Wednesday, July 15, 2009

This week's library haul

In which I reveal what really goes on around here.

I am inventing a new occasional feature here in Jacqui's Room. Let me know if you:
1. love it
2. really love it
3. are always going to skip it
4. came here because you accidentally googled "hidden sheep"*

In the meantime, welcome to THIS WEEK'S LIBRARY HAUL.

Captain Destructo is obsessed with our local library. And rightly so. So we go every week and he is allowed to take out whatever picture books he likes. I grab some books (picture and otherwise) for Tink, or she requests them, and we come home laden. VoilĂ . Instant reviewing material. And the real life peanut gallery has been clamoring for more reviews, particularly from Tink and Destructo. So I thought I'd share...

...THIS WEEK'S LIBRARY HAUL

1. Duck Rabbit
Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illus. Tom Lichtenheld
Laura read this at story time and Destructo was smitten. We brought it home to read to Tink and she loves it too. The book is simple: is the animal you can see on the cover a duck or a rabbit? Two voices argue. Giggling ensues. We get extra giggling in our house because Destructo, being only two, does not have the cognitive ability to see it both ways and so he thinks the point of the book is that some poor dope thinks that bunny's a duck. **



2. There's a Dragon Downstairs

by Hilary McKay, illus. Amanda Harvey
We only picked this up because I read the title aloud as I scanned the shelves and Destructo started begging to "go downstairs see dragon!" It's adorable. I like the voice (very childlike) and the surprise ending and we all giggled a lot at the illustrations.

Plus, it won an award from these folks, whom we already know have exquisite taste.

3. 500 different Bailey School Kids books (demanded by Tink)
These are so all the same that when I asked, "Is she really a vampire?" Tink said, "Mo-om! They're ALWAYS really what the kids think they are!" But she loves them and they're funny and quick reads and I find them not so bad to read aloud. Plus, I think they're gender neutral, which is rare.

4. I Spy: A Book of Picture Riddles
This is one of those "can you find the..." activity books. I have no opinion on it other than this: if you have been trapped in your house alone for 12 hours with two sick kids and no electricity and no doughnuts and no caffeine and you've finally decided that swine flu transmission be darned you have got to have some coffee or you are going to kill someone, this will keep a 2 1/2 year old and a six year old entertained long enough for you to order and take at least five slurps which is more alone time than you've had in five days and god I love this book but I think I burned my tongue.

5. Meet Diego: a Dora Adventure
Someone kill me. Please.

* Now, apparently, the number one way, other than, you know, actually trying to find me, that people get to Jacqui's Room
** OMG. I just wrote that and then The Mighty Thor, who apparently isn't much further developed cognitively than his son, looked over and said, "I like Duck Rabbit. Though it's clearly a rabbit. Duh."

12 comments:

Jody Jensen Shaffer said...

I LOVE library trips with the kids. They scan the MG novels while I peruse the picture books. We're all in our element. :)

Ann Finkelstein said...

I love it.

Diane T said...

Keep the feature, please. Anything to do with libraries gets my stamp of approval.

Paul Michael Murphy said...

I like it. I don't read a lot of picture books on my own, but I have to for my job so it's nice to know what's out there. I'll mostly be reading to see if I can tie any of your books to the stuff I have to teach.

cath c said...

i do like this new feature!

and re: number 4, the christmas one is good, too, and so are a slew of similar search books like starquest, dinosaur search, etc. i would not have survived my boys' 4-10/1-10 years without them.

Amber Lough said...

Oh, Jacqui's Room, how I love thee. You make me giggle every time I visit. So, that makes me a #2, right?

I will have to go get Duck! Rabbit! and see what my 2 yo thinks of it.

J. Thorp said...

i can see the potential duckiness, but it's totally one of those weird illusion defense mechanisms to make the RABBIT's natural enemies think it's facing the other way and attack from the wrong end. (Sneaking up in front of someone = not so effective.)

Also, this discussion make me think of this?

Jacqui said...

Okay! The library haul report stays. I hope you will all still respect me (ha!) when you see what my kids REALLY read...

Jody, exactly. The library is our no parental energy go-to plan.

Thorp, I hope that video is what I think it is.

J. Thorp said...

Holy cow -- nice grammar in my comment above! It's punishment for commenting during work hours ...

C.R. Evers said...

I have fun taking the kids to our library too. It's just down the road, not even a mile away. It's awesome. The girls like to sit and read their books. Even the 2 that don't know how to read yet. :0) Dora is also a staple in our hauls. ~sigh~

We'll have to look for that duck book! looks cute.

Tk said...

Actually, your whole family is rather impoverished. That creature is an albatross. Note the elongated beak, suitable for catching fish while screaming into the ocean at terminal velocity. (OK, it might also be a plover or similar beachcombing fowl.) (OK, I'm randomly wading through your blog today.) (Boy, I hope our child doesn't have his mother's capacity for imagination. I'm rather too literal for a child with the abilities yours have to fictionalize.)

Jacqui said...

Tk, I think the albatross-style divergent thinking is probably genetic, so you may be as doomed as we are...