Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?

by Bill Martin, Jr. & illustrated by Eric Carle



This is a true favorite in our house right now. I think we read it about at least 4 times each day and it never seems to get old! I like the repetition because, my toddler caught on pretty quickly. She can "read" this book all by herself by looking at the pictures and it's adorable to watch/listen.

Here is a nice little video of the author, Bill Martin, Jr., reading singing his story:



If you do a search for Brown Bear, Brown Bear, you'll find lots of activities and lessons. Other related books are:

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you See?
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you See?

Hug, Hug

Hug Hug!

by Lorie Ann Grover and Rebecca Malone



I bought Hug Hug!, intending to give it to my daughter when she was almost 2, for Valentine's Day. However, I was pretty excited to give it to her before that, since she had been obsessed with hugs and it seemed like the perfect book for her. Well, I know I hit the jackpot when I read the book, for the first time, and she hugged EVERY page! Her new catch phrase (at the time I gave it to her) was, "Awwww...cuuuuuuute." and that accompanied almost every squeeze.

The book is short and sweet with simply adorable illustrations of a variety of animals, big and small. The other charming thing about this book is the variety of ways that the animals hug...with noses, in the trees, in a row, with our rears (adorable bear hug). It opens up some ideas for fun traditions when reading the story or in your daily hugging rituals!

Maybe this book was inspired by this guy:



Love this video...go hug someone! OOO

Book Nook!

We love books in our house and, as a teacher/lover of books, it's important for our family to have the spaces to read!

I was doing some research for posting about setting up a classroom for reading and came across this giveaway! What PERFECT motivation for me to take pictures of our reading spaces! Of course, this puts my classroom setup post on hold! *giggle* Here is a picture of a few of our "Book Nooks"!

In Baby's Room:

The basket and oversized animal pillows are there for the Toddler, when I need to get stuff done in Baby's room. I wasn't able to capture a shot of her reading to her sister...she was having a day! ;)

In Toddler's Room:

On her bed...

Her bookcase...

Her box for the overflow and easy pick-up...

In our "orange room":

Even in the bathroom:

;)