tell Kid Monster to go home.

We have the kids tell the Monsters that they're funny!

This book is a great addition to our Silly Monsters theme!

I will purchase the board book for our permanent collection; we'll get more out of it than the ebook version.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Munchkin Monday #3: Cozy Classics: Les Misérables

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

Give a kid a classic! Cozy Classics is the popular board book series that presents well-loved stories to children aged 0+ through twelve child-friendly words and twelve needle-felted illustrations.

Les Misérables is Victor Hugo’s sweeping French saga about one man’s search for redemption in a world of hardship and misery, and is one of the world’s most beloved classics.

Now you can share this classic with children of any age.

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I admit that the main reason I requested this from NetGalley was to see how on earth they were going to present a tale of thievery, prostitution, and bloodshed to children.
It's...uh... not something you see every day.

The felting is incredible, but that's about all of the positive praise I can give this book.  If you didn't already know the story of Les Mis, you would be terribly confused.

The Husband and I read this book to the kids, but twisted the story so that it wasn't so...depressing.
We'll introduce the Classics to them when they're older.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Munchkin Monday #2: Splat the Cat Series

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

It's Splat's first day of school and he's worried. What if he doesn't make any new friends?
Just in case, Splat decides to bring along his pet mouse, Seymour, and hides him in his lunchbox.
The teacher, Mrs. Wimpydimple, introduces Splat to the class and he soon starts learning all his important cat lessons.

But when Seymour escapes and the cats do what cats do (they chase mice!), Splat's worried again.
Maybe now he'll lose all his friends, old and new!

Just in time, wise Mrs. Wimpydimple takes charge and teaches everyone an important new lesson. Maybe Cat School is going to be okay after all!

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Our whole family loves the Splat the Cat series.

We first read this book when my kids moved from a private, in-home daycare to a new, center-based "school."  I was probably more nervous than Boy Child (Girl Child was just a baby); this book likely helped to allay my own fears more than his.

It's a great book for shy students who are entering a new grade or moving to a new school.

And great for their worried parents, too.

We recently added a number of Splat the Cat books to our collection, including:

Fishy Tales
Love, Splat
 On With the Show

I love the lessons they teach, and it's easy to discuss the themes with my kids.

Munchkin Monday #1: The Fire Station, by Robert Munsch

A quick look at the new books I have read with Boy Child and Girl Child

This story starts out with a familiar premise: Michael and Sheila visit a fire station.  While the two kids are exploring a fire truck, an alarm goes off-and away go Michael and Sheila to the rescue!

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Boy Child wants to be a Firefighter.  He wears his Fireman hat and Fireman boots everywhere.

He would wear his Fireman coat if I didn't have it hidden during the summer.

He thinks that Fireman Sam is one of the greatest shows ever.*

So I was totally excited when I was approved for this galley!

It's hard to read kids' books on an iPad, but we powered through.

Over and over.

And over and over.

And over.

Boy Child loves it.  Girl child loves it.  The Husband and I don't hate it.

 We have a winner!

I purchased one copy for our collection and another as a birthday gift for a friend's son.  A great find!

 

*It is NOT a good show.  I want to poke out my eyes and cut off my ears when it's on.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.