Favorite Reads: Stories featuring animals

 Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?, written by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle, is a current family favorite. I was first introduced to this series when I was seven years old and my two-year-old sister got the original Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? book for Christmas. Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? is probably my favorite of the series. I like baby animals, so it was an immediate win there. I also like the fact that this one is all animals (no humans). Emma and Johnny both love this book, and Emma had it memorized within a day or two.

David A. Carter’s Woof! Woof! makes clever use of shapes and was an instant hit with both kids. We all like the texture of the cut-outs on the pages, and Emma enjoys guessing what each shape is going to be. I’m currently loving minimal-word-count books, because Emma memorizes them almost immediately and “reads” them to Johnny (and herself) over and over.

We borrowed Hop! Plop!, written by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Tali Klein and illustrated by Oliver Dunrea, after seeing the Infant Bibliophile’s review. Emma loves this book, and reads it several times each day. Johnny enjoys the book’s use of onomatopoeias, and I like the way these two friends find a way to play together in spite of their size difference.

Sherman the Sheep, written by Kevin Kiser and illustrated by Rowan Barnes-Murphy, is a clever tale about how, while the grass may seem greener on the other side, you’ll probably be happiest where you already are. I’m pretty sure my kids missed the message (possibly because young children seem to naturally be happy with what they have), but they enjoy the pictures of the sheep and the places the sheep go.

See more children’s book reviews from this week at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.