Starting Fresh: Books for Sofie

Monday, January 17, 2011

Books for Sofie - age 3 going on 4

I'm heading overseas to visit my family. I haven't been home in years and am excited to see my niece Sofie. The last time I'd seen her, she had a few words that she used with great enthusiasm: berries, ice cream, lotion, hot, Mama, Papa, Gaby Gab, No!, hello, bye, come, arf arf....

She's progressed beyond board books and is much more of a girly girl than I ever was. I've been setting aside books for her. Here are a few that I've found --

How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills
In How Rocket Learned to Read, a puppy named Rocket befriends a small (and officious) bird. The small yellow bird sets up to teach but doesn't have any pupils. The bird begins to read aloud about an unlucky dog named Buster who lost his bone. Rocket listens in and is determined to learn to read - to be able to find out more about Buster. As the bird teaches Rocket to sound out words, I can see Sofie learning as well. I found this book through Gilt.com

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman
At 32 pages, the book is quite brief. But the book is made to be read aloud - by the child and by an adult and together. The book contains several fairy tales which have been updated, transformed into verse and can be read aloud. Each stanza is colored, so you can easily mark whose turn it is to read and the rhymes are catchy. Every page has several colorful illustrations that move the story along and are sure to enchant young readers. It's a thin book, but one that I'm sure will be read and revisited often.

The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury: Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud by Janet Schulman is hardcover and thick with 297 pages and 44 beloved children's books. (My copy has that beautiful new book smell.) Each page contains the illustrations and text of several pages of the children's classics. I was excited to find several of my chiildhood favorites:

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Curious George by H.A. Rey
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Bedtime for Francis by Russel Hoban
The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Petunia by Roger Duvoisin
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham
Owen by Kevin Henkes
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
The Sneetches from the Sneetches & Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
I am a Bunny by Ole Risom, illustrated by Richard Scary
Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathman

And there were so many stories that I was glad to discover. I'd found this book through Gilt.com as well.

I've quite a few more books for Sofie and - I'll touch on in another post.

Here are the Alexander books that I'm looking forward to sharing with her - in a year or so?