AB’s Bookshelf.

I’m not a big fan of reality. Let me escape into a good book or film anyday as opposed to having to interact in the real world. But alas as I have started my two new jobs over the past two weeks, I have gotten a big fat dose of the medicine called reality. Therefore, I decided that this edition of the kiddo’s bookshelf should include some big helpings of healthy imagination.

1. Adventure Annie Goes to Work written by Toni Buzzeo and illustrated by Amy Wummer:  Saturdays are Annie’s day for adventures. She’s even got the perfect outfit complete with advernture cape and sparkle tights. But when Adventure Annie’s mom has to go into work to find an important report that has been misplaced, Adventure Annie finds herself on a Big Report Treasure Hunt. Annie makes a humongous mess, but finds the missing  gold report. “Adventure Annie to the Rescue!” Bringing your kid to the office is inevitable. Your kiddo will be sick but you have to hand something in or child care falls through or as in Annie’s mother’s case, you were the last one to handle something of importance. And offices are always way more interesting when you’re a kid, even if it’s boring. A kid can turn the most mundane setting and make it magical. Case in point: Annie does not want to sit at the desk and draw at her mom’s desk, she wants to go on a treasure hunt which requires her to get into stuff including supply closets and other people’s offices. Sure when you bring your kid to work, you get your work done, but you also spend the same amount of effort cleaning up after them. Oh, the joys of working parenthood.
2. When Louis Armstrong Taught Me Scat written by Muriel Harris Weinstein and illustrated by R. Gregory Christie: It is hard to find children’s books for the preschool crowd that serve as introductions to various subjects. Most of the ones that I come up are too wordy. AB’s attention per page is quite short, but I want to expose her to various things that will lead to our fun discussions. So I am always on the lookout. This book was perfect. A little girl is visited in her dreams by Louis Armstrong who teaches her to scat by singing about bubble gum. It is goofy and fun. There were many giggles over our imitations of Louis Armstrong gravel and our own attempts at scat. Then we danced around to his classic duet with Ella, “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”.
3. Blueberry Girl written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Charles Vess: Neil Gaiman is prolific and splendiferous (and I am still bitter that we were left empty-handed when his Lit Fest event this weekend sold out with a quickness) . He wrote Blueberry Girl for Tori Amos when she was pregnant with her daughter Tash, which I found super sweet and it made the book even more endearing. Read this book, with great illustrations by Mr. Vess, with  “Ribbons Undone” from Tori’s The Beekeeper album on repeat softly in the background and have a little mother-daughter cuddle time. Blueberry Girl and Someday byAlison McGhee are two books that should help ensure that creepy Love You Forever is banished from bookshelves and baby showers everywhere.
4. Once Upon A Saturday by Leslie Lammle: Ah, those dreaded Saturday chores.  June uses her imagination to tackle the tasks that stand between her and  wild animals, lost treasure and learning how to fly.  She finds an alligator (or is it a crocodile?) in her oatmeal. A crow teaches her how to fly to the mailbox. She gets a helping hand from the wind while sweeping leaves from the porch steps. Last but not least, she drives out the monsters living under her bed. She accomplishes all of this wearing an adorable pink dress and pilot goggles. A-dor-a-ble. Ms. Lammle is one of those double threats who can write a great story and do kick-ass illustrations. The illustrations were just plain awesome.  I would love to get prints of some and to frame and put in AB’s room. A nice reminder that chores can be really fun if you just use your imagination. Hey, I still pretend that I’m playing “house” when I wash the dishes, cook dinner and other domestic activities.  A spoonful of sugar…

Happy reading!