How I became a Pirate

How I became a Pirate
By Melinda Long
Illustrated by David Shannon
Childrens
5/5






Before David Shannon wrote childrens books he was an illustrator. We have always enjoyed his illustrations. They make a story complete. We recently checked out these two fun pirate stories.How I became a pirate and Pirates Don't Change Diapers. They are stories of little Jeremy Jacob and his adventure of becoming a pirate and going on a treasure hunt to help his fellow pirates gather up enough treasure to fix their ship. In the process they must look after his little sister Bonnie Anne. Its an adventurous tale of changing diapers, baby sitting and treasure hunting. Kyla loves this book and it has a lot to do with the fact the pirates try to change Bonnie Annes diapers. "Change the stinky diaper she says."

Pirates Don't Change diapers
By Melinda Long
Illustrated by David Shannon
Childrens
5/5

Patrick Paints a Picture

Patrick Paints a Picture
by Saviour Pirotta
Childrens books
5/5

We loved this book and now its on our favorite childrens books. Kyla loved it for the animals and bright colors. I loved it for the interaction, guessing of colors and the fact that it is a great and fun learning tool. Patrick goes to visit his aunt and they decide they are going to paint a picture. They stare out at at the cornfield and guess what color it is....Yellow. Then a bird comes by what color will they need? Blue! The book continues on this way teaching colors to the young reader and in the very end there is a color chart of primary colors and what colors mix to make more color for Patricks canvas. Its simple and very easy to learn. We read this book a billion times and then had to take it home with us to read it a billion and one times!

Summer Reading Program

Shaggy Dog and the Terrible Itch
David Bedford and Gwyneth Willaimson

Sometimes its difficult for me to find great childrens books for Kyla to read at such a young age that will hold her attention and keep her interested in reading. She has her moments when she is ready to sit and listen to a great chapter book to the end and other times she loves to just sit and look at pop up books or simple books with lots of great pictures. Shaggy Dog and the terrible itch is a little on the long side for her but she sat quietly in the library on her favorite puppy and let me read this silly entertaining book to her. There were a lot great illustrations that interacted with her. This poor puppy went everywhere into town to find someone or something that could finally relieve his itch. The farmer, the baker and finally Mary Lou's Poodle Parlor where he was cleaned and scratched and groomed. A lot of fun if you love dogs.

The little mouse, the red ripe strawberry, and the big hungry bear.
By Don and Audry Wood

Don't let the long name fool you. This is a great book. I read this book to Nate about when he was Kylas age and that was twelve years ago. They both loved it! A silly little mouse who tries to shake his strawberry loose thinks he hears a bear near by who might take it from him. He goes all out to protect his strawberry and even puts a disguise on it. The text is simple but the illustrations are great and leave a lot of room for discussion and staring at the photos! LOL. you know what I mean with little ones. We own this book from when Nate was young but Kyla and I found it in the library and I grabbed it to share this same entertaining story with her as I did Nate when he was little. Besides she loves strawberries too.


Don't Eat The Teacher
by Nick Ward

There are a few other shark books Nick Ward wrote. Don't Eat the the babysitter is one. We have added this one to our program as well. Boys love this book because of the sharks but my little girl loves it too. The text is a little lengthy so it required a bit of attention and was the first book I read to Kyla because thats when her attention span is the greatest. We didn't get all the way through it but we will!!

Summer Reading Program

Where do balloons go?
by Jamie Lee Curtis
5/5
.
Kyla and I recently took a trip to return books to a new used bookstore in town called ReReads. I found this cute hard back and she quickly fell in love with it. First of all I didn't know Jamie Lee Curtis did childrens books but apparently she has published about fifteen books. I loved the illustrations and we all wonder what happens to our balloons when they get away from at some point in our lives. I enjoyed reading it to her there on the spot and we read it again on home. This is more then a picture book and is a little longer for a two year old but it held her attention to the very end. She kept asking "where'd it go?"

When Sheep Sleep.
by Laura Numeroff
4/5
.
If you don't recognize the book, then you might the author. Laura has written the famous, If you give a mouse a cookie and other great classics. When all the sheep are asleep what do you count when you can't sleep? Horses, dogs, cows and much more. A cute book


The Bike Lesson
by The Berenstains
5/5
.
We just started reading the Berenstains books. They are pretty long for a 24month old but it still held Kylas attention and mine. It reminded me of something I would do trying to teach her how to ride a bike. Wanting to keep the fun going and the bike to myself, I would insist on giving lessons too despite how many times I fell in the bushes, forgot to use the breaks and sped down hills. This book was a lot of fun to read. I even laughed especially at the irony.


All Afloat on Noah's Boat
by Tony Mitten
4/5
.
We have heard the story when we were kids about Noah building his ark. This was a great way for me to share it with Kyla too. She loved the snakes the best and tried looking for them on every page as Noah loaded the animals two by two. But this book has a twist. When the animals get grumpy from being couped up on the ark, Noah suggests a talent show. The animals two by two take the stage and demonstrate there best talents and before they know it the are safely on the ground again.

David Shannon Books

Good Boy, Fergus
by David Shannon
5/5







Here are two more great books for our summer reading program. We love our David Shannon books and we have added these two to our collection. I can't help but laugh at The Rain Came Down because we have had nothing but rain for the last two weeks. Its fitting.

The Rain Came Down
by David Shannon

Kylas Summer Reading Challenge 2009

Today we officially started the summer reading program at our local library. We picked up our packet, papers and purple t-shirt and headed to the books. We laid between aisles and read for a very long time. Looking at the packet together I realized that being small childrens books that we were reading, we were going to fill our program fast. I had to set a limit on what we could actually count as a read book. We are only counting books we read in the library that we have never read before and one childrens chapter book a week. I realize Kyla just turned two but she is a great reader in the library and will sit and let you read to her for up to an hour so a chapter book with pictures is great for her. Here are a few of her first picks for our program. These are younger childrens picture books.



A Childs Good Morning Book
by Margaret Brown and Karen Katz
Young childrens picture books
.
The story is simple. Waking up and saying good morning to all things. The illustrations are the same style as Karen Katz board books go. Kyla likes this one because she always wakes up with a smile and a good morning for everyone so saying good morning to the sun and lady bugs was fun for her to read.

Five Little Ducks
Illustrated by Ivan Bates
Young childrens picture books
.
You have heard the song "Five little ducks went out to play over the hill and far away..." well this is the exact same story with great illustrations and in the end when the ducks came back they each had a gift for a sad little mommy duck. We enjoyed reading this one because the five little duck song we had learned in Music Makers this last Spring and it was great to read and sing the story again.

The Bridge is Up!
by Babs Bell
Young childrens picture books
.
We have seen this book on the shelf a few times but never checked it out. It was a great book about transportation and I was really surprised Kyla enjoyed it as much as she did. She held it in her lap staring at the illustrations and you could see and feel her little mind churning at what was happening . The book was mainly pictures and few words.