Finding just the right books for the ducklings is the trickiest part of my job. And the most fun. The shelves of books in my room just begging to be read are still far too old with them, though this doesn't prevent them from wanting to drag them off the shelf. For some reason D2 has a fatal attraction for the Little House books and Lord of the Rings, probably because the "T" and "W" shelves are right on his level.
I usually wind up reserving far more books from the library than I will actually read to them. Half of them I can eliminate on the first glance--too old, too twaddly, too ugly. I can't stand books with ugly pictures. And I abhor books that try to compete with television, with garish, exploding colors and little snippets of text. Ugh. I go and read Harold and the Purple Crayon until I'm calmed down again. If I don't like a book, I don't read it. The little pile of series books based on cartoon characters that D1 always brings out while we play at the library (because the library is arranged with all the series books right next to the play area), always goes right back to the shelf.
But even once I find books I like, there's no guarantee that a book will really resonate with one of them. I can make a guess based on their interests--at one time trains were a pretty sure bet with D1--but their limited field of experience is hardly the place to stop. I want to introduce them to new things, too, and there's no telling what will catch their fancy, or how difficult it will be. D1 begged and pleaded for the entirety of Winnie the Pooh, which is about twenty times more difficult than anything else she will hear, though I've tried to read other animal stories to her. She liked "The Gingerbread Man," but not "The Little Red Hen." Last year at this time she was fascinated by Make Way for Ducklings, but this year she's only moderately interested.
When I do find a book they like, it's pure magic, for the first ten reads. After that, it starts to get old. Right now D2 is obsessed with Goodnight, Gorilla, for reasons I cannot understand. Does he sympathize with the animals wanting to leave their cages? ("Out, out!" he shouts and points at the page.) He's learned to hunt for the banana on each page and knows to imitate the voice in which I say, "Gorilla" when the zookeeper's wife discovers the gorilla hiding in the bed. He's also very fond of I am a Bunny, especially the page with the daffodils. I can't wait to see what he thinks of real daffodils next week.
A surprise hit with D1 was Moon Plane, a book about a little boy flying to the moon. (Trains, planes--she really has a rather boyish taste in literature. Which is absolutely fine with me.) She also has enjoyed a rather detailed book about sunflowers, complete with words like cotyledon and phototropism. I'm hoping to plant some sunflowers for her.
I always try to read them some books at the upper limits of their understanding. For D2, this is simple--have him in the room while I read to D1. For D1, I have to hunt a little. Right now we're working on stories from My First Oxford Book of Stories, which seems to hit just the right note. It takes awhile for her to warm up to a new story, but once she does, she's happy to hear it again and again.
And for still a ways in the future, we made a stop at Half-Price Books on Monday and found Aesop for Children, illustrated by Milo Winter, and a copy of The Wanderings of Odysseus, by Rosemary Sutcliff, both in excellent condition. (Plus the complete History of the English Speaking Peoples by Churchill, which DOB has had his eye on for a while.) I still really want Black Ships Before Troy, and I'm still looking for a good collection of early folk tales, as the Oxford Book of Stories will have to go back to the library eventually. |
