Thursday, June 17, 2010

Hands

I am a big fan of children's books. I was an education major in college and I had to take an intense "literature block" of classes in my junior year. At the time it seemed like a great way to torture those of us in education, but I look back on it and I am thankful for all of the books we were exposed to. It opened up the world of children's literature to me, and I've loved children's books ever since. One of my favorite authors is Lois Ehlert. If you've never read any of her books with your children, go to the library and check her out. Her books are awesome!

Today I decided to take Sophie and Isaac to the local library after getting up early and taking them to the doctor. I figured, hey, we're already out, let's go by the library and see what the summer schedule is for kids. (They have story time and activities for kids in the summer) I haven't checked out books for the kids up to this point...I've always been afraid they would get messed up or we would lose them. But today I took the plunge and picked out some books to read with the kids. I could feel myself getting more and more excited as I looked around and saw names of favorite authors....Lois Ehlert, Patricia Polacco, and Normal Bridwell to name a few. I also saw a few new ones that caught my eye. I checked out and today we've sat down and read some books together. Tonight I read a book to Isaac (well, tried to) that is now one of my favorites. I could immediately sense a blog post coming together when I finished the last page.

Hands: Growing Up to be An Artist by Lois Ehlert. A beautiful story with the always wonderful artwork. I love how the book pages are even cut into different shapes and it seems like a surprise waits at every turn. I hope you are able to enjoy this one as much as I did!
Happy reading!

2 comments:

Elizabeth said...

So glad you shared this...I love posts about children's books! Daniel picked out a Lois Ehlert book at the library last week and has looked at everyday, even takes it to bed with him! I think it's the artwork that catches his eye. He is sleeping right now with it so I can't check, but I think the title is Animal Shapes.

Hope you're doing well!

The Great Adventure said...

Thanks for the comment, Elizabeth! We got the animal shapes one, too, that day! Ehlert has so many wonderful books. I have a few of my own that I think are neat. One is about making a pie and it even gives you the recipe! I'll try and do more children's book posts! : )