Tag Archives: Read Aloud Thursday

Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman and Illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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Bot + BoyBoy + Bot by Ame Dyckman and illus. by Dan Yaccarino.  Ages 1+. Knopf Books for Young Readers. April 2012. 32 pages.  ISBN: 978-0375867569 $16.99

Why Am I Reviewing this Book? Because this is one of my son’s new favorite books.

The Short:  I’ve seen a lot of people recommending this book on various blogs and so I finally checked it out from the library.  It is such a sweet book about friendship.  It is simple and happy.  All of the characters are good.  It promotes goodness and joy and if you haven’t read this book yet, please do.  We highly, highly recommend this book.

The Long:  Boy and Bot meet and become friends.  While playing Bot suffers a blow to the back that turns him off.  Boy isn’t sure what to do so he brings Bot home and tries to help him recover.  Bot is then accidentally turned back on by his parents while Boy is sleeping.  Bot isn’t sure what’s happened so he brings Boy back to his house and tries to help him recover.  Bot is just about to attempt to install a new battery when Bot’s inventor intervenes and explains to Bot that Boy doesn’t need a new battery.  Boy wakes up, and while he isn’t sure where he is, he is relieved to see that Bot is okay.  Inventor brings Boy back home to his parents, and Bot and Boy live happily ever after playing together.

Fantastic story!  The illustrations are fun and the characters are creatively and skillfully done.  The text is simple and the illustrations work well to add details to the text.  I loved reading this to my son and doing a robot voice.  My son has been practicing his robot voice after reading this book and it is coming along nicely.  My son now knows that affirmative means yes and I got a kick out of him saying, “Affirmative,” yesterday when I asked him a question.  He also learned the word: malfunction and knows that it means to be broken or not work properly.

My son is also enjoying acting this book out and he’s been a broken robot that I have to wake up.  That usually results in tickles — which my son has pointed out — is not in the book.

I’m digressing now, but really you need to know that this is a sweet and wonderful book about friendship.  I love it and my son adores it!  We’ll be reading this one over and over again.  Also, there is nothing I feel compelled to edit or change when reading this book to him.  It’s a wonderful book!

Where Obtained:  Public Library.  Placed on hold after reading some reviews of this book.

FTC Disclosures: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Author/Illustrator Websites:  

Some of My Favorite Reviews of this Book: (This one has a lot of great reviews.  Easy to understand why.)

Read-AloudI’m linking this post up with Read-Aloud Thursday hosted over at Hope is the Word.  This happens every Thursday and I hope you’ll link up a book you like.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas

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Rhyming Dust BunniesRhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas  Ages 2+.  Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Jan. 2009. 40 pages.  ISBN: 978-1416979760 $12.99

Why Am I Reviewing this Book?  I discovered it from the library.  My son and I enjoy reading it.  It has proven to teach my son something.  I think other parents and children will like it, too.  

The Short:  This is a simple, colorful, and fun book full of rhymes that I have read to my son a countless number of times.  Neither of us have tired of this book, though.  Because of the simple text with lots of rhyming this is a great book for a reader (parent, sibling, etc.) to read with a beginning reader.  It’s a quick book to memorize for those kids who enjoy memorizing books.  My son will sit down with this book by himself and, “read” it.  It is a quick read, but we always read it several times in a row.  We recommend it.

The Long:  This is about four dust bunnies that like to rhyme.  They pick a word and try to think of all of the other words that rhyme with it.  One dust bunny, Bob, consistently picks a word that doesn’t rhyme and the other dust bunnies correct him.  What they don’t realize is that first a broom and then a vacuum cleaner are heading straight towards them and Bob is trying to warn them.  It is pretty funny.

I like the flexibility in the pace of this book.  You can read it fast or slow, either way has its advantages.  This book also is written in a casual, conversational style that makes reading it a relaxed and happy experience.  It’s a pressure free and humorous introduction to reading.  We’ll be reading this book again when my son starts to show more of an interest in reading.

There is nothing I feel compelled to edit when reading this to my son.  After reading this book to him several times he seems to grasp the idea of rhyming words.  I was surprised and happy with that result.

One word of warning:  After reading this through the first time, my son was scared of this book.  The dust bunnies do get sucked into the vacuum cleaner.  This didn’t traumatize him, but for the longest time he would need to go to the other end of the couch when we got to the page where the bunnies got sucked into the vacuum cleaner.  He’d come right back after it was over.  I asked him why he did this and he told me it was scary when the dust bunnies got sucked into the vacuum. (Fair enough.) When I told him we didn’t have to read it anymore, he protested.  This behavior didn’t last long and now he’ll sit down by himself and read it.  He loves this book.

I’ll be checking out more books by Jan Thomas ASAP.

Where Obtained:  Public Library.  Random grab off the shelf.

FTC Disclosures:  Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Author/Illustrator Websites:  Jan Thomas: http://www.janthomasbooks.com/Home.html

Some of My Favorite Reviews of this Book:

Read-AloudI’m linking this post up with Read Aloud Thursday hosted over at Hope Is the Word Blog.  This happens every Thursday and I hope you’ll link up a book you like to read aloud to your loved ones.

Brontorina by James Howe and Illustrated by Randy Cecil

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BrontorinaBrontorina by James Howe; illus. by Randy Cecil.  Ages 2+.  Candlewick. Aug. 2010. 32 pages.  ISBN: 978-0763644376 $15.99

The Short:  This is a sweet book about good people working together to make a dinosaur’s dream to dance come true.  Brontorina dreams of being a dancer and her teacher takes her seriously and with her classmates works to find the best place for them to dance together.  We’ve read it many, many times and it is a consistent win.  We recommend it.

The Long:   I love reading about good people being kind to each other.  My son likes dinosaurs and dancing — so this combination was a hit.  We’ve had it for about three weeks now and it has been a consistent pick for him.  Each time we read it twice before moving on to another book.  He was quoting french dance terms after reading this book and you just can’t go wrong quoting french dancing terms at the age of two.  If you have a kiddo that enjoys either dinosaurs or dancing, then I have no doubt you’ll enjoy this book.

I do have to edit this book when reading it my son.  There are two little girls who make snarky comments about Brontorina not having the right shoes, etc.  and I ignore those people in life and in picture books.  The edits are easy for this book, I just don’t read what the girls say.  When my son gets a little older it won’t be a problem and will actually prove as a useful tool in teaching him to ignore (and not be one of those) people who stand around making snarky comments.

I love reading this book aloud to my son.  This story is a lot of fun and the tone and message is so positive.  The illustrations are beautiful and fun.  They give a lightheartedness and sweetness to the story.  We’ll be coming back to this book again and again.  I will do my best to instill a sense of determination in my son to go after what he wants and reading this book to him is one of my tactics while he’s young.

Where Obtained:  Public Library

FTC Disclosures:  Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Author/Illustrator Websites:

Some of My Favorite Reviews of this Book:

Read-AloudI’m linking this post up with Read Aloud Thursday hosted over at Hope Is the Word Blog.  This happens every Thursday and I hope you’ll link up a book you like to read aloud to your loved ones.

Read Aloud Thursday: Hip, Hip, Hooray for Annie McRae by Brad Wilcox and Illustrated by Julie Olson

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Today is Read Aloud Thursday!  It is hosted over at Hope Is the Word.  Also, give her Armchair Cybils post a look.  She’s reviewed some great picture books.

The Short:  Hip, hip, hooray for Annie McRae indeed!  This is a pity-me-not book about how to be and feel awesome even when all the adults in your life are way too busy to notice.  Usually, the adults in Annie’s life are on it and give her lots of attention and encouragement.  However, one day Annie wakes up and all the adults in her life are just too busy with other things to notice Annie.  At first she’s pretty devastated but then she decides that she doesn’t need their encouragement — she only needs her encouragement.  She still tries to engage the adults in her life, but when they are unable to, she says, “Hip, hip, hooray for Annie McRae” to herself.  My son enjoyed saying, “Hip, hip, hooray for Annie McRae.”  I enjoy most any empowering story about taking control of your life.  We recommend it. 

The Long:  My son will say, “Hip, hip, hooray,” all the time now.  We’ll change it up to Hip, hip, hooray for broccoli or hip, hip, hooray for cheese or mama or papa!  It doesn’t rhyme as well, but it definitely works.  I found out about this book because I was looking for other books by Leah Wilcox who wrote, Falling For Rapunzel and this book just happened to be on the shelf.  Admittedly, I like the dimples on Annie McRae and figured that between the title of the book and the fantastic illustrations that it would be a book worth reading.  I didn’t quite realize that it would be a book worth reading again and again and again and again.  The illustrations are a lot of fun and if you look carefully on each page you’ll find a horse shoe.  For some pages, you’ll have to look very carefully.  It’s a small detail, but adds a bit to the book.

The characters are all excellent and yes, sometimes adults are too busy or too occupied to give children all the attention they deserve.  It’s the greatest flaw of being a singular human being.  I did not feel compelled to edit or change any parts of this book when reading it to my son.

Admittedly, I rather enjoyed saying, “Hip, hip, hooray for Annie McRae!” It put both me and my son in a great mood.

Where Obtained:  Library.

FTC Disclosures:  Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Facts:

Publisher: Gibbs Smith

Publication Date: August 3, 2001

ISBN-13: 978-1586850586

Length: 32 pages

Read Aloud Thursday: When Dinosaurs Came With Everything by Elise Broach and Illustrated by David Small

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 Today is Read Aloud Thursday hosted at Hope Is the Word  Blog.  While technically every day is read aloud day at our house (for now) I’d like to share one of our favorite books:

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