Girls' Pick

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On the Pampas by Maria Cristina Brusca
This is a great book to introduce children to the Pampas in Argentina (that's our current stop in the ABC World Tour). The Pampas is a very flat grassland that runs through Argentina and Uruguay for miles. Ranch animals roam the Pampas watched over by Gauchos (cowboys).

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On the Pampas tells the story of a little girl who lives in Buenos Aires but visits her grandparents estancia (ranch) every summer. The little girl tells how one summer she visited and learned the ways of the gaucho, doing everything from taking care of horses to learning to lasso and even herding cattle. She learned so much about being a gaucho she earned her own rastra (gaucho belt) and a surprise for next summer!

I'd recommend this book even if you aren't learning about Argentina, it's a great story about working hard, having fun and being rewarded for it.

Girls' Pick

Lexi's Pick:

Big Sister, Little Sister by Leuyen Pham

We got this book for the girls shortly after Alexis was born, it's such a sweet book. I grew up with a brother and we have a pretty good relationship but nothing compared to the relationships that my girls have. They are the cutest sisters ever. This book describes them perfectly.The author, Leuyen Pham, wrote the book for her big sister as a gift and it's narrated by the "little sister". It tells how the big sister gets to do all the fun stuff like try on lipstick and go to bed later, but, even though the little sister gets all the hand me downs and likes to be messy, she's awesome in her own unique way! It's a great story about how sisters, even though completely different, can be the best of friends.

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amazon.com

Char's Pick:

I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! by Dr. Seuss

When I saw this book at the library I thought the title meant lick with a tongue, turns out it means lick as in fight! There are also a couple other stories in this book as well. It's an enjoyable and typical Dr. Seuss book with great rhymes and intriguing stories. We really liked reading the different stories in this book, especially The Glunk That Got Thunk. 

Girls' Pick

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Lexi's pick was Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss. Both girls loved this book. It's soo much fun to listen to them try to recreate the sounds that Mr. Brown can do. It's a fantastic book to encourage involvement in reading.

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Char's pick was SPIDER-MAN! She finally was able to check-out a Spider-Man book from the library. Every time we've gone before it's been checked out. While I was picking out our books for the upcoming week Charlotte told me she was going to ask if they had any Spider-Man books and she left. She walked right up to the information desk, said, "Excuse me, do you have any Spider-Man books?" and then followed the librarian to where the books would be located. I am loving how independent she is becoming. This isn't the first time she's ever asked a librarian for a book she wanted but she did it with confidence that she's never had before. It makes me so proud to see her growing up before my eyes into a proud confident girl that knows what she wants and knows how to get it. We haven't finished reading the book yet, but we haven't been disappointed with it so far.

Girls' Pick

Yep, we're still in Australia! And thanks to some supplemental curriculum I stumbled upon we'll be staying for one more week.  Spending three weeks in a continent hardly seems like enough time, Australia has so much to offer! 

Here are the picks for this week:

 Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo by Alison Lester

This book is amazing! I love it! What a great way to introduce children to Arnhem Land, which is in Northern Australia and is home to many different indigenous tribes and language groups. The book specifically focuses on Gunbalanya where Kunwinjku is the main language that is spoken.

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The book is about a boy (Ernie) who is leaving his friends to live in Arnhem Land where is parents are working at a hospital. What makes this book so great is that its written as if Ernie is writing a letter to each of his friends for each of the Arnhem land seasons, there are six seasons! For each season there are different activities that each of Ernie's new friends are doing such as fishing, learning traditional Dreamtime stories, and playing sports.

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Another great thing about this book is that there is a short section at the beginning of the book explaining a bit about Arnhem Land, and the pronunciations of the seasons. At the back of the book there is a small glossary with terms that may not be familiar to the reader. It's a very easy read and beautifully illustrated. I can't wait to read more books by Alison Lester!

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Waking Up Down Under by Carol Votaw

Another book that I've fallen in love with! This is an adorable book about 12 different Australian animal babies waking up in the morning. When the babies that wake in the morning go to sleep at night the story transitions right into the nocturnal babies waking up. So there are always babies awake in Australia! The sweet rhyming words 

Wake up, little emu, nibble in the sun. Your feathers may not fly, but oh, how you can run!

 and the delightful illustrations of the baby animals by Susan Banta make this book a must read!!!

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Girls' Pick

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Stories from the Billabong by James Vance Marshall and Francis Firebrace. 

This week we've landed in Australia so we're reading Aboriginal folktales retold from the Yorta-Yorta tribe, one of many Aboriginal tribes in Australia.

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All of the illustrations are by Francis Firebrace who is an Aboriginal artist and storyteller.

This book is a wonderful collection of folktales, there are ten stories including stories about creation, why frogs croak, and how the crocodile got its scales.

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There is a glossary at the back of the book with the definitions of common Australian words, a page about Aboriginal Australians, and pictures of Aboriginal symbols and what they mean.

This book is a wonderful way to introduce the Aboriginal culture to children. The pictures are vibrant and authentic, and the stories are simply written and easy to understand. We've thoroughly been enjoying reading all about Australia!

Girls' Pick

Alright, I lied. 

Tonight was mommy's pick at the library. I managed to go in by myself, something that I hate to love...I KNOW you know what I mean. I was able to go in and browse without having to chase a two year old around the shelves or listen to a four year old tell me she's bored and doesn't want to look at the books for mommy. It was about 10 minutes in Heaven, hubby was out in the car waiting for me, lol.

I managed to grab these two books and the girls really enjoyed them.

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Bird & Birdie in A Fine Day by Ethan Long. I've never seen this book before, I'm glad I found it. It is perfect for a beginning reader (IMO) it's just a simple conversation between two birds throughout the morning, afternoon, and night. The conversations are short but get the point across, you know what's going on, how the birds feel, etc. The words repeat just enough that after a couple times reading this your child will probably be able to read it by themselves with confidence.

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amazon.com

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown. When I saw this book on display I had to grab it, normally I come to the library with a list in hand, the girls will pick a few that aren't on the list as well but there are sooo many books out there that some get passed over, like this one. This book is quite near and dear to me (and I'm pretty ashamed I haven't bought it yet) this book is one that I very distinctly remember my mom reading to me when I was younger. Not only do I remember the story but I remember the pictures, they always intrigued me. The little runaway bunny turning into a fish, a bird, a sailboat with big sail ears (which sounds silly but it doesn't look silly) and the mommy bunny always one step ahead of the little bunny. It's a great book and you really get a sense of the mommy bunny's love for the little bunny, it always gets me teary eyed reading it, though not as bad as Love You Forever, I can't even finish that book.
Have you read these books? I'd love to hear how you feel about them. If you haven't read them be sure to put them on your list for the library!

Girls' Pick

We had a fantastic trip to the library, especially since we haven't been in a few weeks due to illness and house guests. I'm still waiting to get past the library's one month waiting period for my card, right now I'm limited to only 5 books.

 ONLY 5!!!!!!!!!!

I have a really long list of books that I'm waiting to check out from the library and I'm counting down the days until I can go crazy! Anywho, here are tonight's picks...

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Char's Pick: Dr. Seuss's Bartholomew and the Oobleck. We own at least 15 or more Dr. Seuss books but I still always find one we haven't read at the library. That guy was a book writing machine! This one was a little long and drawn out. It's about a king who want's to have something that nobody else has, so he wishes for something new to fall from the sky, he gets Oobleck. This book has a "careful what you wish for" moral that I think would be great for elementary aged children, my girls didn't quite understand.

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Lexi's Pick: Polo: The Runaway Book by Regis Faller. This book was a surprise because it's a book with no words! I love books that can tell stories with just pictures. Another awesome thing about this book is that it is part of a series! Polo (the little dog guy) is in a few different books, having tons of fun picture adventures. This was a great book, the pictures were fun to look at and the girls couldn't wait to turn the page to see where Polo ended up next. The story is that Polo gets a book as a present, then the little yellow dot guy (up there ^) takes the book and Polo goes after him to get it back. He has an awesome journey filled with new places and new friends. I will definitely be looking for other Polo books the next time we go to the library! I hope you get a chance to "read" this book with your kids!

Girls' Pick

The girls are sick this week so instead of heading to the library, we read books we already own.

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Char's pick was, Pinocchio, this is the original story of Pinocchio...not the ooey gooey Disney version. Your should read all the original fairy tales that Disney has turned to sap, you'd probably be surprised with how they turn out.

Lexi picked, Oh, the Thinks you can Think. It's a nice story about being able to think up whatever your little heart desires. Not only does it encourage you to think up this and think up that but it throws in questions as well to get your mind wheels a-turnin' Would you do this? Would you do that? and What would you do if this AND that happened? It is definitely a book that gets both my girls thinking silly thoughts and carefully considering the questions at hand. We love this book, it's a favorite for sure!

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Girls' Pick

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Char's pick for Time To Read Tuesday is a Wonder Woman graphic novel. She wanted a Spider-Man book but they happened to all be checked out at the same time. All of them. How is that even possible!? Anyway, Wonder Woman was a settle, she's definitely no Spider-Man.

Lexi didn't get a library pick today due to the fact that both the girls were little hellions at the library and I was trying to get the heck out of dodge as fast as possible. One book she has been obsessed with lately is Boo Hoo Bird, I'm pretty sure I could tell you the whole story right now without even looking at the book. I can't blame her for wanting to read it over and over though, it's a great book.

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