Incarceron

I know. I usually use this blog to review books for really little kids. But Incarceron, by Catherine Fisher is the kind of book that you buy for yourself and keep it around until your kids are old enough to read for themselves. 

Its a YA fantasy about a seventeen year old boy, Finn, who is trapped in a living, breathing, ever-watching prison.  The prison was created 150 years ago to contain all the unwanted members of society forever.  Finn is convinced that, unlike the other prisoners there, he wasn't born inside the prison, and he wants to escape.  This review explains the plot really well. 

Catherine Fisher describes this bizarre world in such a clear and vivid way.  Quinn and I both devoured it and are ready to check out all of Fisher's books. 

The Times named it the Children's Book of the Year.

Tell me about your favorite children's book and win a $40 gift certificate!

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I am going! by Mo Willems

Gerald the gets a little distressed when Piggy announces that he's going.

It reminds me of Calvin's routine when I drop him off a preschool.

After a fair amount of drama, we realize that Piggy is just getting a little lunch, so it shows the difference between going away permanently and just stepping out for a minute.

Pigs Make Me Sneeze, by Mo Willems

We have read Mo Willems' pigeon books until they fell apart, so I decided to buy Pigs Make Me Sneeze.  The elephant has a cold and he thinks that his piggy friend is making him sneeze, and starts to worry that they won't be able to be friends anymore.

I like kids' books where one of the characters makes a mistake and has to go through all kinds of emotional angst before they realize that they were wrong. I mean, how can you get any perspective on how how much you like being around your friends unless you think you're allergic to them?

Our favorite age-inappropriate television

Why oh Why am I writing about Lost on my children's books blog? I don't know, but for some reason Calvin is as addicted to it as everyone else in America.

We're total fuddy duddies when it comes to TV in our house - we just don't watch it.  But we do rent DVDs, and we just started watching Lost (so don't spoil it!)

We tried unsuccessfully to get Calvin to bed, and just let him watch it with us.  He was happy as a clam, sitting between us late at night on the couch with his bottle of milk, and people screaming on TV around the wreckage of their airplane.

The next night Calvin said, "Wanna watch the Lost?"

He asks to watch Lost all the time. Sometimes I get worried that it's going to warp his mind, like when the pregnant lady started screaming bloody murder and he imitated her for the next ten minutes. But clearly, something about the show appeals to him.  The waves? The golden lab? I don't know.

Added bonus: He's learned how to say L-O-S-T spells Lost!

Ducks have feelings too!

A couple days ago Calvin started to develop a nurturing side.  He started carrying around a fluffy duck that Katie gave him for his first Easter and announcing, "The duck is sad!"

Then he holds the duck out for me or Quinn to hug and kiss.  Then the duck will get sad again, so he'll hug the duck and say, "Oh, poor duck."

He's also been extra connected to other ducks.  We couldn't leave the pool until he said goodbye to the rubber duckie that he was playing with, and kissed it's bill.  We went to Ashley Pond and spent twenty minutes talking to the ducks and wondering what they were thinking about.

Then today, he brought the duck with him to preschool.  He's had a hard time adjusting to preschool, especially the Ark, where he seems to rotate between a few different classrooms.  He went in clutching the duck and he was still holding him when I picked him up three hours later. His teacher said that he did so much better and didn't get upset once.  When he got into the car, Calvin told me that the duck wants pizza.

Do you remember the words to Puff the Magic Dragon?

Quinn and I have been trying to sing "Puff the Magic Dragon" to Calvin since he was born, but can never remember the words. So I was delighted to find this book and CD set. It has the song "Puff the Magic Dragon," sung by Peter Yarrow (of Peter Paul and Mary) in book form with paintings by Eric Puybaret. The CD also has a few other relaxing songs.