Babe's books of the week

Gah its been forever - I know.

Its not that we have stopped reading...because we haven't. Its that we had basically stopped reading anything new. Considering I'm a librarian, this is a pretty weird thing, because I'm surrounded by books all day every day and I should be able to find new reading material right? Well, no.
You see its not only been school holidays recently - which means parents are coming to the library to use our resources more - and therefore its been super slim pickings on the shelf... but it seems there has been either a lack of new children's board books coming in, or there are a ton of parents taking them out and our stocks have been completely depleted lately. I could bring home picture books, which I may start doing again eventually, but the kiddo has yet to master not eating them turning pages gently, and I like letting him do it himself.

I did manage to score some new board books this week though! The purchasing department must of gone crazy on the baby books because they have been coming in thick and fast. Some of the 'That's not my...' (that i wrote about here) series have recently been purchased and I found an awesome 'This is my...' book too...with the sound actually working! Woohoo!

So without further ado..

This is my Monster
Another Usborne touchy feely noisy books - and probably my favourite EVER. Its a cute little story about a monster who has a soft squishy nose that likes to 'sniff out fishy snacks' and a soft fuzzy tummy for all the odd socks and ticking clocks he eats. = Awesome. And our copy actually had the sound working - bonus!

That's not my robot...
I seriously think of Desiree over at SoFawned every time I read this one as she adores robots! hehe. We have also been reading 'That's not my Mermaid...' and 'Thats not my bear...' this week too.

Baby Loves - Tiger
Another pretty cute series. Pretty simple and not many words just like the 'This is my' and 'That's not my' series but these ones have flaps where Tiger plays hide and seek with his friends. At the end there is a mirror behind the last flap so baby gets to see himself.

Cuddle!
Simple little board book. I usually finish off with this one and give the babe a huge cuddle with each page.

Books of the week!

The babe has been rather restless and grumpy at bedtime this week. We seem to juuust be judging it a bit wrong and getting him ready for bed about 10 minutes too late it seems.

Anyway to get his attention back on the stories I've brought home a whole lot of tiny quick 'touchy-feely' books from the library again. He is a big fan of the 'Thats not my...' series by Usbornes. There are a whole heap of them like 'Thats not my pirate', 'Thats not my baby' and 'Thats not my truck'. Anyway they are cute once sentence per page books with little textured bits on each page. This week we have:

'That's not my fairy'
Hes been turning the pages of it all day. His dad recons its not very 'manly', but what do I care? I couldn't handle bringing home, and reading 10432974732 times 'That's not my truck' again.

'This is my digger'
Then, while fossucking through the children's section the other day looking for the 'That's not my' series, I came across the 'This is my...' series which also has NOISE making buttons! Woo!I'm so going to be looking for more of these becuase the kid LOVES it.

'Little blue truck'
Man this is a cute one! Its a little board book as well (non touchy-feely unfortunately) but has a longer story involved. The language really rolls and rhymes and I just think its awesome and it got the little one's attention so thats all good.

Books of the week!

I missed a week. I was crazy busy and really i wasn't reading anything that new, mostly because the kid is still stuck on 'Team Machine' and hes been in a grump before bed.

So... here we go for this week!

Not Now Bernard
This book has always cracked me up. The morals the morals! You have to read it yourself to understand. Its small and cute and easy to read so good for little attention spans.

The Very Quiet Cricket
Gah I love this one and luckily so the does the babe. The last line is especially cute with 'and then he chirped the most beautiful sound she had ever heard' and you open up the page and it activates the cricket sound. As i said... cute!

The Little Red Caboose
Kicking it old school! It used to be a favourite when I was little... I so loved my Little Golden Books!
Its very sweet but a bit long for my littley so I have to pick the right time to read it.

Babe's Books of the week

Its been a slow week on the book front this week.
1. Because ZJ has gotten in sanely attached to 'Team Machines: 3-D Move and Play Fun' 
and 2. because I've been beyond tired. More like exhausted beyond belief.
So we have been sticking to the favourites mostly and only introducing a couple of new ones:

Who's In the Loo?
"Who's in the loo!? there is a very long queue..."
This book cracks me up. Our crazy american librarian often does this at storytime and while the kids are sitting there fascinated with who could possibly be spending so much time on the bog, the parents and nannies are cracking up laughing.
It has a nice rhyme to it, so its a great bedtime read.

Why I love my daddy
This is cute and also good to read when ZJ has been an absolute terror to change and get ready for bed. Its really hard keeping a 1 year old still long enough when all they want to do is get into everything and Simon often has a fight on his hands. So I like to read this one so Simon can hear it over the baby monitor and feel loved ;)

The Beignet That Almost Got Away
Following on with our New Orleans theme (because mama is home sick!) this is a cute little book about a couple of roaches trying to capture a beignet (a.k.a Little Pillows of Doom as a friend aptly named them) from the famous Cafe du Monde.
*sigh*.... beignetssss....

Babe's Books of the week

I've posted before about how important I think it is to read to your babies. The benefits to me are obvious; not only does it help with your child's growing language, communication and memory skills but also teaches them numbers, letters and colours and stimulates imagination.

Maybe its just the librarian in me talking but I genuinely loved reading books as I was growing up (and still do!) and I think its because my parents instilled good reading habits with me when I was so young.

When ZJ was only a couple of months old I started him off with Touch and Feel books such as the 'Thats not my...' range (there are heaps of different ones). These are small enough for bubs to handle and tough enough to take their chewing and pulling. Each page has something to stimulate the babe's senses such as in 'Thats not my pirate' where the pirates shirt was too silky, his beard was too soft or his cutlass was too shiny!

We have 'bedtime stories' as part of the nightly routine now and Zander is up for it most nights. Sometimes he is too tired and the little devil lets me know by turning the pages really fast so i have to read quickly! We usually cut it down to one tiny book and a cuddle in these cases. I've gotten into the habit of reading the same 3-6 books throughout the week, and i really don't think it matters to have a new book every night - its the one on one time and the reading thats important at this stage.

Anyway to get to the point of this post, I am introducing 'The Babe's Books of the Week'. I hope to do this once a week but it may take me a while to get it up and running.

On the bookshelf this week...

Duck's Key: Where Can It Be?
This is a nice and simple book with only a few words per page - which is great for keeping attention spans in place! It also has lift up flaps on each page which baby can explore and help with.

Team Machines: 3-D Move and Play Fun
This one is a favourite with ZJ and I have to admit this one gets read alot. The kid has even pushed away the book i have been reading and grabbed this one so it must be ok with him.
It has a nice rolling rhythm to the words, and its also got movable parts on each page.

Today Is Monday In Louisiana
This book was sent to me by a good friend from New Orleans. Anyone who knows me knows I love that place to the depths of my core and this friend is trying to encourage ZJ too. I love this book because not only does it talk about all my favourite foods (mmm Gumbo, mmm jambalaya...) but it repeats each days food as you go on through the week which helps with the recall skills.

Gaston Goes to Mardi Gras
Obviously from the same place as the previous book. This one is only for special occasions but I have pulled it out for carnival season :) Its a bit longer so I find its only worth doing as a first book or when ZJ is super awake.

Sadly, it makes me very homesick for New Orleans so i have a wee cry each time i read it. A little sad, no!?

Twinkle, Twinkle, Time for Bed
This is a sweet and simple little book and perfect for finishing off the night with.






I would love to hear your favourite books are for reading to babies and any that you may recommend - I'm always looking for a good read!