Give a hoot!

I went to the library today and came back with an armful of children's books. Some were for Archer -- Numbers Old And New, Build Tables On Tables: A Book About Multiplication. But I couldn't resist picking up several smart and funny new books to read along with Cady Gray, too. And she was so well pleased that we plowed through four of them at one sitting this afternoon. Here's the lineup in case you and your little one would like to read along.

• Fraction Action by Loreen Leedy. The sequel to Mission: Addition!, which has long been a favorite. Told almost entirely in comic form, a class of brightly-drawn animals learns how to divide wholes and sets into fractions, and solves problems concerning money and comparison. Each short chapter ends not only with a resolution, but with a question about fractions for the reader to think about -- the answers are in the back of the book.


• Derek The Knitting Dinosaur by Mary Blackwood. Well, you can guess why I selected this one. But I wasn't disappointed. From the anatomically-correct depiction of (dinosaur) continental knitting on the cover, to the vigorous rhyming text, to the message that people with different talents and inclinations from the norm can come in handy when an ice age approaches, this was a real winner.


• Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. A clever, funny, and boldly illustrated guide to the classic gestalt illusion. Two voices argue about whether the shape is a duck or rabbit, finding support for their opinion in every setting the drawing can be found. Cady Gray loved reading one voice and assigning me the other, and she laughed heartily upon figuring out that there was no right answer.


• Scaredy Squirrel At Night by Melanie Watt. We just love all the Scaredy Squirrel books. They feature inventive lists with bright cartoony lines, a unique voice that sympathizes with Scaredy's fears while celebrating when he overcomes them, and a sense of humor that delights both Cady Gray and her mom. This one is just as wonderful as the others -- maybe better considering that the cover illustration includes squirrel teeth that glow in the dark!

Happy summer reading!