I haven’t felt much like blogging, to be honest. It’s been so hot recently, hot and dry and smoky and dusty and all-around unpleasant. My workplace doesn’t have air conditioning, and it’s not particularly pleasant. All I want to do is sit in front of a fan and eat ice cream. Alas, because I have both a job and a toddler, I can’t do that. But I am sitting in front of a fan, so I might as well type out a quick post while dreaming of ice cream.
Here are a few books we’ve checked out lately:
GOODNIGHT, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
Not a library pick, we purchased this one on a Costco run. The toddler ADORES Little Blue Truck, and we already had three others in the series (LITTLE BLUE TRUCK, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK SPRINGTIME and LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LEADS THE WAY). Truth be told, while I really enjoyed the first book, I found the other two pretty disappointing. The spring-themed book is very pretty, but it doesn’t really have anything to do with Little Blue Truck, and you could easily remove the title character without actually changing the story at all. And LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LEADS THE WAY is just kind of weak – our country character heads into the city, only to find that all the city vehicles are pushy, rude and in a hurry. When he’s stuck in the middle of a terrible traffic jam, LBT makes the shocking announcement that cars should go single file. Suddenly, everyone is nice and polite, the city’s traffic problem is instantly solved, and there’s even a parade celebrating our hero. It’s…kind of lame.
Which brings us to the book I’m actually highlighting. Various farm animals hide out from a thunderstorm with LBT in his garage, as LBT teaches them why they shouldn’t be afraid of thunder. It’s not groundbreaking, but it does actually feel more like the first book, and is probably my favourite of the sequels I’ve read so far. The last page in particular is very sweet, and it does work very nicely as a soothing bedtime story.
Apparently there’s also a book where LBT goes to school. I’m really not to sure about that one…
CONSTRUCTION SITE ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT
Does my two year old care that it’s the middle of summer and not at all Christmas time? Not a bit. He loves these construction-themed books from Sherri Duskey Rinker, and he doesn’t mind at all that we’re reading about bitter winds and falling slow flakes in the middle of a heat wave. I do quite like that this is a Christmas book without a religious element or the mention of Santa Claus, so it might be appealing to families who do not subscribe to either Christmas element. It is a longer book, though, and feels even longer after the sixth consecutive reading…
CONSTRUCTION
Another title from Sally Sutton – this is an author who knows their niche! I love the driving rhythm in the text, which follows the building of a new library. What a great story time read aloud this would be! As a writer who dabbles in rhyming texts, rhythm is so important to me, and I tip my hat whenever I come across a fellow writer who really seems to understand how important it is for words to flow and bounce and move. Unfortunately the copy we ordered from the library was absolutely WRECKED, so I’ll have to wait for another hold to come in before I can share it with my mini reader. As an aside – fellow library folks, WEED YOUR COLLECTIONS. Patrons should not be picking up books in terrible condition that are literally falling apart in their hands, especially if you’re a large, well-funded system bursting with books. So endeth the lesson.
What have you been reading recently?
It’s great to have you back on #IMWAYR! I’m really sorry it’s so hot and there’s no AC at work—that’s super-frustrating! I’m glad you and your toddler have been enjoying these picture books. It’s a shame the Little Blue Truck books are so variable in quality, but I’m glad this last one was enjoyable! And that’s so strange that the copy of Construction was in such bad shape—you would definitely think books like that would get pulled from the collection. Thanks so much for the great post!
It’s lovely to be back! Thankfully my library is in a basement, so it doesn’t get quite as hot, but we just got another extreme heat advisory for this week, so I’ll be sitting beside my little desk fan all day!
Alas, not all library staff are quite so diligent about weeding, it’s not as much fun as programming, so sometimes it gets put off. But I’m a bit of a stickler for keeping things in tip top shape. I want people to be confident when they come to the library that all the books will be nice to read with their babies. 🙂
I wish my grandkids didn’t live so far away. I miss reading with the littlest of them. The 15 month old is a book monster already. When she wakes up she goes and gets her books and reads.
I got a disgusting copy of Half Breed from my library system. When I returned it they asked me what had happened to the book. I told them it arrived like that. I’m not sure she believed me even when I told her that as a retired TL I would never treat a book like that.
UGH that just makes me so frustrated – it’s part of my job as a librarian to keep my collection in good working order. I always say, if you wouldn’t want to take it home or give it to your kids to read, don’t keep it!
My son’s new favourite expression is “One more book?” – his favourite bedtime stalling tactic, because he knows mama is a sucker for a book! 🙂
No a/c at work?? That sounds barbaric!! But you ARE in Canada, so maybe it’s less common up there. We get hot and humid – last week was 95 with high humidity all week – ugh. Just hid out in the a/c. Temps dropped about 10 degrees today, and humidity dropped way down – ahhh!
Love that your son begs for one more book! He knows Mom’s soft spot, for sure 🙂
Enjoy the books this week, and I hope it cools down for you!
Sue
Book By Book
That’s very true – it does get super hot on the east coast, but normally where I live our summers are quite mild. This has been a record-breaker of a year! Definitely looking forward to fall!!