Someday

Someday is a beautifully written tale by Alison Meghee with a heartbreaking truth - your little baby will grow up and if you are lucky, you will see her raise his/her own little one.  It contains the dreams/knowledge moms have for their babies including:

"Someday you will call a song to the wind, and the wind will carry your song away. 
Someday you will hear something so sad that you will fold up with sorrow. 
Someday, a long time from now, your own hair will glow silver in the sun."

Peter H. Reynolds is an amazing artist who captures the hope and dreams of a young mother with a whimsical flair!

The Mine-O-Saur

Don't forget Ivy's Vine is moving!!! - http://ivysvineblog.wordpress.com/

The Mine-O-Saur has been a favorite of mine (sort of Ivy’s) for quite some time.  This engaging piece by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen is about a little dinosaur who does not play nicely.  He thinks every toy is “MINE!”.  Eventually, he drives the other dinosaurs in play school away.  Left alone, what will he do?  Find out by reading this rhyming and funny book.

Example Page:

He snatched the jump rope and the ball.

He threw the cars against the wall.

And then he roared to one and all,

“Mine! Mine! Mine!”

Iguanodon said, “That’s not fair.”

Triceratops said, “You should share.”

But the Mine-o-sour yelled, “I don’t care!”

The Little House

Virginia Lee Burton spins heartbreakingly sad tale about the fast pace of life in the modern world and urban sprawl in The Little House. Although the author insists the book is more about the passage of time as shown by one small house, it is hard not to see it in a larger light. The pictures are beautiful. Ivy finds the book quite interesting, but often calls it “sad” despite an uplifting ending.

Little mouse Lucy wants to imitate everything her big sister, Estelle the cat, does in Anna Alter's Estelle and Lucy.  Although it is hard to have a little sister, Estelle with the help of her mommy discovers something they have in common - raspberry biscuits!  Ivy just loves everything Estelle can do - use the big kid swing, help mommy make cookies, etc.

Elissa Haden Guest has written a beautiful tale about the struggles of being a little girl who does not want to put away her toys.  In Harriet's Had Enough, Harriet the raccoon has a fight with her mom about cleaning.  Both say things in anger, and Harriet decides to run away.  She is thwarted twice by her dad and her grandmother and finally by her mom.  Will young Harriet run away or will she decide to turn the day around?  It is an adorable book marred only by the fact that I have had to read 30 times since getting it from the library a week ago.  

An oldie but goodie has been on Ivy's literary radar - H.A. Ray's Curious George.  Ivy loves the antics of that little monkey.  She has been more interested in the first one than the subsequent ones.  When asked what "curious" means, Ivy replies, "Asks a lot of questions!"  

I simply adore Judy Cox's Go To Sleep Groundhog.  Poor groundhog seems to be suffering from insomnia.  He keeps waking up throughout the winter - First, he sees kids Trick-Or-Treating and is tucked in by a witch.  Then, he meets a turkey and finally Santa.  When the alarm goes off on Feb. 2nd, he feels like he just went to sleep!  Will he see his shadow and be able to go back to bed?