I was reading to my granddaughters, and baby Malachi (3 1/2 months old here). He loved it, and now, at 5 months, listens avidly on my lap when I read to his siblings.

I LOVE Leslie Patricellis' books for babies!!!!!
Try her new ones for babies- I have gotten many laughs from toddlers from these!

Great shower gifts for a new mom! I guarantee the babies and toddlers you know will love these!

Two of my very favorite authors/illustrators are Erik & Lenore Blegvad. The Harper Collins website says about Erik: "Erik Blegvad is the distinguished illustrator of over a hundred books for children. He divides his time between London and Vermont." His wife, Lenore, "... was born in New York City and received her B.A. degree from Vassar College. She went to Paris to study painting, and there she met and married Danish artist Erik Blegvad. Dividing her time between painting and writing, Lenore is the author of a dozen books for children, including Anna Banana and Me, Rainy Day Kate, and A Sound of Leaves, all illustrated by Erik Blegvad, as well as Once Upon a Time and Grandma, which she both wrote and illustrated, " says the Simonsays website, with a photo of them, too!

I have some of their books, two of our favorites are Burnie's Hill and This is Me. Burnie's Hill (shown here with our very old board book "This is Me"- well-handled by children for over 20 years)

and an inside illustration of Burnie's Hill-

- a beautifully written traditional rhyme that all our children memorized at an early age, and now our grandhildren are!

And the chubby little board book, This is Me, is a delightful little book for toddlers- written by Lenore, and illustrated by Erik. I finally found a used one that wasn't as well-used as ours, and our 2 year old granddaughter keeps it at her home.

Tim Tadpole and the Great Bullfrog is another lovely Marjorie Flack book! Beautifully illustrated and telling the story of how a tadpole turns into a frog- a captivating story for young children! Out of print, but can be found on Ebay and other sites- worth searching for!

And I cannot forget to tell about Ask Mr. Bear- one of my two year old granddaughter's favorites! A story most preschoolers will sit still for! Filled with lovely illustrations of animals, and Danny- who wants to give his mother a birthday present- and asks animals for their advice. Finally, a BIG brown bear has wonderful advice for him. Enjoy this book!

I LOVE Marjorie Flack's books- the "Angus" books, the illustrations in "The Story of Ping", and others. I recently purchased an old book of hers- "Topsy" and it is a delightful story. I have read it to my grandchildren (one who is named Samantha) and they love it- it is the story of a little dog named Topsy and her adventures with a little girl named Judy, and an elderly old woman named Miss Samantha Littlefield. This is a book worth searching for on Ebay or other sites, as it probably is not in many libraries.

I read about Marjorie Flack on Answers.com - did not know that she was once married to Karl Larsson- what art they must have done together! Here is a little synopsis of her life-
"Marjorie Flack (22 October 1897 - ? 1958) was an artist and writer of children's picture books. She was best known for The Story about Ping(1933), popularized by Captain Kangaroo, and for her stories of an insatiably curious Scottish terrier named Angus, including Angus and the Ducks (1930). Her first marriage was to artist Karl Larsson; she later married poet William Rose Benet."

Our children loved Playmobil when they were little, and now our grandchildren and other visiting children are enjoying it. My daughter posted on her blog about them recently- with some great play tips for children. Playmobil are wonderful for hours of imaginative play. When we bought our first ones over 25 years ago, it was guaranteed that our kids would play with them more than any other toy or we could get our money back. It worked- Playmobil fast became their favorite toy.
Another favorite of our family is Glen Rounds- a real cowboy who writes and illustrates great books for kids. This book- Once We Had a Horse- is wonderful. I just read it this week to the Kindergarten class- they were delighted. It is the story of 2 kids, maybe in the Texas Panhandle- pretty bleak Plains surroundings, no toys, video games, bicycles, scooters- but an old horse comes into their life for their summer, and the enchanting and funny pictures tell the story of how they spent their summer learning to ride that horse. No riding lessons, no saddle, no reins- no one helping them, just dogged persistence.

I hope to get back to posting some books this week- I am still AVIDLY reading daily to young children- ages nine months-6 years old, and have many, many books to share with you, but time keeps slipping away!
The Children's Book Council has a nice list for newborns to 3 years on their website, with a few helpful hints to reading to these age groups. Check it out! The rest of the site is great, too!

I LOVE this bear! It is made of bark, with a chain of natural berries and eucalyptus nuts around its neck. (I got it at CostPlus World Market) It is going to be part of my Christmas decorating. But I am going to use it next week and show it to the kids I read to, and read some BEAR books like these....

Good books that kids enjoy- these. Some are old and can be found on Ebay or Bookfinder, the newer ones on Amazon. They are: Beady Bear, by Don Freeman (note: a good author to collect/check out his books); We're Going on A Bear Hunt, by Helen Oxenbury- great for todddlers, even!!! Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey (another note- he is a GREAT author- get his books!!!); The Biggest Bear, by Lynd Ward; The Bear That Heard Crying, by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock; and Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See, by Bill Martin and Eric Carle (snatch their books up, too!)

And I got a moose at the same store that day, too- here he is with some good moose books-
. The books are for older kids, great ones, though- My Friend Mac, by May McNeer Lynd Ward (two great names in early childhood publishing lore- they were married, and all of his books are good, by the way); and Honk the Moose, by Phil Stong.

I have always loved reading nursery rhymes to children. And they are good for them! It is amazing how fast even a one and a half year old or two year old can learn to recite a simple nursery rhyme like Humpty Dumpty or Wee Willie Winkie!

I found Shirley's wonderful website and she has a good list of why to read them-

"The Benefits of Preschool Songs and Nursery Rhymes

There are many benefits to learning nursery rhymes and preschool songs:

1. Nursery rhymes, poems and songs will provide your children with opportunities to develop an appreciation for rhyme and rhythm, as well as to develop their memory and auditory skills .

2. Research in the field of early childhood development and reading has shown that children who struggle to recognise words that rhyme, often have difficulty in learning to read. Hence the importance of familiarizing children with rhymes and preschool songs.

3. The rhythm of songs, poems and rhymes help children to remember the words and helps to develop auditory memory skills .

It has been said that the golden age for memory is between ages 6-9. At this age a child can memorize more quickly and remember for longer than at any other time in his life (Raymond Moore, Better Late Than Early, p197). I have also heard it said that children, who cannot yet read, remember better than their peers who can read, as the non-readers cannot refer back to the text for information but have to remember everything they have seen or heard.

4. Listening is an important skill to encourage – and it is an important step towards one day learning to read.

5. Poems and verses use words to paint word pictures and nursery rhymes help to activate that awareness.

6. While you read, sing, play and act out nursery rhymes together you are conveying to your children that sounds make words and that words are fun!

7. Nursery rhymes also help children to appreciate and develop an understanding of humour.

8. Since many nursery rhymes also include mathematical concepts, like counting, time, height, measurement, position, volume, weather, temperature etc… you should use them as opportunities to develop vocabulary around these concepts.

9. Fingerplay rhymes and clapping songs are a delightful way to help children develop motor skills and co-ordination .

10. The intriguing and fanciful stories, colourful characters and vivid language of nursery rhymes and preschool songs have fascinated children for centuries and helped expand their imaginations. People who live in shoes, dishes that run, eggs that sit on walls – what an enchanting introduction to the world of literature, storytelling, play-acting and make-believe.

11. Since there are always new children, there is never a need for new preschool songs and nursery rhymes. Children and their parents have kept them alive for centuries and maintained them as an integral part of our language and cultural heritage."

Here are some books I read to children that have rhymes in them-

I recently found this wonderful set of "Vintage Nursery Rhyme Cards" on Amazon- they are brand new, but look vintage and are very durable, and the kids love to pick them up and pretend to read the rhymes-

On my trip to the public library last week, I looked at the "new" books in the children's room in the Non-Fiction section. This is a great place to look for books- our library always has a huge amount of brand new books in this section. I always feel like it is my birthday when I leave and I just received a bunch of presents. I read most of these aloud to the preschoolers and kindergartners. They are fascinated by these books- maybe because most of them are photographs and are real-life. I taught them the difference between "fiction" and "non-fiction" books, too.

Here is the list of books in the photo. You can probably find them at your library or on Amazon.
Barbers; Grocers by Alison Behnke
Staying Safe in Emergencies, by Robin Nelson
Playing Safely by by Robin Nelson
Rookie- Read About Health (Scholastic)- Taking Care of your Teeth, by don Curry
An I can Read Book- Amazing Sharks, by Sarh L. Thomson
Watch me Grow- Frog, by Lisa Magloff
Snapshots- The Wonders of Monterey Bay, Celeste Davidson Mannis
My Frist Horse and Pony book, by Judith Draper
Construction Zone, by Cheryl Willis Hudson