16 More, 56 To Go.. Plus an Extra

It's been quite the adventure reading all these books. I don't think I've ever read so many new books in such a short time in my entire life.

Multiple trips too and from the Provo and Orem libraries have made it so I've lost count. I suppose losing count of how often you go to the library isn't a bad thing at all!

In between some trips, I visited with one of my sisters who offered to give me a selection of her picture books as all of her children are pretty much too old for them, now. SCORE!! I have yet to unload the books from the bags they are in because I have no room in my bookshelves for them. You have to love books to understand how awesome it is to have more books than room. ;) A few of the books I got from her are on the list of 100 books. I'll have to fish them out when I get to those.

5. The Best Pet of All by David Larochelle - (★★★★) A little boy wants a puppy and he asks his mother for one. She has many excuses to not get one. He finally bargains with her that if he can find a dragon, she will let him keep it. I'm sure she thought she was very clever, but soon found out otherwise! The kids were appropriately shocked by the dragon's behavior and were very interested in how it would turn out. There is a slight undertone of outsmarting one's parents, but they aren't old enough to catch that yet. I suppose this book will be stricken off the list when they get to that age! ;)

17. Corduroy by Don Freeman - (★★★★★) What a sweet story about a teddy bear who just wants to go home with a little child. His adventure in the store after closing time is cute and brought out touching concern on the part of my children. They really cared about this little bear!

20. Duck on a Bike by David Shannon - (★★★★★) When duck decides to ride a bike, nearly all the other barnyard animals scoff. But what happens when there are suddenly enough bikes for all? The kids laughed and giggled all the way through this book. Even Dad chuckled at a few bits.


23. The End by David LaRochelle - (★★★3/4) Audrey almost got the concept of this book. The whole story runs backward, starting with "And they lived happily ever after." Then it starts to explain why they lived happily ever after and so on. When you get to the end of the book, it goes, "Once upon a time..." It was cute and Audrey loved the pictures. She struggled a bit with why the story was running backward. I think she has difficulty with books that don't follow the "rules" of story-telling. When she gets older, I'll make sure to tell her that once she understands the rules, it's much easier to bend and play around with them. ;)

24. Epossumondas by Coleen Salley - (★★★★) This story reminded me of the style of old folk tales. Epossumondas' mother gives her furry son careful instructions on how to carry the gifts from his Auntie home. His careful obedience leads to trouble every time. Audrey was old enough to know that he was doing things all wrong. Especially when it came to getting the puppy home!


25. Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor - (★★★★★★) I know I'm fudging this a bit by putting in six stars... but Audrey LOVED this book. As soon as we were done reading it, she asked if we could please, please, please, keep it. I told her that because it is the Library's book, we have to return it, but if I find it in a store, I will buy it for her. Fancy Nancy is fancy and she likes to do and say everything in fancy ways. Her family is not fancy at all and she sets out to teach them how. An adorable book!

26. Fire Truck by Peter Sís - (★★★★) Henry loved this book for obvious reasons. Fire Trucks!! He and his sister even took it in stride when the little boy TURNED INTO a Fire Truck. Simple, cute book.


27. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow - (★★★★★) Both of the kids really liked this one a lot. As luck turned out, the library had holds on this book for weeks. I ran into it during our last trip to DI. When I got home, I found that the package I bought at DI had three copies of this book in it! So, I kept one and donated the other two to the library since they don't seem to have enough. ;) Audrey immediately wanted the book in the room and she's been reading it to herself the last few days. It follows the old finger-play nursery rhyme pretty much perfectly, but there is a cute little side not at the end. Fun!

28. Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London - (★★★★) Daddy read this book to the kids and I could tell he had a really good time with the sound effects. The kids were fascinated with Froggy's attempts to get ready to go outside. It reminded me of the dressing adventures in my own little family.

29. George and Martha by James Marshall - (★★★★★) I thought this book would turn out to be dull, just based on the cover. I guess I should have thought twice. There were five mini-stories contained in this book about two good friends who are hippos. The kids thought they were funny and cute. Did the message of good friendship and honesty sink in? I hope so! :)


30. Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley - (★★★★★) Audrey liked this book fairly well, but it was Henry who was completely taken with it! After I finished reading it, he ignored the other stories that night and looked at this book over and over again. The pages slowly reveal the big, green monster and then the narrator orders the monster away bit by bit. Taking control of the existence of a monster was a relief to me. Not only could the kids feel like they could make the monster appear, but disappear at will. Smart, clever story!

33. The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson - (★★★1/2) While I thought the story was funny and cute, my kids needed a little explanation. Especially Henry. The Gruffalo's Child (a little hairy monster) goes out at night to find the Big Bad Mouse! Why a monster should be afraid of a mouse, I'm sure I don't know!

34. Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard - (★★★★★) Reading this story couldn't have come at a better time. Both of my kids were cranky and grumpy that night. As it turns out, so was Grumpy Bird. As Grumpy Bird stomped around, being grouchy, his little animal friends join him on his walk. By the time Grumpy Bird started cheering up, so were my children!

35. Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen - (★★★★1/2) Guji Guji is a crocodile who was hatched by a duck. He loves his duck family, but what happens when some other crocodiles show up to tell him how he is really supposed to behave? What a cute story! The kids loved it and the pictures were great!


37. Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion  - (★★★1/2) Harry does not like taking baths, so he buries the scrub brush and runs away. He goes and plays in some very dirty places and, after he decides that he misses home, ends up being a black dog with white spots instead of a white dog with black spots. When he goes home, his family does not recognize him... but will this turn of events make him reconsider taking a bath? This was a cute story and Audrey was engaged, but she wasn't especially taken with it. Kind of a shrug of the shoulders response.


50. Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes - (★★★★★) We got this book out of order because Audrey was begging and begging me to find her a cat book while we were at the library. The sweet librarian overheard her and brought me this book. I would have taken it no matter what, but I was especially pleased when I realized it was on my list! Kitten is convinced that the full moon is a dish of milk just waiting for her up in the sky. She tries and she tries with amusing and heart-breaking results to reach that dish of milk! Audrey frowned and worried and awww!-ed all through the story. 

It turns out that this is one of the books my sister gave us, too! BONUS! We get to read it as often as we want now!

Not on the list - Doing the Garden by Sarah Garland (Because no one has Eddie's Garden: And how to make things Grow. Though, I did request the purchase of this book) - (★★★★) Doing the Garden was a fun, simple story about a family going to the gardening store and getting seeds, plants, and even a tree. Audrey was completely amused by the dog's antics in the yard. We really enjoyed this one and hope that Eddie's Garden is just as fun... if we ever find it!