Posts Tagged: animals

babies / preschool / toddlers — No Comments
22
Jul 09

REVIEW: Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

goodnight-moon-margaret-wise-brownI was delighted to find this book among the shelves of the library especially as I’ve been seeing it at Borders bookshop since God knows when!

It costs a whopping RM35 I couldn’t bear to buy the book even though it’s a classic. Reading this book with my toddler, I know understand why this book, which was first published in 1947 is still a nursery favourite :-)

The book starts with a little rabbit getting ready for bed in his room. Another rabbit, his mother, sits in a rocking chair at another end of the room.

I think the little rabbit is trying to delay bedtime as long as he can because he goes about wishing “good night” to practically everything in his room!

From the moon, a red balloon, a mouse, a pair of mittens, kittens, socks, telephone, a picture of the cow jumping over the moon etc, the little rabbit is trying to think of everything he could wish good night too until his Mother says “hush!”.

Finally, the little rabbit ends his “good night” routine and falls asleep.

Reading the book together (and he demanded a second and third reading), I noted:
- the objects a toddler would be familiar with,
- the easy rhyme throughout the book and I wasn’t even tired of saying, “good night” again and again LOL,
- the brightly contrasting illustrations (by Clement Hurd) and
- the interspersing of black and white illustrations in between the coloured plates. Interesting!

“Good night Moon” definitely held my toddler’s attention from the beginning till the end. After the third reading, he could even repeat some of the lines himself.

A few days later, he even started his own “good night” routine, which went:
- Good night, TV
- Good night, computer
- Good night, player (DVD player)
- Good night, another player (satellite TV)
- Good night, scooter
- Good night, air-cond
- Good night, clock

Listening to his litany, I think our apartment needs a bit more nature because it certainly sounds like a mini electronic city in here!!!

“Good night Moon” is such an easy and delightful book with a simple storyline, I believe that you could even read it aloud to babies. The book is available in French, Spanish, Hebrew and Hmong (Vietnamese). I’m loving Ms. Margaret Wise Brown a lot :-)

Rating: ★★★★★

# Publisher: HarperFestival (August 2, 1991)
# ISBN-10: 0694003611
# ISBN-13: 978-0694003617

Buy books by Margaret Wise Brown on Amazon:

picture book / preschool / toddlers — No Comments
21
May 09

REVIEW: Sadie’s Sore Throat by Dr. Charlotte Cowan

sadies-sore-throat-charlotte-cowan “Sadie’s Sore Throat” was the third Dr. Hippo book my toddler picked up after reading “The Little Elephant with the Big Earache” and The Moose with Loose Poops.

I think he was attracted by the brightly illustrated cover (by Katy Bratun) and the three giraffes (or gee-wuffs).

The story of “Sadie’s Sore Throat” begins with little Sadie who is beading for her School Art Fair while her little brother, Barley (?) plays with his toy aeroplane.

Sadie, Barley and Mom talk about handicrafts they can make when Mom notices that Sadie didn’t eat her snack or drink her favourite orange juice. Oh no, Sadie has a sore throat!

The story gets interesting because Sadie is quite an assertive girl (or giraffe).

  • She balks at taking medicine because her throat is sore;
  • Although she has a fever, she refuses to see the paediatrician, Dr. Hippo and
  • She mentions that her “tummy hurts too” when Mom tells the doc what’s wrong.

The story ends happily with Sadie spending the day at Grandma’s house and gets well enough to finish her “secret” project for competition at the Art Fair.

He loved the book because he could identify with many familiar situations in the story:

  • having a sore throat – he had a really BAD one last summer where he lost his voice;
  • refusing to listen to Mummy when told to go somewhere…
  • the FUN waiting room and the paediatrician’s office – crayons, books, tacked drawings, jigsaw puzzles, lots of toys but interestingly, he didn’t recognize the train wedged in the toy box (when he woefully pointed out, “NO train…”, I said “See, there’s a train in the toy box!” but he disagreed. He said, “It’s not a train. It’s a house!”  Uh-oh…
  • laughing and imitating Sadie when she sticks out her tongue;
  • getting stickers from the doctor;
  • balloons and boat rides at the fair and
  • of course the PURPLE popsicles!!!

For me, I find the “Simplifying Sore Throats” guide for parents really helpful especially as Dr. Cowan points out that antibiotics only work for BACTERIA and not on viruses.

I thought this was great especially as doctors in some countries tend to prescribe antibiotics as if they are candy or sweets.

I love “Sadie’s Sore Throat” because Sadie has a little brother, Barley, which was great to prepare my child the idea of having a brother or a sister :-)

I think little girls will like this book because it’s got a strong arts and crafts theme throughout the story.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Check out Dr. Cowan’s series of Dr. Hippo books:

picture book / preschool / toddlers — 2 Comments
5
May 09

REVIEW: The Little Elephant with the Big Earache by Dr. Charlotte Cowan

little-elephant-with-a-big-earache Last week, when Lucas returned from preschool, I told him that the postman had a “present” for him.

Of course, he couldn’t wait to open the box and was *really excited* when he saw these 4 books:

  • Katie Caught a Cold,
  • Sadie’s Sore Throat
  • Peeper has a Fever and
  • The Little Elephant with the Big Earache
  • The Moose with Loose Poops (spare copy!)

    • He couldn’t wait to read ALL of them that I had to read him the four books one after another :-)

    “The Little Elephant with the Big Earache” was his first choice because he is now crazy over Pooh’s “Heffalump Movie”…

    It’s quite an exciting story because Eddie the elephant spends a fun day making mud pies (or “sandcastles”) but wakes up the next day with a terrible earache.

    Lucas empathized with the elephant when he saw Eddie’s tears, the elephant taking medicine and his Mummy comforting him…

    When Eddie visits Dr. Hippo, Lucas remembers the stethoscope and the flashlight the paediatrician used when he was checked for bronchitis.

    Of course, he was happy when Eddie gets well in time for his birthday party :-)

    We enjoyed reading the book because the story was well-paced and the brightly-coloured illustrations with lots of action by Elaine Garvin held Lucas’ attention from start to end.

    Hey, even Phylicia Rashad from The Cosby Show agrees that it’s

    “such a joy to look at and to read”!

    I’m thankful that he’s never had an earache because I’ve had it twice and was in absolute agony because I had to fly both times.

    I find Dr. Cowan’s guide for parents “Ear Infections Made Easy: Answers to Common Questions” really useful and because she was previously an English teacher, she takes extra care to ensure that the guide has clear illustrations to help non-English speaking parents.

    If I may suggest, it’d be great if:

  • illustrations of babies and young toddlers e.g. under 2 and above 2 years old could be inserted in the parents’ guide. That way, parents can immediately refer to the section relevant to them
  • temperatures could be listed in both Fahrenheit (mostly US) and Celcius (other parts of the world).

    • Thank you again to Dr. Charlotte Cowan for another great book for parents :-)

    Get Dr. Cowan’s books:

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