It's been another great week of reading! This week, Sophie even came along with us to the library since we went in the afternoon due to our raspberry picking in the morning. She wasn't in the best mood after missing morning nap so she just hung out on my back and we kept it brief.This month, Will has decided that he needs an extra book incorporated into bedtime routine now that he's "older". We read enough at other times, that we usually keep bedtime reading to just two books. But Will's argument was that "I need three books because I'm three". It was just too cute to argue with so we now include three books as often as possible at bedtime.
Another cute note: on our way out to the raspberry farm, Will started to recite last week's book "When the Leaf Blew In". It goes something like this: "When the leaf blew in... the cow sneezed 'ah-choo'!... And when the cow sneezed 'ah-choo', the spider [did something that I can't remember] on the owl... And when the spider [...] on the owl, the owl swooped out of the barn, etc." I didn't even remember what was coming next but I repeated whatever he said and then he'd recite the next line. And he nailed every verb exactly: swooped, leaped, hopped, chased, buzzed, etc. It's amazing how children can just retain all that from memory.
This week's library books are spotlighting two really great authors: Cynthia Rylant and Patricia Polacco. They are awesome. But first, here are a few books by other authors.
1) The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss was one I'd requested as part of our nutrition week but it didn't come in in time. It was pretty dull anyway and I've returned it already.
2) The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett. Another non-favorite that's been returned early. We check out anywhere from 7-12 books per week plus a few extra on occasion for Tot School, so I often stop by the library mid-week to pick up requested holds as they become available. This week, I took a couple books back that we weren't crazy about just so we would have less to keep track of. This book topic is similar to Flap Your Wings by P.D. Eastman and it has some staggered pages in it like The Very Hungry Caterpillar. But... just not that exciting.
3) Words... Clever title. This was Will's pick and I thought it'd be good for Sophie. But it turns out, this was a great reading tool for Will. He is really improving his phonics skills and is now able to read/sound out lots of words! It's hard to gauge how quickly these things progress, but I think he's going to be reading some beginner level stuff independently by this fall or for sure by year's end. Right now, we work mostly with recognizing words within the text or sounding out simple CVC words. I'll ask him to find a word and he starts sounding out the first letter to help him locate it. It's really exciting. We also like to play a phonics twist on "I Spy" while we're driving, i.e. I spy, with my little eye, something that starts with a /b/ sound. Barn!
Okay, onto Cynthia Rylant. She's got a ton of titles available, but seems to be best known (I think?) for her Henry and Mudge series. I could see this being a great first series that Will would love to get into.
4) We checked out Henry and Mudge: The First Book and were introduced to these lovable characters. I'll plan to get more each week to follow the series.
5) Puppy Mudge Takes a Bath is a "pre-level 1" book so it's a really good practice read for Will right now. Not too much text and easy to sound out.
6) All In A Day - I love this one and definitely plan to buy it. Will was more interested in spotting all the animals in the illustrations than in listening to the inspirational text. But it's a great message about seizing the day.
And now onto Patricia Polacco. It's obvious this author has a rich family history as her traditions and roots are exuded in each and every story. I love her illustrations and I love how important it seems to her to pass on traditions.
7) Thunder Cake is pretty well known, I think. It's one of Will's favorites this week. A little girl is afraid of a thunderstorm and her grandmother distracts her and helps her overcome her fears by baking a "thunder cake". By the end of the story the little girl realizes how brave she is and happily eats her cake while the thunder rolls through. There's a fun counting element to the story and some new vocabulary words too, i.e. the little girl climbs a trellis to reach the secret ingredient for their cake - tomatoes! 
8) Babushka's Doll wasn't requested as often by Will but I enjoyed it. "Babushka" is in most of Patricia's stories and, in this one, Babushka has a special doll that helps her little granddaughter realize her ornery behavior.
9) When Lightning Comes in a Jar was a good one to read right before attending our family reunion. It makes me want to catch lightning bugs again like we did when we were kids. Again, lots of family rituals and traditions take place at the family reunion.
10) Mommies Say Shhh! is another of Will's favorites this week, likely because of all the animals in it. This is a short enough book to hold Sophie's attention too, but it's not a board book, so we have to be careful. It goes through what each animal "says" and at the end... "Mommies say shhh! Bunnies say nothing at all." 
This has been a really good group of books for the week. We have a few more for our Tot School topic coming up soon.
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