Books, books, books!

I love the library.  And, as much as I love to read, I can not believe we are now at the point where the 15 book limit is just not enough books!  And that is just books for the children (aka. no books for Mama!). 

Here's a little bit of what we've been reading lately in the Esparza household...

Two of our favorites from our last library trip are Follow the Line by Laura Ljungkvist and Book of Riddles by Bennett Cerfs.  Follow the Line had Merrick just intrigued.  The line starts at the beginning of the book and goes through each page.  I wish I would have taken a picture of the inside of the book to show you.  I seriously considered making a copy of some of the pages and hanging them on the playroom walls.  

This next book has started a new trend in the Esparza household.  Since we borrowed the Book of Riddles, which I picked up on a complete whim, we have borrowed several other riddle, rhyme, and knock-knock joke books.  I know these are not of much value to Merrick education, but they are great for reading practice.  He tore throw Book of Riddles page to page (reading it on his own).  

I also found a riddle and rhyme book that is great for listening.  Tonight, I had him close his eyes while I read the riddle/rhyme to him (each poem is about 3 - 4 paragraphs).  At the end of the rhyme, he has to guess what the poem is describing.  They are simple, but require him to listen and focus, which is just what he needs.

He had so much fun reading the jokes in this book.  His favorite was, "What is big and red and eats rocks?"  Answer, "A big, red rock eater."  He cracked up.  Most of the jokes go right over his head (typically they include a pun that only a grown up would understand), but he laughs his head off any way.

I love to use these books to encourage Merrick to read to his brother and sister.

What a great excuse for snuggle time.  Scout has gotten into the knock-knock jokes.  She's even memorized one.  Here's her version:

Scout: Kno-kno.

Me: Who's there?

Scout: Boo.

Me: Boo who?

Scout: Yabadaya no have to cry, ba-beeeee.

For our read aloud, we are tackling Mr. Popper's Penguins.  Sadly, I have to say that this book isn't really capturing Merrick's attention.  But, it's very short and an easy read, so we're sticking with it.  And, we may just go see/rent the movie when it's all said and done.  We'll see. 

We also tried listening to Five Children and It in the car.  However, that was a bit of a flop.  It's a little tough finding a good story for a little dude.  A lot of the read aloud lists I've seen around are a bit girlish.  

Any suggestions out there?