Library "Daze" - Spring and other things

So today was baby bookworm's first day of toddler story time.  It actually ended up being fairly similar to the baby story time she was used to: 2 books, nursey rhymes and songs, followed by a play and socialization session.  The main exception was that the room was packed!  But, it was the first session for the Spring so my guess is that it won't be quite as crowded every other week.  One of the books that was read today was one that baby bookworm particiularly enjoyed because the mouse charater was one she recognized from a book we have at home. "Mouse" is the star in a series of books, including Mouse's First Spring which was read today. This is a great series to help your child build comprehension and vocabulary because you can introduce a bunch of topics such as: Christmas, Fall, School, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Snow, Summer....and the list goes on.  They are mostly, if not all, titled "Mouse's First....".  We have Mouse's First Halloween and ironically we read it this morning before story time.  It's a big favorite (gosh, I feel like I say that often though!).  We read it at least a hundred times at Halloween, but I'm always pleased to see how much baby bookworm remembers from a book that we haven't read in awhile.

After story time we perused the bookshelves as usual, and walked away with 5 books:

1). My Beak, Your Beak
by Melanie Walsh
copyright 2002

This is a good book for babies and toddlers with lots of bright colors and few words.  I picked it because we had read another book by this author called My Nose, Your Nose that baby bookworm enjoyed.  So far with one read through under our belt, this book has not disappointed and captivated my little one's attention from cover to cover.

2). Let's Go to Sleep! (part of the Good Habits with Coco and Tula series)
written and illustrated by Patricia Geis
copyright 2010

This is a board book that my bookworm picked out, but hey, I'm not going to argue with "Let's Go to Sleep!"  There are several other titles in this series that would seem to be very useful to a parent with a toddler: Good-bye Diaper, Good-bye Pacifier (hmmm...this might be our next read), Let's Help, Let's Get Well, Let's Get Dressed, Let's Wash Up, and Let's Eat.

3). Earrings!
by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Nola Langner Malone
copyright 1990

Judith Viorst is a popular children's book author and most famously, I believe, known for the book in #4.  This book appealed to me because baby bookworm is fascinated with my earrings (she can now say earring sorta successfully), and I really would love to get her ears pierced soon.  The book just seemed fun.  Thus far we've read about half...it is long, and probably a book for an elementary school child.  I think if I put enough expression into the story though I may be able to get my bookworm more interested.  If not, oh well, at least I enjoyed it!

4). Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz
copyright 1972

I selfishly picked this book because it's one of my all-time favorites.  It just gives me a very nostalgic feeling.  Pretty much no chance baby bookworm will sit still for it, but maybe, just maybe if she hears bits and pieces of it from time to time she'll grow to love it too.  Once she hits preschool I bet it will be one of her favorites. 

5). Awesome Book of Thanks!
by Dallas Clayton
copyright 2010

I am trying to get baby bookworm to learn some manners.  You know, her pleases, and thank yous.  So this book seemed perfect, and it looked pretty brand new (I love discovering new gems).  Well, we read this book once so far, and I LOVE it.  Pictures are colorful and lively.  It is very long, but it does rhyme and therefore has a sing-songiness that my bookworm likes.  The book is published by Amazon Encore, and the author is the creator of The Awesome World Foundation which donates books to kids in need (OK, that's pretty awesome).  Shouldn't everyone be trying to make this world a better place?  You go Dallas Clayton, thank you.  Can't wait to check out: veryawesomeworld.com. 

One added bonus to the toddler story time today was some literature for parents on literacy and phonemic awareness, and I REALLY liked one article in particular titled: "Why Children Master Using Words When They Do" by Lauran Neergaard.  According to this article professor Bob McMurrary believes that talking and reading to a child is the key to boosting language and vocabulary in children, not necessarily some brain mechanism that is suddenly triggered.  He states in the article, "Children are soaking up everything...you might use serendipity to a child. It will take that child maybe hundreds of exposures, or thousands, to learn what serendipity means.  So why not start early?"  My sentiments exactly!