Picture Book Party with RaeRae

Rae and I did one of our very favorite things last night and put on our fuzzy jammies, gathered a bunch of new picture books and climbed into our warm bed to snuggle down to some fun stories and pictures. Yes Rae is 12 and I'm beyond 12, but we still adore a good story with entertaining pictures.

Here are a few of our favorites...

Mo Willems, if you can hear me,...you can do no wrong in my book. From preschoolers to 5th graders, I have them clamoring for your books, begging their classmates to pass over the Knuffle Bunny, drop the Pigeon and hand over the Elephant and Piggie books.  Well, here is another brilliant take on the classic Goldilocks tale with every Kinder's favorite...dinosaurs.  I'll definitely be sharing this one in a story time soon.

Goodreads Summary:  

Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway.

One day--for no particular reason--they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then--for no particular reason--they decided to go...someplace else. They were definitely NOT setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl.

Definitely not!

A few months ago, I noticed some blogs raving about Dragons Love Tacos, one so much that they had planned a party featuring tacos and dragon party decorations.  Don't get me wrong, I love me a good taco and I can see that dragons are pretty cool.  However this one wasn't one of Rae and my absolute faves.  Cute idea, but it wasn't a home run for us.

Goodreads Summary:  

Dragons love tacos. They love chicken tacos, beef tacos, great big tacos, and teeny tiny tacos. So if you want to lure a bunch of dragons to your party, you should definitely serve tacos. Buckets and buckets of tacos. Unfortunately, where there are tacos, there is also salsa. And if a dragon accidentally eats spicy salsa . . . oh, boy. You're in red-hot trouble.

Pete, what a mellow guy you are!!!  Your books brought a smile and cheer to our story time.  I can hear the jazz riff playing in the background as we read your repetitive story. Great one for first graders!  I'm looking forward to sharing it soon.

Goodreads Summary:

Pete the Cat is wearing his favorite shirt—the one with the four totally groovy buttons. But when one falls off, does Pete cry? Goodness, no! He just keeps on singing his song—after all, what could be groovier than three groovy buttons? Count down with Pete in this rocking new story from the creators of the bestselling Pete the Cat books.

Our extended family has lost two dear canine souls this past year as well as having to say goodbye to our dear Luna when we moved to Ecuador.  This story started the tears flowing, but also tickled us with giggles.  Lovely story, with a bit of a scary edge at the beginning, that I hope to recommend to dog-loving, Halloween trick or treating kiddos.

Goodreads Summary:

 Gus doesn't feel like doing much after his dog Ella dies. He doesn't really even feel like dressing up for Halloween. But when Gus runs into a bunch of rowdy skeletons, it's Ella--his very own Bone dog--who comes to his aid, and together they put those skeletons in their place. A book about friendship, loss, and a delightfully spooky Halloween.

As always our picture book party was a huge hit.  My only regret is that we don't do it more often.  We finished our evening with the same favorite...Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs with Bone Dog coming in second.

Hope you can have your own Picture Book Party!

Happy Reading,

Mrs. G-M