Favorite Books

Shaelyn LOVES to read. I love that she loves to read. She will read her books, to herself, for 30 minutes at a time. And knowing that she is a toddler with a short attention span, that just amazes me. Lately, she has been asserting her independence by going upstairs to her room when we are both downstairs together. If I ever walk out of a room that she's in, she freaks out, but if she leaves me, she's perfectly fine being by herself. At first, I wasn't so sure I wanted her upstairs alone, but after I closed off all the doors but hers upstairs, I realized she's perfectly safe up there. The first few times she did it, I snuck up after a few minutes to see what she was up to. I found her sitting on the floor in her room, reading books to herself. Now I let her go up there whenever she wants, and I get things done downstairs that I normally can't do with her underfoot. And every time I go check on her, she's up there reading. LOVE IT!!!

Right now she is in the "repetition phase", meaning she wants the same books read to her over and over and over. Currently, her favorite book is "I Love You" by Jean Marzollo.
She will go find this book, wherever it is in the house, and bring it to you to read to her. She has learned how to flop down very gracefully in your lap, and she will nuzzle up right there ready to hear you read her favorite story. It's a rebus poem, so some of the words are written out in pictures (ie: "every bird loves a tree", with bird and tree being a picture instead of words) and when we read it to her, we point to the pictures. She has learned this book so well, she points to the pictures while we're reading to her. The fourth line of every stanza of the poem is "and I love you", written out in pictures (like on the cover). While we say this, she points to herself and says "I-I-I-I", knowing that she is "I" and copying the syllables of "and I love you" since she can't say it yet. I love it. It's one of my favorite things to do with Shaelyn, read her this book. Even if I have it memorized because I have read it over 50 times already. Maybe hearing "I love you" over and over again will help Shaelyn learn to say it! I can't wait for that!!

Her other favorite books to read over and over (as of this month anyway):
Follow that Bee!
123: A first Counting Book
ABC: A first Letters Book
Guess Who, Elmo!
Guess Who, Safari Friends

If you have a toddler, I highly recommend these books.