The RAHK Report for 4/22/18

We've been potty training Little Bo Peep (2.5 years) this week, so we've stuck close to home and read a ton of books. Here are the highlights:

• The Bull Beneath the Walnut Tree and other stories by Anita Hewett, illustrated by Imero Gorbato
  Miss Muffet has been enjoying reading stories from this collection after nap time (which, for her, is more like quiet time these days). I have not read any yet myself, but my husband has, and he asks her questions at the dinner table that confirm that is comprehending what she reads.
• Busy Water by Irma Simonton Black, pictures by Jane Castle
  When Miss Muffet asked about evaporation this week, we read this basic introduction to the water cycle. It's more about the way water flows from smaller brooks, to larger rivers and oceans, but it does talk a little bit about water returning to the clouds and then brought down again as rain. It does not mention the word "evaporation," however, so we'll be consulting a science book or two to get a little more detail.
• The Happy Hollisters on a River Trip by Jerry West
  This second book of the series is on OpenLibrary, so I decided to read it aloud since Miss Muffet enjoyed the first one so much. One day this week, Bo Peep smacked Miss Muffet with a large wooden block and bruised her finger. While she was upset about this, I took Miss Muffet to my bed and tucked her in for a bit, and we ended up finishing the book! I am probably going to go ahead and buy book 3 for the Kindle app on my phone so we can continue reading in order.
• History Can Be Fun by Munro Leaf
  Miss Muffet has been reading this on and off for months. It was both a good challenge for her reading skills and an appropriately basic introduction to the history of the world. It seems her favorite topics were the Roman Empire and barbarians, as she keeps telling people, including her grandmother, that "Some people who came before us were barbarians!"

• Good for You! Toddler Rhymes for Toddler Times by Stephanie Calmenson
  I have to admit that I don't like this poetry collection that much now that Bo Peep is asking to hear the entire book multiple times a week. I used to like some of the poems for toddler story time, but the more I read them aloud, the more I realize how off the rhythm is in each poem, and how many rhymes just don't quite fit. But it does cover some good concepts - colors, manners, numbers, letters, parts of the body, etc. - and she is picking up new information, so I can probably stand it a bit longer.
• Here's a Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters, illustrated by Polly Dunbar
  I presented this to Bo Peep as an alternative to Good For You! and she took to it pretty well. I read it with her and Jumping Joan, and she kept snatching at the illustrations saying she was catching the babies in the pictures. She especially took a liking to the little girl on the swing in the image that accompanies "The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson and the little curly-haired girl snuggling her cat alongside "Cat Kisses" by Bobbi Katz.
• Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car by John Burningham
  This book falls in and out of favor around here, but Bo Peep was interested in it this week, especially after we realized we have finger puppets to match all of the animals in the story. We stuck them and a few peg dolls in our little wooden bus and acted out the story, which Bo Peep thought was a very fun idea.
• What a Wonderful World, illustrated by Tim Hopgood
  This book was given to Jumping Joan, and she enjoys it, but Bo Peep has been the one to learn the song and start singing it to herself. There is something very sweet about her little voice singing out, "And I think to myself, what a wonderful world." It's also funny how she imitates every nuance of my singing.
• Black Bird Yellow Sun by Steve Light
  Jumping Joan spent a lot of time pawing at this book during tummy time this week. She seems to be drawn to the bold colors of the illustrations, and I'm sure the corners of the front cover are tasty too.