Dr Seuss Books and Alexander.

Book reviews by Alexander (aged 3 and a half) and Nanny.

Woo Hoo! Reading with Alexander

Thursday morning reading.

It is still interesting seeing how my little visitor develops and his attention span grows.

He enjoys stories more and thinks about the books we get to read.

June was time for a bit more playtime in the garden.

It is also now a longer journey to visit Nanny, as he has moved nearer to Mummy and Daddy’s work, Nanny picks him up as usual but the ten-minute journey is now 45 minutes each way. So, by the time we get to Nanny’s we just want to play.

He had his tent in the garden but it was a little too small for Nanny to get in and out of so it became his playtime tent. He had a little visitor of his own to share it with when he met, ‘Mable’, his second cousin.

Nanny decided we needed an outside reading den, so with some clothesline and a couple of old duvet covers we made a reading hideaway in Nanny’s pergola.

The garden table and chairs were a bonus for Nanny. It was perfect. (Although Alexander pointed out that it didn’t have a roof… hopefully no rain.)

Nanny had sorted out a box of Dr Seuss books and these were ready for Alexander to choose.

Here are some of the books we read in June 2023.

Book reviews by Nanny and Alexander (aged 3 and a half)

June - Dr Seuss books.

Nanny likes Dr Seuss books and knows that these will not be books Alexander would know.

He had already met ‘The Grinch’ at Christmas and also ‘The Cat in the Hat’ which we had read in his play tent.

Some of the books Nanny has now are quite old and rare, so she knew he would not know them.

Dr Seuss Story Books we have met.

‘Robert the Rose Horse’

By Joan Heilbroner

This is an amusing story about a horse with an allergy to roses, which causes many problems until, one time, his sneeze saves the day.

This was one of Alexander’s Daddy’s favourite books which was read many times.

It led to a police adventure for Daddy, when one day when he was staying with his Nanny he had toddled off and played with the telephone. He must have rung ‘999’ as his Nanny was surprised when a policeman turned up at her door.

"Which service do you want?

Ambulance, fire or police?

Police!

‘Help, police, help!’ Is the line in the book.

Is your mummy or daddy there?

No (Mummy and Daddy were busy working with the Playbus.)"

Luckily the policeman was happy to know Daddy (Thomas) was not in danger.

But his Nanny certainly had to make sure he wasn’t playing with the phone any more.

Alexander enjoyed the story and joined in with the ‘Achoo’ sneezing everyone down flat! Luckily, he hasn’t phoned the police but does enjoy talking on Nanny’s old mobile phone.

A Big Ball of String

By Marion Holland

This story is about a boy who collects pieces of string from everywhere, even the dump truck.

What will he do with the string?

Alexander liked seeing how the little boy collected lots of string and made a big ball. The little boy could certainly do a lot of things with his ball of string.

Nanny wasn’t too sure about picking up string from the dump truck but she certainly has a lot of string and crochet wool which Alexander enjoyed unravelling and looping around the house and garden.

We follow the thread to find out where each of us might be hiding.

A Fly went by

By Mike McClintock

This is an exciting story about a procession of animals chasing a fly.

We liked this story and remembering the sequence the animals passed by.

A Fish out of water

By Helen Palmer

This story is about a little boy who overfeeds his goldfish which begins an adventure that even includes the police and the fire brigade to help out.

Alexander loved this story and watching the fish get bigger and bigger. He was a little worried about the sad face of the fish as things became more and more difficult as the little boy tried to find somewhere big enough for the growing fish.

We did like Mr Carp saving the day.

Tubby and the Lantern

by Al Perkins and Rowland B. Wilson

An adventurous elephant makes an enormous paper lantern to celebrate his friends birthday.

This was one of my brother David's favourite book.

Alexander enjoyed it but we read it the once.

The Reading Den

In the Reading Den with a box of Dr Seuss books.

We had the story books but also a few new books he hadn’t yet met.

The Berenstain Bears stories

The one book that Alexander absolutely loved was

‘Bears in the Night’

Out of bed, To the window. Through the woods… Woo!

It scares the little bears.

We had read this before. A bit of Spooky fun with a repetitive text and another journey map.

Alexander decided he wanted to be the bears in the Night, going under, over., around. So, from the den we made up an obstacle course to match the actions of the bears. Out the window (den); down the path; Under the toy hammock; around the tree; sneaking up Spook Hill (To where Grandad sat)

“Boo!” Said Granddad.

Alexander raced back around the course back to bed in the reading den, giggling all the way.

A very simple repetitive text with a good visual story map which Alexander loved following. (Several times!)

The Picnic;

“Mother Bear, put your apron away. We’re going on a picnic today!” says Daddy Bear.

The Berenstain Bear family decide to go for a picnic, and dad knows the perfect spot, or does he?

Bear Scouts;

A camping trip for the Berenstain Bears means that dad attempts to show his scouting skills while the little bears wisely follow the guidebook instead.

As always, the children know best.

The Honey Hunt.

Small bear watches his ‘smart old dad’ escape one danger after another in the hunt for honey.

Alexander liked silly Daddy bear who takes over but doesn’t really know what he is doing and gets it all wrong.

He enjoyed the Honey Hunt the best because he knows Winnie-the-Pooh Bear likes honey too.

In all three of these story books there is a clear sequence and route that the bears take and follow.

We also read a few more Berenstain Bear Books

Inside, Outside, Upside Down

Small bear crawls inside a box and his adventure begins. – Alexander was thinking through all of the actions of the bear in the box. (Alexander likes boxes)

Bears on Wheels

An acrobatic act begins with one bear on a unicycle and ends with twenty-one bears and sixteen wheels flying through the air.

Alexander listened and thought about it but it was a bit tricky.

Missing Dinosaur Bone

Another good little story.

When a dinosaur bone goes missing from the bear museum, it’s up to the Berenstain Bears to help crack the case. From the Mummy room to the Hall of famous bears, the detectives seek every possible hiding place. Can the brother and sister bear find the culprit in time for the museums grand opening?

Alexander didn’t like ‘Fox in Socks’ But neither does Nanny.

We also read ‘Mr Brown can Moo, can you?’