BOOKS: Library Check-Out UPDATED

When SB and I go to the library, I am on a constant quest for books (preferably board books) with simple, colorful, cute illustrations and short, simple text, as they seem to hold SB's attention the best. Strangely, I've found these types of books to be few and far between, but I do my best to find a fun variety of books for SB to enjoy. Every month, I will post reviews of the latest books SB has checked out of the library in case you're on the lookout for similar types of books. If you have other books to recommend, let me know!

NEW: So, since I'm already behind on my promise to post library book reviews every month, I've decided to just update this list as regularly as I can. I'll add reviews to the top of the list, and the older reviews will be toward the bottom.


Who's Hiding by Satoru Onishi (Hardcover)

This book is great for encouraging interactive reading with your toddler. It starts by showing rows of various animals, and each following spread shows the same rows of animals but with one or more animals doing something different. The idea is for your child to identify that animal by answering the question on the page - e.g., "Who is hiding?" and "Who is sleeping?" and "Who is crying?" This book is more for the age 2+ crowd, but SB still found it pretty entertaining nonetheless. He liked looking at the pictures of all the animals as I pointed out each one to him. The illustrations are bright, cute, and colorful.



Gossie by Olivier Dunrea (Hardcover)

Gossie is a small, yellow gosling who loves her bright red boots. One morning, she can't find them, and she takes us along on her search to figure out where they could be. This was a big hit with SB. He really seemed to like the bright, simple illustrations, and I liked the short, simple text that introduces easy verbs and words like "up," "down," "under," "inside," "backwards," and "forwards."



What's Up, Duck? by Tad Hills (Board Book)

SB is really into ducks lately (he likes to say "nya nya" as his version of "quack quack" whenever he sees one), so this book caught my eye. It introduces various opposites, like front and back, fast and slow, far and near, clean and dirty, up and down, etc. (only the individual words are presented, no sentences). The illustrations of Duck and his friends are fun and colorful, and SB seems to enjoy them. This is a good book for toddlers. It's similar in concept to the opposites books by Leslie Patricelli (see my review of "Big Little").



Let's Play by Leo Lionni (Board Book)

I think this is a good book for babies or toddlers. It uses collage art to illustrate two mice who think about what sort of fun activities they could do that day. They could climb a tree, go swimming, eat cheese, etc. I think SB likes it, because he recognizes most of the activities that appear in the book, like playing with a ball (he points to his balls when I get to that page), reading a book, and talking on the telephone. It's simple and cute.



Beep Beep by Petr Horacek (Board Book)

The illustrations in this book are a bit like kid drawings, but that didn't bother SB, because he just loves anything to do with cars. The book shows a family driving to Grandma's house in their yellow car, and we get to see it going "vroom vroom," "chug chug," and down a hill to their destination. SB loved the car pictures and sounds. He'd go "voom voom" with each picture of the car. The book also has die-cut pages, which was kind of interesting.