Miles and Grace Recommend...

As I stand here gazing across a living room that has a "just moved in" look -- blank walls, empty spaces, furniture in odd spots, boxes and bins of things -- while I am not fond of the feeling that brings, I have to be thankful for two strong, healthy kids with strong, curious minds.

The furniture is all out of place because Grace and Miles like to jump off chairs onto Grace's big red beanbag and, with hardwood floors, things slide.

The blank walls are completely my own fault. Three years later, I still cannot decide on a room arrangement and therefore a wall art arrangement.

The boxes and bins of things (and lots of things strewn about, not in bins or boxes) are entirely made up of toys and books. About every six months, I sort through all of the kids' stuff, donate any clothes, books, or toys they've outgrown (or which I simply cannot stand anymore), pull out anything I've been saving for which they're now old enough, and organize. As of this week, we officially have too many children's books. And we use the library often. Really often.

So as we sort books, I am coming across many that have been favorites and will not be donated. Here are just a few series we're loving lately.

Poppleton
by Cynthia Rylant / Mark Teague

The main porcine character in these books is funny, silly, a little stodgy, and really big. His friends are great too, especially his llama neighbor, Cherry Sue. We really like that there are three stories in each book.






Dodsworth
by Tim Egan

In the first book, Dodsworth in New York, our hero decides to travel and find adventure. He and the stowaway duck travel to New York, Paris, London, and Rome (so far). We're earnestly hoping that the author will continue. These are great first "chapter books" -- just four chapters per story.





If You Give a...
by Laura Numeroff / Felicia Bond

I'm not even sure how many of these there are (8-10?) but these are storybooks we don't mind reading multiple times. Creative idea for showing cause and effect, along with fun interaction between the main animal characters and the children. The illustrations are wonderful and detailed, good for pointing out little things and asking questions for younger kids.

Someday I'd love to write a post called, "Melinda Recommends," but honestly I spend 80-90% of my reading time in kids' books. Both Grace and Miles are now in preschool two short mornings each week, so maybe I'll get to read grown-up books now...