avy's faves: board books | may 2016.

It's been awhile! That could be due, in part, to the fact that recently Avy's faves were not going to sleep and not staying asleep...but we have gotten over that hump, thank goodness. I think she decided to hit her 18 month sleep regression a little early. Overachiever.

Another thing this little overachiever has been up to? Oh, just walking, running even, all casual like she's been doing it forever. She went from tentatively cruising on walls and furniture one day to running laps around the house the next. Yet another reason why mama = tired!

Anywho...today we're back with another installment of Avy's Faves.

Star Wars Epic Yarns: The Empire Strikes Back by Jack & Holman Wang

Oh. My. Goodness. How cute is this series?!? The original Star Wars trilogy, retold with one-word descriptions of beautiful felted scenes. Avery adores this one. The kid has good taste; she knows which Star Wars episode is the best. Her favorite character is Yoda (Mommy does a pretty mean Yoda voice), so this is of course her fave since Yoda features on two pages.


Sleep (Baby Faces) by Roberta Grobel Intrater

We love reading this one at bedtime. Avy loves looking at the babies' faces, and the short, sleepy, soothing text. She cuddles into Mom when it says to "cuddle away," and turns around to give me a kiss when it shows a mom giving a baby a kiss. So cute!


Night-Night, Forest Friends by Annie Bach

We read this one most nights before bed, too. It was a sweet gift from my friend Laura and her little boy, Chase, and it is an adorable one! Avery is all about animals, so she loves seeing each family of animals (which, I might add, appear to be diverse kinds of families--always nice) settle down for the night. Then on the last page, when you see all the animal families at once as they all drift off to sleep, Avy always waves at all the animals and says, "Bye-bye!"


Well, that's all for the third edition of Avy's Faves! Her book collection needs some new additions, I've noticed, so hopefully we'll have some fun new ones to share next month.

avy's faves: board books | april 2016.

Time for another installment of Avy's Faves! This girl is loving books more than ever. However, in true toddler fashion, she likes to read many of the same greatest hits repeatedly. So, it's a quality-over-quantity post this month.

Here are Avery's current favorite board books:

The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton

We love all things Sandra Boynton in our house. (Well, most things. There are a couple of her books that don't quite click with us, but most of her stuff is pure gold.) This one is Avery's favorite. We've been reading it to her before bed most nights (Baby Beluga got a little old). The story is sing-song-y with a nice, soothing bedtime cadence, and the animals are cute and silly.



Where is Baby's Belly Button? (and others) by Karen Katz

Avery loves anything by Karen Katz, too. She seems to especially connect with the babies in the illustrations, because she has to wave at every one, every time. And she loves lifting the flaps in this one to see baby's hidden belly button / hands / feet / mouth / etc.



Hello, Animals! by Smriti Prasadam & Emily Bolam

This one's another waver. Avy loves the simple black-and-white animal illustrations, which she waves at every time, and the short and sweet text. It's a good, brief book for bedtime, too.


So, that's the second edition of Avy's Faves on the books. I'll post another batch when she gets hooked on some other good reads!

avy's faves: board books | march 2016.

I knew my soon-to-be-one-year-old daughter was pretty advanced, but I didn't expect her to be writing her first blog post before her first birthday. Well, technically, I guess I wrote the post on her behalf. But we won't quibble over technicalities. She certainly chose the content with her careful and discerning taste in books. Avy can be pretty picky and critical when it comes to the quality of her reading material.

Without further ado, please enjoy her selections:

The Jungle Book: An Animals Primer (BabyLit series) by Jennifer Adams & Alison Oliver

This is Avery's all-time favorite book. I'm not sure why this one specifically enchants her so much, but it does. She loves it and gets excited every time I read it to her. We usually gloss over the quotes on each page from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book in favor of a simpler reading: I read the name of each animal, say what type of animal it is, and make that animal's sound to the best of my ability--what the heck do porcupines sound like? Jackals? Peacocks? Anyway. She always looks at me expectantly, waiting for each animal's sound. It's adorbs.

Baby Beluga by Raffi & Ashley Wolff

Mike and I read-sing Baby Beluga to Avery every night at bedtime as part of her nightly routine. It's part of her bedtime wind-down. So, this beautifully-illustrated board book is a definite fixture in her little life! Sometimes she really enjoys it, and sometimes I think perhaps she gets a little annoyed by it if she's wanting to resist bedtime, which it's a pretty clear signal of. But mostly she loves it.

Tickle by Leslie Patricelli

Avery loves the Leslie Patricelli board books I've checked out from my library. Tickle is an especially cute one, and Toot is another one she really likes! The pictures are just simple enough while vibrant and eye-catching. The text is brief enough but maintains a great sense of humor baby and grown-ups can appreciate. And the baby starring in these books is totally gender-neutral, too, which is cool.

Dr. Seuss's ABC by Dr. Seuss

Who can resist a silly, sing-song Dr. Seuss book? This one is a classic, and it seems to hold Avery's attention well with the rhythmic, rhyming text. I mean, what's better than a Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz, or Itchy-Itchy-Ichabod?

First 100 Animals by Helen Parker

This book is just one example of the host of similar books Avy loves--board books featuring bright, clear photos of real-life animals, people, and objects. She especially loves looking at farm animals and babies/toddlers. She also loves staring at family photos in our house and my mom's house; I really need to make her a photo album / book with photos of all her family members to look at. I really think she'd love that.


Well, that's it for this first edition of book reviews on Avery's behalf. I have to say, the girl has good taste! I'll share again soon when I have another good batch of Avy's faves. :)