Naughty or Nice?

David is back in his very own Christmas book.  Kids who loved him in No, David!, David Gets in Trouble and David Goes to School will like this book.  And many parents of little boys (and girls) will be able to relate.

It's Christmas, David! finds the lovable mischief maker sneaking into closets to look for presents, waiting in line with a very long list to sit on Santa's lap, playing with the ornaments rather than decorating the tree, and worrying that maybe he has been too naughty for Santa to bring him anything but a lump of coal.  Anyone who reads this book will feel his anxiousness when he wakes up from a bad dream of an empty stocking and his joy when he sees his presents on Christmas morning.

While the David books seem to be written for the youngest children, they are enjoyed by anyone who remembers what it is like to be a child, especially at Christmastime.  And for those who are really hard to impress, David runs down the street naked and even pees in the snow.  Who can resist that?

Never Too Much

Isaac and I spent July 4th morning, and part of the afternoon, cleaning his room. My mother was rather incredulous that we really spent over 4 hours working on it. But, we did. We (I) organized toy bins, cleaned out cubbies, made piles to toss and give away, and even weeded his book collection. Right now, the floor is still free of miniature cars and light up swords.

As we were (I was) going through the book crates, Isaac pulled out Too Many Toys by David Shannon. He thought the parallel was pretty funny. I thought it was less than hilarious. But, when we were finally done with the clean up/out and Isaac asked to read Too Many Toys, I didn't say no.

I have written about David Shannon previously, and mentioned this particular book, but I did not go into detail about it. It is another David Shannon gem. His descriptions of the multitude of playthings that can take over a house are spot-on. And, I swear, he could have been writing about us, right down to the harried mother with the blond ponytail.

In the end, a small box of toys is ready to go (again, the parallels are uncanny), and the mom is satisfied (well, maybe not so much). The boy still has plenty to play with (yup) and, of course, charms his mom into leniency (Ok, I admit it). Again, Shannon manages to capture the heart of parent/child relationships while drawing laughs from mom and son.

It's Party Time

Isaac and I went to the bookstore to buy a birthday gift for his classmate this afternoon. Yes, I am that parent.

I really wanted Isaac to choose which one we would buy. I pulled a few off of the shelves that I thought would be fun and we sat in the children's section and read them. Isaac picked his favorites from my selections, but then he did take some initiative and began pulling books that caught his attention. So we sat and read those, too.

Here are a few we considered:

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy by Jacky Davis. Isaac loves Ladybug Girl and this is a cute story about compromise and imaginative play. I though it would make a cute gift since it was going to a girl, but in the end it did not make the cut.

Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems. It's Mo Willems, and we all know how I feel about Mo Willems. The humor is too understated for kids to really get it, but it is still a good story about self-acceptance. I pushed it hard, but it was cut from the short-list.

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems. Do you see the trend? This is one that Willems did not illustrate himself, and it has a completely different tone that his other books. It is a story of friendship, but the frog dies (or so I assumed) in the end. Isaac said he was hibernating. It, too, was set aside.

Knufflebunny Free by Mo Willems. Okay, so I obviously had an agenda. This is the third, and last, "Knufflebunny" book. It is more for parents than for kids and I cry every time I read it. Isaac does like this book, but we wanted something funnier for his school friend.

No David! by David Shannon. Isaac just wanted to read this one. It wasn't really under consideration.

So what did we get? I am sure you will be surprised to learn that we bought two "Elephant and Piggie" books by Mo Willems. Our choices were We Are In A Book! and I am Invited to a Party!

We thought they were both very appropriate for the occasion.

To Infinity and Beyond

I can't think of a more fun pair to create a children's book than Jon Scieska and David Shannon. I have written about Scieska and Shannon separately in this blog because they both write books that boys love. Their collaboration on Robot Zot is pure boy brilliance. It combines Scieska's quirky humor with Shannon's characteristically child-like drawings. We loved it.

Robot Zot and his mechanical sidekick Bot arrive on Earth intent on conquering the planet. Their tiny size, however, makes that a bit difficult and when they end up in a kitchen fighting a blender and a toaster their dreams of world domination come to an end as they are chased away by the family dog. But Zot takes away a prize and leaves to find another world to conquer.

As we began reading this story, I assumed that Robot Zot was a toy and a little boy was off the page somewhere controlling the action. But, by the end, we realized that Robot Zot is, in fact, an intergalactic space traveler who has landed on earth in an unfortunate location.

Robot Zot is not what I would consider a sympathetic character, especially when he leaves broken appliances strewn over the kitchen floor and the dog gets blamed. But he is funny and endearingly naive. And he is a robot -- boys love robots.

This book will spark a young boy's imagination and get him dreaming about space travel and other worlds. And, best of all, it will make him laugh.

Yes, David!

You can't go wrong with a David Shannon book. Whether it's his David series or another gem, he writes great books for boys.

We checked a couple of his books (No, David! and Too Many Toys) out of the library on our last visit. This morning, I found Isaac on his bed looking at Too Many Toys, quietly providing his own narration for the pictures. Now, he was supposed to be getting dressed when I peeked in, but how could I fuss when he was "wasting" time by looking at a book?

A David Shannon favorite in our house is Duck on a Bike. It never fails to get a laugh. What duck wouldn't want to ride a bike? And how could the other farm animals resist when they see how much fun it is? His books are infused with a great sense of humor, and occasionally a touch of sweetness. The illustrations are child-like and the situations his characters find themselves in are ones that many children will understand.

One of my favorites, that I have not yet shared with Isaac, is A Bad Case of Stripes. The main character suffers from an affliction that is common among children -- she wants to please everyone and finds it hard to remember what will please her. It has a great message for boys and girls.

Even Shannon's girl characters will appeal to boys. Boys, more so than girls, want to read about other boys. But the characters in Shannon's books, whether male or female, are universally appealing. Alice, the main character in Alice the Fairy, has a rich imaginary life to which all children will relate. The boys might imagine themselves as Luke Skywalker rather than a fairy, but her exuberance and joy in her imaginary occupation will be familiar to them.

And the best thing about Shannon's books is that they can be enjoyed by parents as well as kids. He understands children, but he also knows that his books will be even more well-received, and read more often, if the parents enjoy them, too. Every parent has had a No, David! day. But, when it is over, we all give our sons a hug and tell them how much they are loved. If you have trouble remembering to do that after a particularly David-like day-- keep this book on hand and you will never forget.