books- how novel

Jonathan has been on a book craze over the past week or so. Every day at some point the ONLY thing he wants to do is sit and read book after book after book. Yesterday we probably read 15-20 books in a row (some of them multiple times) before he lost interest. It has been so much fun not only to hear how he talks about the characters and plots and what he sees as we read, but also how it pops up in his conversation later in the day. Little phrases like "that was a big success" or "in the whole wide world" that wouldn't normally be part of a 2 year old vocabulary come popping out of his mouth and make me laugh. I love that something so simple and so cozy can be such a powerful tool in expanding his world. Here are a few of our favorites this week:

I picked One Yellow Lion up at a consignment sale. It is a pretty basic counting book, but something about the fold out pages and ways the animals interact on the last page has made this a favorite for a long time.

We picked out Flap Your Wings at the library on our last run because we have loved PD Eastman so much in the past (Go Dog Go! is amazing). Jonathan loves to be "surprised" at the alligator popping out of the egg every time we read it. He also loves the idea that the alligator is growing bigger and bigger and bigger just like him!

While the rhyme scheme in Dinosaurumpus isn't Tony Mitton's best (I think everyone in our house can sing all the words to his Airplanes book), the actions and the cute dinosaurs are great. Perfect for a kiddo who is starting to fall in love with dinos, but likes them to all be "the friendly ones".

I don't remember how An Island in the Sun came to be on our bookshelf, but it has fun, quirky artwork (including a boy with blue hair and a polka-dot dog) that is whimsical and fun. The rhyme is catchy and builds page by page. Jonathan loves that the dog is waiting for the boy and that they go fishing "till the end of the day".

I am also rediscovering the joy of books. I finished a book about a month ago, and have been putting off figuring out what to read next because I am awful at picking out books. But with my pregnancy insomnia flaring up again, I needed something to get me out of my own brain and to occupy me from 11pm-3am (instead of just roaming the house snacking). I never quite know how to pick out a new novel, but I braved the used book store down the street and came home with three: Blue Shoe by Anne Lamotte, Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver, and The Piano Teacher by Janice Lee. I just started Blue Shoe and love it. It is so peaceful to sit and read in the middle of the night with a cup of tea. Almost peaceful enough to put me to sleep. Almost. But not quite.