Spring Reading

Reading continues to be a favorite activity around our house. I love that Carter will pick reading a book over most things. He gets to watch a little tv at night after he's done his chores and if given the choice between watching more tv or turning it off to read bedtime books, he almost always chooses books. If he does choose tv he usually changes his mind a few minutes later and wants to read books instead. Elise has picked up the reading habit and will sit on the floor working so hard to open board books and flip through them on her own. Carter likes to read to her and my favorite thing is walking in on him reading to her. It never fails to melt my heart. We found some more wonderful books at the library this spring. Read last year's list here and our list from 2014 here. We just signed up for the summer reading program and I'm so excited to get started on it!

 

 

Our Top Reading Choices From This Spring:

• A Place to Call Home by Alexis Deacon, The main characters in this book were hamsters or some sort of rodent and Carter immediately loved that. It was written with the text all in speech bubbles which would be great for first introducing a child to adding dialogue to their writing. It was really funny and Carter wanted it read over and over. During the time we had it checked out from the library he was constantly carrying it in for someone to read to him. Even though he had read it so many times, he still laughed each time we read it. Any book that makes him laugh is a winner with me. I love hearing his sweet laugh! I also like the ending and how the book can be used to discuss that if we stay where we are comfortable, we may never discover something better that is waiting out there for us.
• Scooter in the Outside by Anne Bowen, I'm not sure what exactly it was about this book, but Carter loved it and wanted to read it over and over and over. When my mom read it to him there were 2 small dogs in the story and she changed them to Benny and Bobbie. The next time I read it to him when I read the dogs' names as they were written he corrected me. It was so funny! This was one that I enjoyed the first few times but got tired of toward the end and was ready to return to the library. Carter on the other hand, did not get tired of it.
• Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen, Carter and I both loved this book. Every time he saw it, he wanted me to read it to him. One time we were walking out the door and he saw it as he was putting on his shoes and had to have it read to him right then. It had such a great flow to it and rhymed and it was a very cute story. One page showed all the circus animals hiding. Carter loved pointing them all out and counting them to make sure he had found them all. This is one I'd like to get him as a present because we both liked it so much!
• Little Tree by Lorn Long, I loved the way this book went through the seasons multiple times. It was about a tree who was afraid to let go of it's leaves. Since it held onto it's leaves, it didn't grow big like the other trees. Then when it finally let go it was cold without the leaves, but not for long and it was able to grow. I loved the message that sometimes we hold onto things when we shouldn't and even though it's scary, letting go can help us grow. I want to remember this book for times when Carter's older and it could be used as a teaching text. Carter loved that the tree held onto it's leaves. He thought it was funny and each time we got to the end of the season and it still had it's leaves he would say, it's holding onto it's leaves!
• Mr Super Poopy Pants by Rebecca Elliott, One day at the library I looked over and saw this book displayed on top of the shelves. I read the title out loud and Carter had to read it right then and there. The book was hilarious and would be a funny way to talk about becoming a big brother or sister. I loved that it talked about different kinds of poops babies do, like the submarine poop which meant pooping in the bathtub. I was cracking up so hard at that one!
• The Chase by Beatrice Tanaka, We were at a special storytime at the art museum and the librarian read this book. Carter liked it so much, he searched our library bag for it when we got home. I told him we didn't have it, but that didn't stop him. He would ask for me to tell him the story in the car. I put the book on hold at the library and we got it within a few days. Carter was so excited when he saw me pull it off the hold shelf. He for some reason was convinced it was titled, Out for a Chase. Every time I read the book he would correct me when I said the title. It was a cute story with a good message that you can't just blindly follow, it's important to know why.
• Dinosaur Kisses by David Ezra Stein, Carter thought this book was hilarious. He liked that the dinosaur kept accidentally hurting things. It kind of sounded like someone I know! He also liked the predictable text and I caught him in the living room sitting on the floor reading this book to himself so many times. He'd be flipping through the books saying, "I'll kiss you..." and then "Whoops!" I loved it!