What My Child is Reading

I'm sharing three books today (we picked up 10 more at the library yesterday!) --


Rescue Bunnies by Doreen Cronin
I knew this would be worth reading when I realized that it was written by the author of Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (whoa, there's a board book version of that?!  I'm there).  Rescue Bunnies follows a "newbie" Rescue Bunny trainee as she faces a grueling challenge: "The last test will be the toughest of all . . . the Field Test.  Until then, her job is to aphabetize the spice rack."  The Field Test turns out to be rescuing a stuck giraffe under threat of imminent attack from a herd of hyenas and a pending Code Red (immediate evacuation) order from her superiors.  The book is peppered with movie quotes to amuse parental readers ("Surely you can't be serious.  I am serious . . . and don't call me Shirley."  "'You want the truth?' asks Bunny 1.  You can't handle the truth!"  "Nothing is going to hurt you tonight.  Not on my watch.  You had me at hello.").  Doreen Cronin is in that rare class of children's book authors that manages to entertain adult readers and delight young readers at the same time (who else would you put in this category?  I'm thinking of Mo Willems, for instance).  I'd say that at just under 3 years old, my son is on the young side for it, but he still quite enjoyed it (bunnies, a giraffe -- he's set).  In fact, he keeps picking it up and laughing, saying, "Rescue Bunnies, that's a funny book!"  Then, just when I begin to marvel at the monumental scope of his newly developing sense of humor, he adds: "tell me why it is funny."  The book makes Mama laugh, and that's good enough for him at this point.  And good enough for me.





Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton.  A classic - originally published in 1939, the book tells the story of Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann, his steam shovel.  Mary Ann is sadly becoming outdated as fancier machinery takes over all of the new jobs.  They take the opportunity to test Mike's longstanding belief that Mary Ann can dig as much in a day as 100 men in a week.  They offer to build the town of Popperville a new cellar in one day, and to only get paid if they stick to their allotted time limit.  Everyone in town turns out to watch, as do "the next towns of Bangerville and Bopperville and Kipperville and Kopperville."  Ultimately, Mike and Mary Ann find themselves in a bit of an inadvertent bind, and a clever little boy has just the solution.  This book is fairly long (I wouldn't want to read it every night.  I'm getting flashbacks of the Little Engine That Could phase again!), but it is a really enjoyable read that has stood the test of time.  Others we have read and enjoyed by Virginia Lee Burton are The Little House and Katy and the Big Snow.

On an entirely different note, I had the opportunity to review a really sweet, important book this week:
You Are the Best Medicine by Julie Aigner Clark.  Written by the founder of the Baby Einstein Company and a two-time breast cancer surviver, You Are the Best Medicine tells the story of a mother who has cancer, as she explains to her daughter the processes she will undergo during her treatment and recovery, and the role that her daughter will play.  The story is tenderly told, and the ending is full of hope:

And then I will be well.  And I will think of all the happiest times that we have had, like birthday parties and swimming and hide-and-go-seek, / and I will think of all the happy times we are going to have together tomorrow, / and the day after that, and the day after that.  And we will look back on this time and remember that love and kindness really are the best medicine.

This is a beautiful book.  A portion of the proceeds from sales of the book goes to breast cancer research.  I will be passing my review copy of the book along to a mother with cancer. Caveat: I have not actually read this one with the Bibliophile, although I might soon because he noticed it today and asked about it.  He has never heard of cancer, so that aspect of the book would go a bit over his head at this point, but I think from his perspective, the larger message he would pick up on is just a mother's unwavering love for her child.

I am linking this post up with What My Child is Reading.

Comment: What has been your child's favorite read of the week?

Disclosure: I was provided a publisher copy of Rescue Bunnies and You Are the Best Medicine at no cost in order to write those reviews.  If you click on any of the links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.