Sunday, April 18, 2010

Bedtime Adventures


Not all bedtime books will put you to sleep.

Corduroy by Don Freeman.

A charming children's classic which stands the test of time. A small bear really wants someone to take him home, but he needs to find his missing button first, he has quite a night time adventure looking for the button. In the end though, he doesn't need it for someone to love him and take him home, where he has a bed of his own.


Chugga Chugga Choo Choo
by Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk.

This little train goes chugs through a bedroom littered with toys. It has great colourful illustrations, very crisp and clear, which helps us all to understand that this is an imaginary journey.

Is it Bedtime Wibbly Pig? by Mick Inkwell

Wibbly Pig doesn't want to go to bed, a familiar scenario to most children and parents. But despite his protestations and procrastinations, eventually he can't help dreaming, even though he insists he's still not asleep.

Dinosaur versus Bedtime by Bob Shea

The little dinosaur in this book is pretty resourceful, he wins out against a pile of leaves, a bowl of spaghetti and even some talking grownups, but can he win against his greatest foe. Bedtime. The stars around the illustrations when the diosaur wins always make me want to say "ta-dah", so when I'm reading it aloud, that's just what I do.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

A classic tale of Max who sails “in and out of weeks and almost over a year, to where the wild things are”. As the mother of a toddler deep in the terrible twos I know that there’s a little bit of Max in all of us. It’s nice to know that the same fierceness that makes you chase a dog with a fork also guarantees not being scared of monsters.


We'll be singing Row Your Boat, This Train and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Storytime Special - Pajama Party

There's a special event at Cover to Cover on Wednesday April 14th at 7pm.

We're having a PAJAMA PARTY

There will be two local authors with us

Debra Sartell author of
Time for Bed, Baby Ted

Jane Wattenberg (Mrs. Mustard) author of
The Duck and the Kangaroo

They will be signing their books, we'll have lots of pillows and blankets round the store and cocoa and mini-marshmallows and I'll be reading Miss Rumphius and Visitor for Bear and singing something nice and calming after all that excitement.

So if you're in the neighborhood on Wednesday evening come and join us.

Use Your Imagination


Jamberry by Bruce Degan
The ultimate in fruit based daydreams as berries run in the rivers and fall from the sky until everything is a Jamberry. For my little fruitatarian this is a book he'd love to live in.

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood
A sweet take on the modern archetype of the American con artist. Our smooth talking narrator manages to convince the mouse that there’s a big hungry bear coming and the best thing he can do to protect his strawberry is to share it with us and eat it. When you’ve finished the book, ask your toddler to find the picture of the bear in the book. Of course, there isn’t one.

If... by Sarah Perry
There are some real leaps of imagination in this book. I especially like "if ugly was beautiful" of course you have to see the illustrations to really kickstart some imaginative thinking.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
"there's no such thing as a Gruffal...oh". A clever little mouse talks his way out of trouble with the unwitting help of a creature he thought he'd invented. I love this book, it's smart and funny and a real example of how not to be scared of monsters.

Dinosaur versus Bedtime by Bob Shea
The little dinosaur in this book is pretty resourceful, he wins out against a pile of leaves, a bowl of spaghetti and even some talking grownups, but can he win against his greatest foe. Bedtime. The stars around the illustrations when the diosaur wins always make me want to say "ta-dah", so when I'm reading it aloud, that's just what I do.

We'll be singing "I'm a Little Airplane", "There's a Monster in my Closet" and "The Ants Go Marching".