And then you poop

My daughter has become interested in how her body works. We have read Simon's book, Bones and figured out where our diferent bones are.

However we hit one out of the park by checking out What Happens to a Hamburger by Showers. The book is all about your digestion from chewing to heading to the toilet. The pictures are good and we can see the various pieces. What makes the book however are the very doable at home experiments. Measure a piece of string to see how long your small intestine is. Chew a carrot bite 10 times and then 30 times to see digestions first step.

This book is great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My daughter's only complaint is that the undigested food should have been labeled poop. When I read the label as undigest food, she just looked at me and said, "Why don't they just call it poop? That's what it is."

Too many Frogs by Asher

Rabbit has a very structured life until Froggie finds out that he read a story every night. Froggie loves to listen and comes back night after night until Rabbit has had enough. Then Rabbit finds that maybe having Froggie come to listen wasn’t so bad. The book is great for silly voices and has some ‘refrains’ that DM could chime in on. We had it one weekend and read it at least six times.

Clementine

Clementine is not really a book for toddlers, but for Judy Moody fans. Clementine's Letter is the third in Pennypacker's series and the magic is still there! Clementine's favourite teacher, who understands and works with the hyper and lovable Clementine, is up for an award. If he wins, he'll be gone for the rest of the school year! So among the problems Clementine must resolve, she must keep him from winning! Great read and fab characters!

Splish Splash

A little boy asks his mom if he can go and sail his boat in The Puddle. Yes, she says but don't get too wet. All I can say is the puddles in our neighborhood are much more boring. They don't have alligators, elephants, pigs, turtles and frogs all having fun! Check out this book by McPhail.

For all kids with a beloved stuffed toy

Trixie and her rabbit go with daddy to the laundromat. Everything is going great until the walk home. Trixie realizes that her rabbit has been left behind, but how can she tell daddy when she can't talk yet. Will Trixie and Knuffle Bunny be reunited??? Check out this winner by Mo Willems, author of Leonardo, the Terrible Monster.

Young Buckaroos

Avery is a young boy going to Cowboy Camp. Avery doesn't seem like he is cut out to be a cowboy. He is even allergic to horses and has to ride a cow! Then when Black Bart shows up to bring an end to Cowboy Camp, it is Avery who saves the day!

Of chickens and tutus

I have two titles to recommend.

The first is Chickens to the Rescue by Himmelman. This is a hilarious book about chickens at the Greenstalk farm. They get watches out of wells. They move cows out of trees. The pictures are wonderful for reading up close and snuggly. We have counted the number of chickens in bathingsuits in the watch rescue. We have searched through the son's bedroom to find the chicken with the backpack. Great fun

Time for Ballet by Geras and McNicholas follows Tilly's preparation for a ballet recital. The soft illustrations show a class of kids around 5 or 6 practicing in class. Tilly goes home to practice being a cat for the show coming up. My daughter is very interested in ballet and loves this book. Tilly is like her, not a young superstar. An endearing story with kids being kids! I'd like another book with Tilly

Buzz, buzz

Shoo fly! is a delightful version of the traditional song. A young mouse is trying to have fun and the pesky fly just won't go away. I'm not big on singing a book, but found this easy to do. After the first reading my daughter and I were hamming up the mouse's frustrations as we sang. If you don't want to sing, the book reads outloud fine. Iza Trapani is the author of this retelling. We will be looking for her others.

Totoro

I don't normally post about videos, but wanted to post about My Neighbor Totoro. Hayao Miyazaki created a movie about two young sisters, who act like real sisters not tv sitcom children. Ten year old Satsuki and four year old Mei have moved to the country with their father a college professor. Their mother is in the hospital. The fact that they miss their mother and her upcoming return home is part of the story but her illness isn't dwelled on. They make new friends and explore the area.

The girls met a Totoro, a spirit of the forest. He and his friends are fuzzy creatures of various sizes. The girls have various adventures with the Totoro. When Mei gets lost trying to go to the hospital, Totoro helps Satsuki find her.

The animation is lovely and the pace is nice for a toddler. My three year old was a little concerned when Mei got lost the first time we watched it. Now she is just waiting for the "kittycat bus" to show up and take Satsuki to Mei. She is still too young to worry about the mother being sick. Also the illness is buffered by the number of adults caring and supporting the girls.

Manatee morning

Manatee morning showcases the mantees of Crystal River in Florida. Aronsky tells of the gentle mantees and their life in the river. It is a nice nature book for toddlers as it doesn't focus on too much science, but just the morning in the life of a mother and calf. However it doesn't turn them into characters with human attributes. My daughter enjoyed it.

A summer splasher

Down by the cool of the pool starts with Frog yelling Wheeeee and dancing. With each go round a new animal joins in the fun. Duck went flap, Frog went wheeee and so on! Of course, they eventually all fall in the pond, but the fun doesn't stop. Mitton and Parker-Rees have written a colourful and exuberant book.