Sorry for the lack of posting, it's not because I have nothing to write about, I guess I'm just in a blogging slump. There's so many blogs I am planning to do...Parker's first haircut, his big birthday party, and our 16 trip to Northern Italy...and one day I will! I thought I'd take a moment to share with all the other mommies out there, and also with people who are always looking for great baby gifts, these fantastic baby books! The ones I'm listing are Parker's favorites and I don't know what we'd do without them!
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Tails by Matthew Van Fleet is an amazing book (great find Cathy!) with great illustrations and touchy-feely tails on each page. It's a beautiful book with rhyming words, pull tabs (that are actually made of board book material), pages that open and close, and different textures/materials throughout.
My next door neighbor, Lisa, got us hooked on Usborne touchy-feely books and I am in turn hooking other babies on them. These are Parker's favorites and we own (to name a few) That's not my monster (his ultimate fav), That's not my dinosaur, That's not my teddy, That's not my dragon, and That's not my doggie. I think every parent should invest in these books. Usborne also makes books for as they get older (we already have Night, Night Stories and love it).
Another fun book that can spark play between parent and baby is this series of "Faces" books. There are eye cutouts that mommy and baby can take turns looking through. Parker thinks it's soooo funny when mommy looks like a pig, zebra, and other fun animals! We have Farm Faces and Zoo Faces and I'm sure I'll collect others.
My sister, Erin, found this book for Parker's birthday. It is one of the most beautifully illustrated books I've ever seen (remind me a lot of Eric Carle books) and also teaches about dinosaurs (this would suit younger children as well as kindergarten age). Parker is not allowed to play with this one, but I let him look as I read. The name is Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar by Bob Barner.
One last recommendation is Bee & Me by Elle J. McGuiness. Parker got this from my sister, Cathy, for his birthday and is fasinated by it. It's about a friendship between a little boy and a bee and also teaches the importance of bees and what we can do to help them. It has these neat hologram-like pictures that move on almost every page. Once again, this would even be appropriate for older kids since it teaches a great lesson.
I'd love to hear if any of you have great book suggestions (I already know about the classics- and have them all, but I'm interested in the lesser known ones). I believe that books are the best toys children can have and will continue to share my finds as they come along!
