Spring Book Round Up

We try to keep a selection of seasonal books on a low shelf for Mr. J. This is partially due to my love of all things seasonal, but also something we developed after the avalanche of books we received from family and friends when Mr. J was born. Add in the occasional trip to Half Price Books and we have a rather large children's library. Starting March 1st, we selected books about Easter, St. Patrick's Day, Spring, Gardens, and Chickens.

Mr. J has a few standby favorites we always keep out - the Biscuit books, a few books about trains, and the Pixar sticker book Ez gave him for Christmas. However, it maintains our sanity and his level of interest if we keep the readily available books new.

Books about Spring:
Spring - We're slowly collecting the Gerda Miller seasons books. They are good to help slow Mr. J down. He's into naming right now and these books are right with opportunity.

It's Spring - An awesome Half Price find. I think someone must have received this as a gift and never opened it. Mr. J doesn't really understand all the snow melting stuff, but there are lots of birds and nests to discuss.

A New Beginning - I bought this one new. It goes through the traditional Spring celebrations around the world. Mr. J likes the pictures of other places.

Books for St. Patrick's Day:
As a nod to Mr. J's mixed Irish - Scotch-Irish heritage, we're reading a few books set in Ireland.

Fiona's Luck - Beautiful illustrations and leprechauns who aren't totally terrifying.

O'Sullivan Stew - This is a little over Mr. J's head, but the pictures of dragons keep him entertained.


Books about Chickens:
Busy Chicken - A great board book about scratching, and clucking.
Chick - This was a Half Price Books find. The glorious part of this book, in Mr. J's opinion, is the page where the chicken poops in pop up.
Hedgie's Surprise - All of the Jan Brett books a beautiful and full of fun things to find.
The Problem with Chickens - A book set in Iceland with very pretty pictures.

Easter Books:
We celebrate a secular version of Easter, so most of these books are just focused around rabbits and eggs.

Peter Rabbit - A knock off from Half Price.

The Easter Egg - A new book for this year.

The Runaway Bunny - Margret Wise Brown was an odd genius. Joey received several copies of this book when he was born.

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes - This was one of my favorite books as a kid. I got it for Joey's first Easter, but he's just now old enough to get anything from it. I didn't remember this, but it's hugely loaded with racial and class overtones. The brown little bunny conquering over the big white bunnies.

Books about gardening and nature:

Eating the Alphabet and Planting a Rainbow - Lois Ehlert is a big hit around here. We're working on colors and the alphabet so these two hit the seasonal and developmental stages goals.

The Cucumber Princess - This is my books from childhood. It's a little odd, but I like the illustrations.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Classic and Mr. J likes poking at the holes in the food.

The Sun Egg - A book I found in my books from childhood, but I don't remember it. It's cute and tiny and about oranges which are in season now. It looks like something my Grandmother would have bought.

Mud - A scholastic book order find.

The Root Children - Another book from my childhood. The drawings are super dated, but the story is nice and explains seasons.

Inch by Inch - based on a children's song. Mr. J is learning to sing with us.

My Book of Bugs - A gift from Henry and Kelly, Mr. J. is enjoying bugs and watching the birds eat the bugs.

It seems like a long list, but we read a lot and get bored with the same books over and over. Rotating the books around a theme helps keep everything fresh and interesting for Mr. J and for us.