We’ve been having a great time ending each lazy day of our summer with a good children’s book before bedtime. Bedtime stories are sort of a bonus for me. Not only do I get to spend some quality time with E.B. before he falls asleep, but I also get to check out new titles to share with my kids in the library. Nothing but win!
Here are a few books we’ve been reading:
PETE THE CAT: PETE AT THE BEACH by James Dean
In Pete the Cat: Pete at the Beach, Pete is spending the day at the seashore. He has fun collecting shells and building a sand castle. But the beach is very hot. There is a whole ocean for Pete to cool off in, but it looks scary. Pete’s brother, Bob, offers to teach Pete to surf. Will that be enough to help Pete get over his fear of the water?
We are huge fans of the Pete the Cat series in our home. These are great books for the preschool to third grade crowd, so we always look forward to newest book. This series always covers topics that are great discussion starters for kids and often touch on the very things they experience in their little worlds. This book was no exception, with Pete dealing with the fear of trying something new. This is a perfect book for introducing a lesson on bravery or facing fears, or even for the child who might be timid or shy. This book didn’t disappoint and we enjoyed it very much.
RATING: Excellent
AGES: 4-8
DIG DOGS, DIG: A CONSTRUCTION TALE by James Horvath
In Dig, Dogs, Dig: A Construction Tail, Duke heads up a pack of construction worker dogs as they suit up in boots, gloves, goggles and dirt-digging suits to build a park! The dogs get to use all kinds of cool equipment—a crane, a dump truck, a loader, a bulldozer, and a cement truck. Most fun of all they get to dig. Like all dogs, they love digging.
Work is interrupted when the dogs find something deep at the bottom of a hole. Children will love discovering what is buried in the ground.
This is a fun little rhyming book that would make an excellent introduction to learning about fossils and teamwork. I don’t want to give too much of the story away, so I’ll just say that this book has beautiful illustrations and tells a cute story of how the dogs work together to build a park. If your child is crazy about construction equipment, this is definitely a great book to build on that. Check out the trailer for the book:
RATING: EXCELLENT
AGES: 4-8
RUFF! AND THE WONDERFULLY AMAZING BUSY DAY by Caroline Jayne Church
What Ruff wants most is to make some friends. He accidentally digs up the house of a little grey mouse named Hubble. By the time Ruff helps Hubble make a new home, he has a friend. Then he and Hubble decide to help Lottie, a duck who has also lost her home. And soon Ruff has a second friend!
I couldn’t help but falling in love with sweet little Ruff. Poor Ruff has made a huge mistake and works very hard to try to make things right. In the process, he makes two new friends. Reading this book to my son was a great teachable moment on forgiveness and being a friend. I highly recommend it.
RATING: Excellent
AGES: 4-8
STICKY, STICKY, STUCK! by Michael Gutch
Annie has a problem. She gets sticky—a lot. She can even get sticky in the bathtub. And sometimes it feels like the only time Annie’s family pays any attention to her is to tell her not to do something that will make her sticky—again.
When Annie tries to make a snack alone, some peanut butter makes her extremely sticky. Her mom, dad, brother, and sister try to help, but they all get stuck to her. The whole family ends up laughing, and for once Annie has all the attention she wants!
My son loved Sticky, Sticky, Stuck! He thought the whole family getting stuck together was super funny and what happened as a result of that was a little nudge at myself that sometimes we parents get so wrapped up in the day-to-day grind, especially the use of technology (think: cell phones, Facebook, etc.) that we sometimes fail to see our children are needing a little extra attention. The ending was sweet and I plan to recommend this book to the parents of my students when school starts back. It’s just a fun family read.
RATING: Excellent
Ages: 4-8
These books were provided to me to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was given.
Leave a Reply