i love this book: Free-Range Kids

I recently read this post, where a mother described wanting to give her kids a "1970's summer," with days filled with watching classic tv shows, playing outside, scavenging for whatever food the kids can find, and minimal adult supervision.

Awesome! I love it.

I definitely have helicopter parent tendencies, but I love the idea of kids running wild in the backyard, showing up for dinner covered in dirt and with a slight sunburn. Of spending the day making their own fun with whatever they find. (And this is not just because I want a little time to myself. Well, maybe a little bit.)

I stumbled across the book Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Kids the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry, by Lenore Skenazy. You know, the infamous mother who made the news by allowing her nine-year-old son to ride the subway home by himself.

I have suspected for a while that some of the things we do as parents these days might be a little bit... silly. I don't remember my own parents hovering over us at all times. I remember playing outdoors by myself or with my siblings plenty of times. Riding our bikes around the neighborhood. Kids learn from making mistakes. Pushing the boundaries of what they can do helps kids to define their limits. So why was I constantly calling out safety alerts to my son? Trying to prevent him from scraping his knees? Trying to protect him from his own feelings of frustration, anger, and fear? In effect, preventing him from experiencing the things he needs to experience in order to grow and become a well-adjusted adult?

This book confirms what I had been wondering: today's parents may have gone a wee bit overboard in protecting their children from harm. In a humorous and supportive tone, the author pokes fun at our attitudes toward children (those fragile, delicate things), the ridiculous safety equipment that we purchase (do crawlers really need knee pads?), and provides tips, ranging from baby steps to giant leaps, for loosening the grip we have on our children so that they can actually live a little, and have some fun doing it.

The author's goal is to help us understand what situations are truly dangerous and which are not. For example: running out into the street is dangerous. Walking to school at an appropriate age, when the child shows they have the maturity and skills to do so, is probably not dangerous. Parents can help keep their children safe by teaching them safe behaviors, like not running into the street, rather than putting them on lockdown until they go to college.

Many of the suggestions in this book are geared toward older children, perhaps ages nine and up, but I am finding the general concepts useful in parenting my three-year-old.

Author's Note: The opinions in this book review are solely my own. I received no incentive or compensation for writing this review.

i love this book: Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or, There Must Be More to Life

People's preference in books is so interesting. I recently brought home Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or, There Must Be More to Life, by Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, to read to my son. My husband did not like this book. At. All.

I loooooved it. So did my son. That makes me wonder if I should even be writing these posts at all. I mean, what are the chances that someone reading this will have the same taste as me, and this post will actually be helpful for them?

Well, I can't stop myself, because I really loved this book. Here's the premise: Jennie, a dog with everything decides to leave her cushy home in search of "something more." Out in the world, things get interesting: she attempts to apply for a position of leading lady in the World Mother Goose Theater, but, unfortunately, doesn't have enough experience to land the part. What follows is an adventure that is weird, funny, surreal, a little bit scary, and heart-warming. Definitely a different world than most children's books I've read, and a great read for child and parent alike.

Suggested age range: 4-8 years per Amazon (my son is 3)

Author's Note: The opinions in this book review are solely my own. I received no incentive or compensation for writing this review.

i love this book: James Herriot's Treasury for Children

My son recently began reading chapter books. I'm so excited! I still love picture books, but chapter books feel like a whole new exciting world.

Over the weekend, we read James Herriot's Treasury for Children. I loved it. So did my son.

I read all of James Herriot's books when I was growing up.  The stories about the British country veterinarian were fascinating to me. Herriot described his world in a vivid, uplifting way.

This collection of stories is no different: full of love and life, and a glimpse into a different world. The full-page, color illustrations are amazing and really capture the feel of the stories.

One thing I like about this book is that, although all the stories have happy endings, there are some difficult things that happen, just like in real life: a favorite cow gets sent away to be sold. A mother cat dies, leaving behind a tiny kitten. A tiny lamb wanders away from his mother and almost dies in a snowstorm. These events are not presented in a way to scare young readers, but for the purpose of telling a realistic story and showing how these hardships were overcome. It's easy to gloss over and shelter children from difficult topics. It's harder to present them in a gentle, age-appropriate way that promotes discussion, and this book does it well.

Suggested age range: 4-8 years per Amazon (my son is 3)

Author's Note: The opinions in this book review are solely my own. I received no incentive or compensation for writing this review.

i love this book: Smash! Mash! Crash! There Goes the Trash!

My son requested Smash! Mash! Crash! There Goes the Trash! (Barbara Odanaka) after seeing it on the back of another book we read recently. I requested it from the library and brought it home the other day. 

I might have mentioned before that he is into trains. Well, he is also into garbage trucks. This book is a blast to read. The prose is simple, fun, and rhyming. And the pictures are beautiful! I've never seen such colorful (in a good way) garbage. As you can tell from the cover above, the colors are gorgeous.

This hungry garbage truck devours everything in sight, as two garbage men fill it up with rotten eggs and stinky diapers (my son thinks this is hilarious), and a trio of dogs watch.

Suggested age range: 4-8 years per Amazon (my son is 3 and it's perfect for him)

Author's Note: The opinions in this book review are solely my own. I received no incentive or compensation for writing this review.


                                

i love this book: Thomas the Tank Engine's BIG Lift-and-Look Book

My son received Thomas the Tank Engine's BIG Lift-and-Look Book (Owain Bell) when he was about one. It's been one of his favorite books for the past two years.

When he first started reading it, the appeal was lifting the flaps to find what was inside. This book has over 60 flaps to lift, so that kept him busy and interested for quite a while.

Each page in the book also has an educational theme to it, such as colors, counting, and comparing big and small. Now that my son is older, we talk about these themes when we read the book.

He has also recently become very interested in trains, so that adds another dimension of interest for him.
 

Overall, this has been a book with staying power for us. I highly recommend it.

Suggested age range: 2-3 years per Amazon (although my son enjoyed lifting the flaps at age 1)

Author's Note: The opinions in this book review are solely my own. I received no incentive or compensation for writing this review.

i love this book: Remember Me?

Enough about children's books - let's talk about chick lit!

I've been reading a lot of books about parenting and healthy eating and other topics that are interesting and important, but not exactly what I would call "fun" reading. I picked up Remember Me? (Sophie Kinsella) as an audiobook at the library a couple weeks ago. Now this is a fun book.

Here's the premise: Lexi Smart falls down and hits her head while out clubbing with her friends. When she wakes up, it's three years later. She finds that she now has a high-powered job. The perfect husband. A beautiful, expensive loft apartment.  And no memory of any of it. We tag along with Lexi as she tries to integrate into her new life while uncovering secrets about the last three years.

This isn't intellectual literary fiction; it's make-you-laugh-out-loud fun. And even though I could guess what was going to happen, this book had me hooked until the end. (Picture me setting up the cd player next to my sewing machine so I could listen to it during my naptime chores.)

If you do read this book as an audiobook, just note that it's not suitable for young listeners. So you may find yourself being thankful for red lights and taking the long way to pick up the kids from school.

i love this book: Pigs Love Potatoes

I'm going to be honest... when I pick out books for my son at the library, I try to pick books that he and I will both like. Because if I'm going to read a book 30 times, it had better have nice pictures, or be well written, or have something that makes it enjoyable for me.

Pigs Love Potatoes (Anika Denise and Christopher Denise) has all that. This is a sweet story about a family of pigs who are getting ready to have potatoes for supper. The pictures are beautiful and allow us to jump into the world of this pig family. The story is perfectly written. But nothing makes me happier than a sassy mama, and this book has a great one. She scolds two of her little pigs for yelping that they want potatoes. She scolds Papa for inviting the neighbor over without asking her first. And she insists on a kiss from everyone as they clear their plates after dinner. Hot diggity! I love it. I really admire this Mama Pig.

The other thing I really love about this book is that this family of pigs is full of joy and love. It's just so fun to see how happy they are.

Suggested age range: 4-8 years per Amazon (although it worked for my 2-1/2-year-old)

Author's Note: The opinions in this book review are solely my own. I received no incentive or compensation for writing this review.

i love this book: Tap the Magic Tree

I recently borrowed Tap the Magic Tree (Christie Matheson) from the library. I always agonize over which books to pick. As a working mom, getting books from the library for my son is one thing that makes me feel like a good mom, and I get a lot of joy out of it. He usually spots them in the car when I pick him up from school and wants to read them right now. When we get home, we pull out the books and read them on the floor, just inside the door. I love that time spent with him.

The day I picked up Tap the Magic Tree, I had already been agonizing over my book selection for too long, and it was time to get back to the office. The book looked simple, and although I wasn't sure it would hold my 2-1/2-year-old's attention, I grabbed it and left.

We had a blast reading Tap the Magic Tree!  The story follows the tree through the course of a year. The pictures are lovely in their simplicity. However, what makes this book special is that each page requires you to perform an action related to the story, with the action resulting in a change on the next page. We laughed together as we blew kisses to the tree, shook the book, and rubbed the tree to keep it warm.

This book gave us an opportunity to practice counting and discuss topics such as the weather, colors, and how baby birds need their mamas (he is very in tune with how babies need their parents right now).

Suggested age range: 4-8 per Amazon (although my 2-1/2-year-old totally got into it)

Author's Note: The opinions in this book review are solely my own. I received no incentive or compensation for writing this review.