There are a lot of Zadie’s books that I love, but few that I find myself relating to as an adult. Yes, “Who Likes Rain?” reminds me of how it felt to go puddle jumping when the puddles came up to my ankles, “Olivia” reminds me of being sent to my room for misbehaving, and “Miss Bindergarten…” reminds me of my own kindergarten Thanksgiving celebration. But when Mr. McGreely battles with three little bunnies for control of his garden in “Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!,” I’m reminded of my frustration with last summer’s attempt to grow tomatoes in pots. As much as I adore and admire the little bunnies, I find myself rooting for Mr. McGreely with all of his crotchety middle-aged obsessiveness.
In this book Mr. McGreely plants a vegetable garden. When the sun goes down three hungry bunnies get into his garden and “Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!” He wakes up in the morning, sees his decimated plants, and builds a fence around the garden to keep the bunnies out. The bunnies get in again, and he builds a bigger fence around the smaller fence around the garden. The battle escalates until there are two fences, a trench, and a high brick wall around the garden. This keeps the bunnies out until they sneak into McGreely’s basket as he’s climbing over the wall to collect his veggies. The story is simple but all too familiar to anyone who has planted a garden with high hopes.
The illustrations are scribbly and earth-toned, but it’s the text that stands out. It’s filled with internal rhymes, so it doesn’t sound quite like a poem, but is as fun to read. The sounds of the bunnies breaking into the garden become more involved with each additional hurdle they face so that by the time they’re navigating the trench and two fences we hear:
Tippy-tippy-tippy, Pat!
Dive-paddle, Splash! Splash! Splash!
Dig-scrabble, Scratch! Scratch Scratch!
Spring-hurdle, Dash! Dash! Dash!
Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!
This book has more words per page and a more complex plot than Zadie is accustomed to, but we always make it the whole way through. To my surprise, when she wants to read this one she doesn’t say anything about the bunnies or about munching. Instead, she says “Em-greely.”
This book is currently on Zadie’s list of haunted items in our house. We’ve witnessed the posession of toys before, but this is the first time it has happened to a book. I usually have no idea why a once-beloved object (a benign plastic boat, a green monkey, a flashcard with a baboon on it…) becomes taboo. In the case of “Boo Hoo Bird” I have a guess.
During the one year I spent living in San Diego, the lack of winter didn’t bother me, but the lack of rain was really unsettling. As an east coaster, I’d never realized how much I relied on rainy days as an excuse to do quiet things inside and work through blue thoughts. Rather than being a shining respite from the dreary grey springs of Cape Cod, the perpetual sunshine in Southern California seemed an affront to my occasional need to wallow. Wong Herbert Lee’s “Who Likes Rain?” captures the range of feelings we, and other creatures, experience on rainy days–from boredom to contemplation and elation.
Sometimes it seems like half of our home library–or Zadie’s portion of it anyway–consists of books featuring a different animal for each letter of the alphabet. How many animal alphabet books could one possibly need? Yes, A is for alligator, but it’s also for allspice, allen wrench, and almonds, three things I hope Zadie encounters more frequently than alligators. “Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten” is an animal alphabet book, but it’s more complex and engaging than most in this category.
For years, my little sister’s favorite book was “
A couple of minutes after my husband came to bed last night, I apparently turned to him, completely asleep, and said “There’s a duck on my head.” I talk in my sleep every once in a while, but I can safely say that this was the first time I’ve ever fully quoted a line from a children’s book while asleep.
We first discovered Emily Gravett’s “Monkey and Me,” a couple of months ago and fell in love with her style. I’m almost positive that if we owned a copy of it Zadie would want to read nothing else. So we just read it at the library–several times on each trip–and in between trips we talk about looking for it at the library and reading it again. Given the level of obsession that has surrounded “Monkey and Me” at our house, I hesitated a bit before checking out “The Odd Egg” this morning. It’s only been 12 hours, but I think “Monkey and Me” might have some competition.
Olivia is like Oprah at this point: she’s everywhere. She has a 
One of our favorite part of the book is a Richard Scarry-esque two-page spread showing Olivia trying on all her clothes. The text is simple (“Olivia gets dressed. She has to try on everything.”) but there is a lot to look for. Zadie loves to try to find Olivia in her bathing suit, or her turtleneck, or with her backpack. Some of the concepts (e.g. wanting to be left alone) might not be familiar to toddlers yet, but others, like confronting rules about where and when one can paint, are. And with that, I’m going to attempt to scrub the green crayon marks off of our oven door.
“Balloons, Balloons, Balloons” tells the story of a town of bunnies that mysteriously becomes blanketed in balloons. At first, the balloons are greeted with delight. But as the balloons filter into the streets, pools, and office buildings, we see shopkeepers and streetsweepers frowning as they try to maintain order. Meanwhile children continue to play happily with the balloons on the bus, in the pool, and at school. The various reactions the bunnies have make you think about how you define having too much of a good thing.
Right around the time that Zadie started to take an interest in reading–rather than eating–books, I read a 
The text on each page is short, which makes it perfect for little ones who are moving beyond board books but are sometimes overly eager to turn the page. And I love love love the illustrations, which are watercolor and ink but almost look like woodcuts. After just a reading or two, little Z had picked up on each animal’s emotions–a testament to Henkes’ ability to portray both sadness and joy. I was sad to take this one back to the library this afternoon, but am quite excited that we’re getting Z “Kitten’s First Full Moon” for Christmas.
