Robin had no idea what she had grabbed off the library shelf when she got this one. I tucked it in the bag and didn’t even notice it until we’d had it home for a few days. It’s called Papa and the Pioneer Quilt. The charming illustrations follow a young girl as her family travels west to Oregon with a wagon train. Along the way, the girl collects scraps of fabrics that each have a story to tell about the trip. It led to some great discussions with Robin about pioneers, life before cars, and what it’s like to move. She was entranced by the book, and I loved the educational value as well as the images.
Olivia: A pestering pig March 17, 2010
A precocious preschool aged pig is the heroine of Olivia. She has to try on everything when she wakes up in the morning. She doesn’t like naps. She wears herself out, and her mother out. I find that Olivia is a bad influence on Robin. Olivia pesters her mother for more books at bedtime, and wins. She scares her little brother, and there are no repercussions shown in the book. She is a fashion diva and tries on everything when she gets dressed in the morning. These are all behaviors that I don’t want to see imitated by my highly impressionable preschool age daughter. On top of these issues, the book has some adult jokes which leave Robin questioning what the author means. For example, Olivia sees a modern art painting and says “I could do that in about five minutes”. Robin always asks, “Why does Olivia say that?” Robin does enjoy the book and will occasionally pick it out of the bookshelf. However, I believe the book is more appropriate for the parents than kids.
Ladybug Girl March 15, 2010
Robin pulled Ladybug Girl off the shelf last week. I think the appeal for Robin was that the wings on the cover were shiny. It also has mom appeal. Lulu, the strong female character, has to amuse herself while her parents are busy. She goes outside and builds forts, splashes through puddles, and listens to the birds. All the things that a mom could want her little girl to be doing. There was nothing in this book that was outside of Robin”s life experience, yet it must have rung true enough because it was asked for again and again.
Why should I read this? March 14, 2010
On Friday mornings I take the kids to the library. I put AJ in the stroller as I peruse the new books. After a minute of this Robin is whining, and AJ is thrashing around so hard I worry if he’s going to flip the stroller. I grab wildly at any title that looks interesting and stuff it in my bag. Ignoring the glare of our intimidating 6′ 2″ librarian, we head over to the children’s section. I let AJ out to roam and he grabs 5 books off the shelf and stuffs them in the bag, then heads off to the water fountain. As I try to boost him up to get a drink, Robin insists “I want to get an Angelina Ballerina book!”, as she has done every week for the last year and a half. I direct her to the Angelina books and she starts flipping through them. I distract AJ from the water and settle him down to do a puzzle. I use my moment of quiet to grab a few higher quality children’s books. By now AJ is getting antsy and I we need to leave before he starts racing around the stacks and dumping out the books. We brave the librarian’s evil eye to check out the books and breathe a sigh of relief when we walk out the door. Upon arriving at home, the first thing the kids do is to each grab a book and run to me yelling “Mommy, read this!” We settle down on the couch and start to read. I’d like to share what we learn with you in this blog.
Mommy Read This! 