What is Ezri Reading?

Eric pointed out that our outfits on this day matched. I am reading to Ezri from It Does Not Say Meow by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers. This book was originally published in the early 1970s. There is a rhyming riddle on one page that describes an animal. You turn the page to see if you guessed the animal correctly. The book has aged well with the exception of one illustration of white children dressed up as Indians that is disrespectful of Native American culture if emblematic of its time. Ezri particularly likes the illustration of the cat and the frog. It is nice that the book does not need to be read in order, because Ezri pages through willy nilly at the moment flipping here and there. She spends a long time on one page and then flips quickly past the next. She wants to be the one in charge of turning the pages. She can also be redirected from other play by being asked to go get a book to read from the shelf. She likes selecting her own books.

The other book I want to mention is Ten Little Fingers & Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. The rhyming text is simple, gentle, and warm. I am reading this one a lot right before naptime as its rhythm is good for calm moments and its message is reassuring. Ezri is often in her crib relaxing while I read this and thus does not see the pictures. Though, when she is in my lap she does like to point out the fingers and toes on the babies in the illustrations. Oxenbury’s baby illustrations border on too cute, but they aren’t over the edge for me. I find I replace the pronoun “it” with “her” when reading the final few pages about the baby that is mine all mine.

Ezri’s friend, Julia, trying to put Ezri into her lap for storytime which is just funny because they are practically the same size. Julia’s a year older and wiser.