Library Haul (Pt. 2)

I got this idea to start doing library hauls to share with you some of the books that I believe deserve a little recognition. I have to go to the library quite often because Aviva needs to read for 20 minutes every night as part of her homework. It doesn’t sound like a lot of time but it definitely feels like it is when you breeze through picture books. Since the books we check out are for (younger) children, we usually can read about 2-4 books in that time frame. If you do the math, on average, that's about 15 books during the school week. As a result you can imagine what a trip to the library looks like, if not, think about leaving with the motherload stack of books. Now I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover -figuratively and literally- but let’s be real, not all books are created equal. I decided to help you out by doing all the work and weeding out anything less than worth your time…or your read aloud voice in my case. I have chosen these books based off of illustrations (I’m huge on this), story line, whether my children were engaged and overall enjoyability. It might be because of one of these reasons or several of them combined. Sometimes you get a beautifully aesthetic picture book with a lack luster story or vice versa. Sometimes we’ll read books that I won’t be a huge fan of but Aviva or Abby were really into them. On a good haul, out of every 10-15 books we borrow, usually 5-6 tend to have any lasting impression. If you get as excited for new books as I do then be sure to come back for other Library Haul posts in the future ;)

ON A V. SERIOUS NOTE!!!: 

[ I’ve been careful not to include too many pictures of the inside of books for copyrighted reasons. All credit goes to the wonderful artists and authors who have given us these books to enjoy. I only have good intentions here and hope to inspire others to fall in love with children’s books. I want nothing more than to offer recommendations so you too can be apart of the fun that is rediscovering imagination through reading to our kids. ]

Bathroom Boogie by Clare Foges

You know what happens in the bathroom when no one is home? Nothing, but I wish it cleaned itself. In Bathroom Boogie however, a whole dance party takes place when no one is around. Everything from toothbrushes to soap suds get down. This book is a quick read that rhymes the whole way through. Accompanied with bright and colorful illustrations this one will for sure hold the kids attention. I found my two year old looking through the pages many times before we actually sat down to read it.

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

Whenever I see this cover I'm reminded of elementary days past. I recall sitting with classmates on a rug listening to this story and being captivated by the illustrations. To this day, I still love how beautifully vivid these pages are. The story is equally noteworthy and If you haven't read this book in a while I highly recommend revisiting it. Or of course, if you haven't read it at all, you certainly must. It's the story of a little girl who's "unusual" love for lima beans is trumped by a fear of her peers disapproval over it. After a lima bean eating hiatus, Camila comes down with a strange illness that perplexes her parents, the media and even doctors alike. Definitely a classic and a staple for your at home collection. My 5 year old loved this one as she was able to fully grasp the concepts in this book.

Louis I: King of the Sheep by Oliver Tallec

I think I liked this book more than my kids. haha One day, a giant gust of wind blows a crown onto the head of a sheep. Believed he is now a king, self proclaimed King Louis I, King of the Sheep begins to go all out during his short lived reign. As quickly as he was crowned, another gust of wind steals his crown and lands on the head of a less than desired on looker. Older children with knowledge on Versailles and the French court will better understand the witty humor of this book more. Nonetheless, Aviva got the gist of it when I had asked her what was going on. 

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown

Here's another book I was pleasantly surprised with since it actually got me lol-ing. As you can see from the cover, the animals in this story are all anthropomorphized to an almost Victorian-like "primed and proper" society. To the shock of everyone else, Mr. Tiger losses touch as he becomes more and more animalistic. Eventually the story leads to the climatic spread below. I love how this book flipped around Mr. Tiger acting like...well, a tiger, as unusual. It plays with themes of what's normal and what isn't as perceived by everyone around us. If you don't read this book for your kids, read it for yourself :)

Without previous context of the story, this picture is nothing more but that of a tiger.  But at this point in the book we see this illustration as hilariously contrasted from the clothed and hind leg walking Mr.Tiger we are first introduced to at the beginning.

People Don't Bite People by Lisa Wheeler

It's basically a right of parenthood passage to at some point have been bitten by your kid or have your kid bite someone else. There's potty training books, becoming an older sibling books and now they have a PEOPLE DON'T BITE PEOPLE, BOOK. And praise be!! The sing-song rhyming style this book is written is catchy with the message we all need our LO's to hear. Even if the words don't sink in, it's good to know that we aren't alone in this parental struggle. If you checked out my Library Haul Pt. 1 post, I talked about the amazingly illustrated Pearl by Molly Idle. Although Lisa Wheeler is the author of People Don't Bite People, Molly Idle does it again by beautifully illustrating this book. I feel like I'm watching a Disney-Pixar short rather than reading when I look at the flowy and colorful pictures.

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I'm not exactly sure how to close this post, other than I have 2-3 more hauls I'll be trying my best to share in the near future. March was a dry spell month for me, with many things to blog about but no motivation to actually blog about it. April will be more promising. Thanks for reading! x

signing off

-Mercedes