Story Time

I picked up a couple "just for Baby" books at the library this week, and we've thoroughly enjoyed reading them together. The Little Man really can't make it the whole way through yet without trying to rip out pages, eat the book, kick me in the shins, etc., but I'm such a fan of children's literature that I don't at all mind finishing them on my own time. I was pleasantly surprised by my fortuitous finds this week since I literally grabbed both books off the shelf and ran for my life from the Children's section. Someone with a large set of lungs had reached the end of his library tolerance and was more than ready to go home.

My favourite of the two was The Story Book Prince by Joanne Oppenheim, with some beautiful illustrations by Rosanne Litzinger. I tried to find a larger photo so that you could see the fun details included but had no luck. The book is about a prince who refuses to go to bed and the various tricks his parents try to get him to sleep. As you can probably tell, I liked the illustrations the most, but the writing was lovely as well. I frequently have to fight the urge to rewrite children's books as I read them out loud, but the rhyme and meter were well done and the story was enchanting to say the least. If I were giving out gold stars, Oppenheim and Litzinger could start their own galaxy.

Little Bub, however, was much more attached to book number two, Kiss Good Night by Amy Hest with illustrator Anita Jeram. Personally, I think he liked it better because it was shorter and the type was larger. And because it was about bears. Who doesn't like bears? Here he is to tell you about it:

And no, of course he's not eating the book. What kind of mother would I be to let him chew on a library book? Anyway, (ahem) Mama Bear putting Baby Bear to bed. I guess both of the books this week were similarly themed. Which was accidental. I would never try to brainwash my child into sleeping more. Baby stalls till Mama kisses him goodnight. It was cute. My favourite part was that it was a rainy night out, but then it made me sad that it wasn't raining here. My least favourite part: they drank warm milk together before bed. Have to say, that made my skin crawl. Little Man's favourite part: the way all those germs on the book tasted. Oh wait, did I just say that?