Emry's Book Reviews

If you haven’t been over to Emry’s blog, to date we have read 133 books (well, I think we’ve really read twice as many since I’m pretty sure we’ve read Stellaluna a hundred times, not to mention the twenty times we read a Fancy Nancy or Biscuit book before we move on to something else…). We’re well on our way to 1,000 books before Kindergarten. I mean, we do officially have 3 more years before that.

She has also blogged about 10 different books from the list the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program provides. I’m hoping with each ten of those we read to give them my own review. Emry is young and positive. Mama is a bit more objective (or selective anyhow).

The books are as follows:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
2. How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
3. Madeline
4. Olivia
5. Make Way for Ducklings
6. Bear's Busy Family
7. Mr. Grumpy's Outing
8. Fancy Nancy
9. Stellaluna
10. The Napping House

 Of these, I think I had read only two as a child myself: Madeline and Make Way for Ducklings. The latter is one of those children classics that will simply never go out of style. Even if the illustrations are in one color the ducks are adorable, the story is wonderful and it’s easy for kids and adults to relate to the storyline and love it. As for Madeline…well, I was never a huge fan of the artwork ,which distracted me from the story. It was actually the cartoon decades later that made Madeline cute. Since Emry only wished to read this one once, I’m thinking the artwork wasn’t to her taste either.

As far as artwork, I struggle with anything Eric Carle. Including The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He writes cute stories, but I’m not a fan of his art style. (Of course, I can’t draw a stick figure, so I’m certainly the last person to judge illustrations.) The same went for Bear’s Busy Family, which was a little too abstract for my taste.

Meanwhile, Mr. Grumpy’s Outing reminded me of old Reading Rainbow books. Along the same concept of The Napping House (which always makes me want to burst out into singing There was an Old Woman who Swallowed a Fly), it’s about a man in a boat who keeps adding to his load. However, I feel like I spent the whole time wondering why in the world he was named Mr. Grumpy.

Olivia is by far my least favorite of the books listed above. I spent the whole story thinking that little pig should have gotten a time out way before she drew all over the wall. If she had been punished for her attitude earlier, perhaps the whole wall thing could have been avoided. On the flip side, my biggest surprise of delight was Fancy Nancy. I’ve seen these many times at the library or bookstores but never read them. I pre-supposed she was something akin to the spoiled brat Eloise. I have been proven very wrong. Fancy Nancy is quite cute, learns important lessons and makes even us plain people wish we were a bit more fancy.

Aside from becoming an avid Fancy Nancy fan, Emry’s all time favorites were How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?  and Stellaluna. Since a trip to the children’s museum in Indy this summer, Emry has become a huge dinosaur fan, and dinosaurs that say goodnight are not at all scary. They’re actually quite colorful and a bit amusing. (And thank you, dear illustrator, for writing the names of the dinosaurs in the pictures as Emry often asks “What’s that, Mama?” while pointing to the dinosaur.) As far as Stellaluna…well, the fact that I know we’ve clocked reading that book at least 50 times should say it all! Perhaps if I had such a good bat story as a child, I wouldn’t fear them quite so much. For Stellaluna is quite a cute bat!