a peek at some picture books

as scout reminded me the other night, we are both lovers of books... 
a fancier word for us might be 'bibliophiles'. 

scout i'm sure knows this word.
these days, it's rare i can teach him a new word.
i stop during stories that we are reading out loud, hoping to shed some light on
some new word and he has never heard and more often than not, he knows the word,
and to prove it, offers up a brief description. *sigh*
{it's a good thing really, but feeling less needed by your youngest is tough}

this past week, he taught me a new word....well he reminded of a word i probably
knew but had forgotten.  i was reading out loud to him before bed, and i stopped 
because i couldn't remember what the word 'anvil' was. he explained it to me in detail,
and even went as far as sketching it out for me.

i digress. back to picture books.

the evenings of reading picture books together with finn and scout are rare anymore
as we take turns reading thick chapter books together. we always have our own books
on the side, but at night, we come together to read another book we all agree on.

on the nights we are short on time, or just exhausted, scout will pull out a picture book from
our library shelf.  since scout was such a early reader, many books that i read to finn during his
preschool and early grade school years have never been enjoyed by scout. over the last year or two,
we have slowly made our way through all of our picture books.
i'll hold on tightly to these memories as i know picture books won't last much longer...

still, i will always LOVE picture books, so today's post is dedicated to some that i discovered
over the last year.

1. Meet the Dullards
   
   the cover of this book caught my attention because the characters were well, so dull.
   their heads were drooped, they wore grey clothes and looked forlorn. it was unique,
   and here's the jacket text:
         their home is boring.
         their food is plain.
         their lives are monotonous.
         and Mr. and Mrs. Dullard like it that way.
         But their children - Blanda, Borely, and Little Dud, have other ideas.
    
2. Brief Thief
   who doesn't love a story about UNDERWEAR.  kids certainly do and this
   book's main character is a chameleon named leon who has to go poo.
   the rest....well you'll just have to read. you and your kids will enjoy the clever ways
   underwear can be used...
   
   i love the little lesson at the end of listening to that voice inside our heads...
   
    
3. My Dad is Big and Strong BUT..a bedtime story.
   this was on the list of best pictures books of 2015 somewhere, so i had to
   check it out. the story is cute...it reverses father/son role and shows a son trying to
   get his father to go to bed. his dad wants to leave the light on, wants one more glass
   of water, and one more bedtime story.
   
   your preschoolers and early readers will find this book super fun and maybe
   they'll even realize how much of a pain they can be to their parents at bedtime.
   
    
4. What Do you Do with an Idea
   i came across this book at barnes and noble one day when i was perusing the shelves
   and sat and read the entire book. i purchased it and tucked away until finn graduated 
   from elementary school last spring.
   
   the concept is simple....great things start with an IDEA.  the story walks us through
   a young boy's idea and how at first, he decides to ignore it and forget about it,
   but then he couldn't get it out of his mind. there are those who don't support,
   but he holds true to it and well, you'll have to see for yourself how it ends.
   
   note: finn enjoyed this book....said it "reminded him to follow his dreams"
5. The Book with No Pictures
   this book popped up in parents magazine as a new york times best seller so i
   picked up a copy at target and thumbed through it. it's PURE silliness as parents
   just say silly sounds on a page - blaggity blaggifty and glibbity globbity.
   this book doesn't have a moral but will bring laughter....to everyone in the room.

last, i just learned the brilliant team who wrote and illustrated iggy peck architect
and rosie revere engineer, have a new book that will be arriving this fall.

it's called ada twist, scientist and i am seriously excited. 

though i don't have little boys anymore, my bigger boys, still enjoy these books,
{just like their parents}. you can pre-order from amazon now. i just did!