What is Ezri Reading?

These are some we read today:

The Napping House by Audrey Wood
This classic has been republished as a larger format boardbook and after reading it twice at the bookstore I purchased it. I love it. Ezri asked for it to read AGAIN as soon as I finished. I hope it becomes an after nap favorite. For those unfamiliar, this is about a granny napping who is napped upon by a child who is napped upon by a dog who is napped upon by a cat who is napped upon by a mouse and everything is fine until the wakeful flea brings the pile of nappers crashing out of bed. The gentleness of the napping house and the excitement of the waking up resonate with Ezri who is into things being sleepy and aware.

The Dog House by Jan Thomas
When a ball rolls into the dark dog house, animal after animal goes inside to retrieve it and does not return. When only mouse is left outside the dog house, Dog pops out and says he is having duck for dinner. DUCK FOR DINNER! yells mouse. Luckily, he has made turnips for duck and mouse joins the bunch in the dog house for cake. I am not sure how much of the plot Ezri really gets, but she knows its funny and likes the page where pig is called stinky and the one where duck quacks ALOT. Jan Thomas is a new favorite author for me (and Ezri too). The books have plot and humor, but are short enough to fit in toddler attention spans.

Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
Again I am not sure how much of the humor Ezri gets, but she is loving the Big Red Dog. Clifford goes out chasing cars and catches them. He plays fetch and returns with a policeman being dragged by his baton. He tries to hide for hide and seek, but is much too big to hide even behind a house. Though these concepts may not quite be grasped by my kid, she asks for this book again and again and sits through the whole reading.

What’s Wrong Little Pookie? by Sandra Boynton
Boynton is just the best for the toddler aged. Her humor and likable cartoon animals cannot be beat. The zaniness adds to repeat readability for the big people how will be asked for repeat readings. I think Ezri does identify with little Pookie who is crying at the beginning of this book but too upset to tell his caregiver what is wrong. So, she decides to guess and after each guess Pookie responds in a very small voice, “No.” The guesses start out within the realm of reason maybe Pookie is tired or hungry. They end in silliness with wondering whether Pookie’s shoes have been borrowed by a hippopotamus or if his cookies were taken by tiny-winged elephants. Pookie says in his tiny voice, “That’s silly.” By the end he’s forgotten what he was upset about. The story is a very loving interaction and very familiar to a toddler. I am working on a current top ten list of Ezri’s favorite stories and this one almost certainly makes that cut.

Ezri has also discovered the marvel of pockets. Here she’s put a dandylion in her pocket. Usually she puts the pom-poms I keep especially for the purpose in her pockets. She also likes to put in acorns (yes, it’s fall) and rocks. She almost got me to buy her a small stuffed owl by picking it up and saying, “Pocket owl!” and shoving it in. The I realized we have plenty of small stuffed animals for the purpose already – no need to purchase another.

Yesterday Eric transitioned Ezri’s crib into a big kid bed by removing one side. The results are mixed. She definitely is excited by the bed and the opportunity to escape her sleep space on her own. Too excited to sleep it seems. She spent part of last night sleeping on blankets on the floor near her bed. We’ll see how it goes tonight.