A few of my books to be reviewed have lately made it into heavy rotation at bedtime, largely in the same order. Two of the books get Ozzie all wound up, and the last winds him down for sleep. Funny thing is that Olives been hanging out around the edges of this picture book storytime, too, sometimes jumping in to participate. Youre never too old for picture books.
Everything Goes: In the Air by Brian Biggs
Though hes been on airplanes before, its only our recent trip to Phoenix that Ozzie really remembers. His newfound interest in airplanes is well matched to Brian Biggs hidden picture book. Its a little tricky as a read-aloud as it features giant detailedWheres Waldo-style spreads filled with a million things to look at. Theres a narrative thread of a boy traveling with his family, so we mostly follow that. But each night we look at different things. Tonight I told Olive that the book has the numbers 1 to 100 hidden on the pages, as well as birds with hats and things that dont belong. So shes hunting these things down while Ozzie and I craft the pages into a storyline.
Monsters Love Colors by Mike Austin
Scribble, scribble, mix, dance, and wiggle! We wiggle around with these monsters who show us their favorite colors. The yellow monsters favorite color is yellow. The red monsters favorite color is red. And can you guess the favorite color of the blue monster? There are four little gray monsters that want to be a favorite color, too, so the monsters scribble and wiggle and make orange, green, purple, and
wait! What will the last monster be? Rainbow, of course! This book makes for a fun read aloud because Ozzies so ready to shout out all of the color names, and hell wiggle when they wiggle.
Tiptoe Joe by Ginger Foglesong Gibson
This is a great book to use to wind things down. Tiptoe Joe is a bear, and when he passes each friend in the forrest, he gets them to join him. Donkey, Donkey, come with me. I know something you should see. And Donkey goes clop clop following Tiptoe Joe. He invites each friend to come along, and the they all follow with their special sound:clop clop, thump thump, flap flap, thud thud, swish swish, slap slap to which Tiptoe Joe says, SHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! But where are they going? Why do they have to be quiet? Tiptoe Joe leads them all back to his home where his little babies are fast asleep. The animal sounds are good for reading alound, and weve paired them with some hand gestures. Then, with some exaggerated shushing and whispery reading, eyelids are drooping by the end of the book.
