Unforseen Side Effects of an Expensive Education

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, I had the opportunity to spend 6 years of my life pursuing advanced degrees in English. This is an opportunity for which I am grateful--and for which I am still making monthly payments. Upon the completion of said degrees, I chose to make a career shift. Now I stay home with my children. Despite the inherent challenges, I love it. However, early on I encountered an unexpected problem: while reading books to my young daughter I had to repeatedly suppress the urge to make edits to the texts with a Sharpie. I am grateful for my daughter's love of books, but after being nearly driven to distraction several times by the repeated reading of books I couldn't stand, I started making lists. I noted various authors and titles that I could read over and over without being overcome with the urge to poke out my eyes. Now, with this blog, I endeavor to share these eye-poke-less (in my opinion) books with my other Mom and Dad friends. Hopefully this will help to make story time more enjoyable for everyone. Perhaps it will even save you from finding yourself spinning a web of white lies in order to cover up the fact that you hid that one book you couldn't stand to read even one more time under the couch...

Monday, April 12, 2010

Spring Thaw


By Steven Schnur. Illustrated by Stacey Schuett.
This is a great start of spring book that will help kids become aware of their environment and the changes going on around them. The text is simple and focuses on the details which announce the approach of spring--a change in the air, water dripping from the snow-covered roof, the appearance of mud under the snow. The illustrations are lovely and help to make alive the freshness and anticipation spring brings. Most are also painted with a unique perspective--helping the reader to focus on and appreciate anew the details of nature we too often take for granted.

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