Pick of the Week: Just One More!

Just One More! by Tracey Corderoy, illustrated by Alison Edgson (Good Books, 2012)
Little Brown Bunny always wants just one more book read to him at bedtime, so he spends all day creating a bedtime book that is so long the story will last all night.

Does your little one want to hear his or her favorite story over and over and over again? While this might be tiresome for the parent, it's serving a purpose for the child. Repetition is important in the early years - it helps build and reinforce neural pathways. As we adults recognize - something we do a lot sticks with us. Children are building their language skills and pouring over the same day after day reinforces the language pathways in their growing brains. They might be building vocabulary skills, recognizing letters on the page, building a better understanding of how the printed book works. It might also be that the plot, a certain message, or experience in that particular book really speaks to the child's experience, worries, or interests. Rest assured, your child will move along to new selections, but in the mean time she or he is enjoying a positive experience with that book and with you!

Sleeping Through The Night?

Are You Awake? by Sophie Blackall (Henry, Holt and Company, 2011)

A new picture book, Are You Awake? by Sophie Blackall, just arrived at the library and I love it. It's about the all-too-familiar issue of children and sleep. It seems like, as parents, we often spend a lot of time wrestling with this issue - getting our baby to sleep through the night, deciding on the proper bedtime, naptime issues, bedtime negotiations, children waking us up too early, etc. In Are You Awake?, a little boy who just can't sleep ends up keeping his mother up almost long enough to see the sun come up. Sound familiar? You are likely not alone.

One of the first things that people asked me after the birth of my child was, "How is he sleeping?" or more specifically, "Is he sleeping through the night yet?" I never knew how to properly respond to these questions. For at this time, my child (my newborn) was only a few weeks old when these questions started coming. I thought, "well, he is sleeping like any newborn." What I meant was: he's alseep a lot of the time, waking up every 2-3 hours for feeding. As a new mom, I thought, isn't that what is expected? Should he already be sleeping through the night? When I said, "no, he's not sleeping through the night yet," I encountered sympathetic looks that said to me, "I'm so very sorry. You poor thing." Then I felt my first tinge of mom guilt. Was I doing something wrong? Do all babies sleep through the night immediately? Should I let him cry it out? Should I be co-sleeping? Should I not co-sleep? The great sleep debate continued as I met more new moms and we discussed this terrible "sleep issue." With each new stage of growth, new sleep/bedtime issues would be discussed. I certainly don't know everything about parenting. I'm learning all the time. But now that some time has passed, I can look back on those first few years with the advantage of the perspective of time. I realize that many things that seem impossible or are stress-filled decisions for new parents (sleep habits, nursing/not nursing/when to wean, potty training, on and on...) are do-able. They come with time, love, patience, and trial and error. Every child presents unique parenting challenges and blessings. Some hurdles are crossed and milestones reached much later than we ever expected as parents. And, hopefully, when those once impossible parenting moments are in the past, we can reflect on them with some perspective, nostalgia, and humor.

Pick of the Week: Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy

Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy by Denise Fleming (Henry Holt & Company, 2010)

Denise Fleming's painted, textured pulp papermaking techniques are perfect for this gentle story. The book begins, "Tiny baby panda, sleepy, oh so sleepy / Tiny baby ostrich, sleepy, oh so sleepy / Tiny baby lion, sleepy, oh so sleepy. Where's my sleepy baby?" Readers visit a variety of sleeping animal babies on double-page spreads, eventually coming to a human baby, yawning and snuggling up with an adorable toy sock monkey. Share this lovely book at bedtime!

Imagine...Bedtime for Mommy!

What if the roles were reversed and your child had to get you ready for bed (and had to make sure you stayed there!)? This is just the question that author Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrator LeUyen Pham explore in their new book, Bedtime for Mommy (Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2010). 

When a little girl exclaims, "bedtime!" to her mother, the mother instantly begs, "five more minutes?" and then...well, you know the routine! This is a sweet book that will surely get some giggles and snuggles at bedtime - from both of you!

P.S. Don't worry, moms, you're not the only one...dad is next on the little girl's list!

Pick of the Week: How Do You Say Good Night?

How Do You Say Good Night? by Raina Moore (HarperCollins, 2008)

How do you say good night? What is your child's bedtime routine? A cuddle and a story? A snack and a snuggle? Brushing teeth, a bath, then rocking together? In How Do You Say Good Night? by Raina Moore, different animal characters share they way they get ready for bedtime together in this predictable, rhyming picture book. The illustrations are delightful and just right for a cozy bedtime read with your toddler or preschooler.

Pick of the Week: Last Night

Last Night by Hyewon Yum (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2008)

In this debut wordless picture book by South Korean-born artist Hyewon Yum, a little girl refuses to eat her dinner and is sent to her room. She climbs into bed with her teddy bear for comfort and thus begins a fantastic dream of a very imaginative voyage into the forest with her bear. Linoleum block prints and full-bleed spreads vividly bring to life the emotions and experiences of the little girl and her bear. The wordless format works well here as the pictures evoke enough of the experience to carry the young viewer through the story. But it also makes it easy for a parent or caregiver to discuss what the little girl might be feeling along her journey. With the bright and cheerful last pages, we see the little girl awake in the morning, running down the stairs of her home and into her mother's arms with a smile on her face.

Pick of the Week: Your Own Big Bed

Your Own Big Bed by Rita M. Bergstein, illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung (Viking, 2008)

In this sweet picture book, a small boy learns about different animals and how they grow - right along with the story of his own birth and growth. As he gets bigger, he is ready to trade his crib for his very own big bed. This is a very gentle and comforting look at getting bigger and transitioning into a new bed. Recommended for anyone with a child getting ready to make that big childhood transition from crib to bed.

Pick of the Week: The House in the Night

The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Beth Krommes (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008)

I love this book! Beth Krommes' black and white scratchboard illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to the simple text. The reader is taken on a nighttime journey from home up into the sky to the moon and back again. The text and illustrations work so well together it's hard to imagine one without the other. The illustrations bring a calm, gorgeous light into the nighttime scenes and bring the reader a visual bedtime lullaby. A real treat for bedtime storytime!

Pick of the Week: In a Blue Room

In a Blue Room by Jim Averbeck, illustrated by Tricia Tusa (Harcourt, Inc., 2008)

"In a blue room, Alice bounces, wide-awake past bedtime." This begins the story of a nightgown-clad little girl who just can't fall asleep one night. Mama is set to tuck little Alice into bed, but Alice exclaims that she can only sleep in a blue room. Alice's creative mama brings in a variety of objects to create a soothing room, just right for sleep. In one of the first scenes, when Mama brings in flowers. Alice objects, "And those - aren't - blue," Mama replies, "Ah...but smell."

Young children often have to have things "just right" before you can guarantee their full participation. Parents may recognize their little ones in this story and children will love how the dedication to creating a blue room visually plays out.

Pick of the Week: Little Hoot

Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Jen Corace (Chronicle Books, 2008)

"If you want to grow up to be a wise owl, you must stay up late," said Papa Owl. "And besides, I don't give a hoot what time your friends go to bed. In this family, we go to bed late. Rules of the roost." Amy Krouse Rosenthal (author of Little Pea and The OK Book) takes the familiar theme of bedtime battles but adds a twist. In the life of an owl, the opposite is expected - staying up late! So how does Little Hoot, who just wants to go to bed early like all of his friends, cope with the demands of his parents? Read and find out with this book that is sure to create a few giggles from children everywhere.

Pick of the Week: Hello, Day! by Anita Lobel

Hello, Day! by Anita Lobel (Greenwillow Books, 2008)

Finding a beautifully illustrated picture book that works well as a read-aloud to babies and toddlers is a real treat. Anita Lobel's book, Hello, Day!, hits the mark. With vibrantly painted illustrations of farm animals awaking on a sunny morning, each animal greets the day in its own unique way. The simple plot concludes with the sun setting and an owl appearing to say goodnight. A great morning or bedtime read!

Pick of the Week

Every once in awhile, I come across such a great read-aloud that I find myself singing along with the rhythm of the text long after I've put the book down. Oliver Who Would Not Sleep! by Mara Bergman with illustrations by Nick Maland is just one of those books. With illustrations that create a soft, fantastical feel, similar to Maurice Sendak's work, and wonderful rhythmic and rhyming text, this book begs to be read aloud at bedtime.

Curl up with that young dreamer by your side or in your lap, and follow Oliver Donnington Rimington-Sneep as he avoids sleep by taking his rocket ship on a trip to Mars. With a bedroom full of toys, a big imagination, and boundless energy, Oliver Donnington Rimington-Sneep makes an excellent companion for storytime. A sure-fire hit for any bedtime-avoider and a magical read-aloud for anytime of day. Pair this one with another bedtime-struggle book such as Bedtime! by Joan Blos, The Boy Who Wouldn't Go to Bed by Helen Cooper, or I Am Not Sleepy and Will Not Go to Bed by Lauren Child.