What we're reading #6

It's been quite since the last reading list. These days, MZ's preferences are about split between board and picture books. She's shown a renewed affection for Goodnight Moon, but there are a number of newcomers worth noting.

Good Night, San Francisco: This board book is our newest addition, and we're visiting some of the locations more frequently these days. MZ barks with the sea lions and says hi to the bat ray. The illustrator, Santiago Cohen, also did two of MZ's favorite Jewish holiday books.

The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly: This Simms Taback edition is totally engaging for all of us. At the end, MZ announces the moral (Never Swallow a Horse), then explains that the old lady is sleeping.

What Emily Saw: This was a gift to MZ before she was born, and now she loves it. She enjoys the black and white drawings, and tells as all about Mrs. Dino and Kingdom Mommy and Kingdom Daddy.

Hop on Pop: She didn't like this when we brought it out a few months ago, but lately it's a favorite. While she can recite familiar nursery rhymes from a book we've been reading since birth (sadly out of print), this is the first book where she seems to get the concept of reading. She'll point to specific words and ask what they say, and loves to ask about and repeat Constantinople and Timbuktu. She also asks what the gobbledeegook on the last page says whenever I try to skip over it.

Put me in the Zoo: Another Seussian favorite. When she first started asking for this one, R and I would roll our eyes at how fickle the spotted creature seemed to be. Now I realize that he's a perfect 2 year old.

Not a Box: AuntieD gave this one to MZ for her birthday and she's asked for it ever since. She only recently started doing this kind of imaginary play herself. I wonder if this book reminds her of her friend LG, who has the most vivid imagination of any toddler I know.

How to Be: Another favorite from Auntie D, as with Hush Little Baby, I'm impressed that she responds to this gentle moralizing, and I'm always happy when she picks this one right before bed.