Copy Me, Copycub by Richard Edwards
(recommended through
Children's Book of the Month Club)
I thought this was going to be about copying actions, but it's actually a story about a little bear, his year with his mother, and how he gets to theircave for hibernation. The illustrations are done in a sweet style, and it's a sweet story.
Five Little Monkeys Play Hide and Seek by Eileen Christelow
(recommended through
Children's Book of the Month Club)
As I'm trying to grow a reader, I try to pick up on her interests at the time and reinforce them with the books from our library pile. This one had been on our list for a while, but got selected for this batch because she spent a lot of time playing hide and seek* with her grandma during grandma's February visit. The song about Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed was one of her favorites as a baby, and the illustrations were cute in the previous series book of that title. They're still cute (although that teenage babysitter monkey could stand to wear a shirt that covers more of her belly), and it had the side bonus of being a book that involved a lot of counting.
(Well, a two-year-old's version of hide-and-seek, in which she informs the other player where they are to hide, announces where she is going to hide -- using the other participant's immediately preceding hiding place -- and so on.)
Where's Waldo Fantastic Journey
(Nora chose at the library)
I'm not sure why she chose it, but it was lying out on one of the tables in the kids' section, and she wanted to read it a lot -- and look at the busy, colorful pictures and ask questions about them -- before it got returned (at my encouragement, earlier than it was due -- some of the wizards/war/fighting/gruesomeness seemed a bit too much too soon for a two-year-old to spend a lot of time with).
Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes
(Nora chose at the library)
Another book by one of her favorite authors; this one features mouse friends Chester and Wilson, who do things their own certain way -- until Lily moves into the neighborhood. This is one Nora has enjoyed enough to practically memorize.
New Cat by Choi Yangsook
(Nora chose at the library)
On this one, she made a good choice for herself (in Mommy's humble opinion): new cat belongs to a Korean immigrant, and manages to save his tofu factory from a fire. It's got an animal, a plot and a multicultural story that touches on the issue of immigration.