Six for the Grandbabes

You know that it is almost Dear Hubby's 50th birthday. Add in Thanksgiving in the same week. Well of course that means we will get to see family and have the Grandbabes here for a short visit. I love that! I can not wait til our youngest grandbabe gets to be part of that too. It will be so exciting to have him running around here. Maybe I can talk to his mom to come down for a few days with him this time around.

 But we will be running from house to house also. I have two house sitting placements during this time. Yeah, holidays are busy for everyone. Especially when they are going out of town to see their families but the doggies are still at home. That is where I come in. Thankfully I can have my family with me when I house sit for my friends. I am taking a box of toys and a stack of books for the Grandbabes. I thought you would love to see the latest ones. Especially with the holidays coming up. You may see the just right one for your own lil one too.

 Good People Everywhere, for children aged 3 to 8, is a Triple National Award-Winner, having been selected for a "Teachers Choice Award", a "Mom's Choice Award", and a "Moonbeam Children's Book Award." It shares a soothing story that nurtures awareness of--and gratitude for--the many caring people in our lives. Each page delightfully unfolds with vibrant, engaging illustrations and endearing text that warms hearts, stimulates awareness, and inspires young and old alike to contribute to a world of compassion and beauty. Quite cleverly, it gets kids thinking of how they can and do contribute to the world as well. The result: children will discover a different way of looking at the world and their place in it, fostering a sense of calm and happiness.

 The Lima Bear Stories Series is a recent winner of the "Peace Corps Children's Book of the Year Award". The latest addition to this series is The Labyrinth. Within a few sentences, you and your young reader will be smiling. The witty, engaging rhyme draws you in, but as always with The Lima Bear Stories Series, it is the story that will keep your collective interest. As with The Megasaurus, How Back-Back Got His Name, and The Cave Monster (the other titles in the series), The Labyrinth delivers an important message: one of forgiveness! It is rare when a children's series of books comes around that make a difference in your life and the life of your child.

 Helping toddlers learn their ABCs is one of the first "teaching" tasks parents undertake. While there are a number of alphabet books on the market, there hasn't been one quite like Healthy Foods from A to Z / Comida sana de la A a la Z. This book is the winner of a "Mom's Choice Award", a "Creative Child Magazine Award", a "National Parenting Publications (NAPPA) Award", and a "Moonbeam Children's Book Award". Imaginative FUN faces of healthy foods surrounded by food vocabulary in both languages serve to draw the children into the world of healthy eating, while the bilingual approach helps to address a large audience and introduce children to a new language and culture. Designed to encourage children at an early age to eat healthy foods--as well as learn their ABCs--the book features 18 charming faces that depict a range of emotions children ages 3-6 (and older) can understand. There is also an interactive segment called "Now Make Your Own Healthy Food Face!" It challenges the imagination of young readers to create their own food faces using a template and six simple steps.

 Create With Maisy by Lucy Collins for ages 2-5 years. Why does Maisy keep a Big Box of Everything, filled with glitter, sequins, foil, stickers, paint, brushes, paper, and tons more stuff? Because she loves to make things! Children as young as two will be thrilled to follow her lead, thanks to a brand-new Maisy format featuring both familiar illustrations and photographs by Lucy Cousins. Here are crystal-clear steps for creating seventeen simple crafts, highlighted by photos of the end result. Enjoy making things from painted pebbles to paper lanterns, food collages to feathered masks, and wax-relief paintings to wonderful vegetable animals. As spectacular looking as it is hands-on, here is an activity book sure to please parents as much as it does Maisy’s little fans.

 The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare by Sam McBratney for ages 3 years and up. Just like young children everywhere, Little Nutbrown Hare likes to explore, play, venture out into the world, and sometimes just savor the comfort of being at home with loved ones. But whatever he does, and wherever he goes, Big Nutbrown Hare is always there to cheer him on. In a beautiful jacketed Guess How Much I Love You storybook, here are four heartwarming new stories that little readers (and their bigger companions) will instantly relate to.

 Charley’s First Night by Amy Hest for ages 3-6 years. On Charley’s first night, Henry carries his new puppy in his old baby blanket all the way to his house. He shows Charley every room, saying, "This is home, Charley." He says that a lot so that Charley will know that he is home. Henry’s parents are very clear about who will be walking and feeding Charley (Henry will, and he can’t wait). They are also very clear about where Charley will be sleeping: Charley will be sleeping in the kitchen. But when the crying starts in the middle of the night, Henry knows right away that it’s Charley! And it looks like his parents’ idea about where Charley is going to sleep may have to change. With warmth, humor, and endearing simplicity, Amy Hest tells a tale familiar to everyone who has loved a puppy, while Helen Oxenbury renders each tender gesture and charming detail in a beauty of a book that children will be eager to take home.

 Make that free BOOKS!