These are a few of our favorite books....!

 After being a devout follower of this blog since its inception, I’m so happy to be a more “active” part of it! When Divya asked me to write a post, I was wondering where I should begin…With a kindergartner and pre-schooler at home, we collectively enjoy everything from the first baby/picture books to early readers. Storytime is welcome at any time of day and the best part is when the big sis gets to read to her little brother and show off her newly acquired skills!

I’d like to share a few series that are closest to our heart and books we’ve read so often that they’ve been internalized (and memorized, even by my 2.5 year old)!! The main reason behind this is that we seem to identify so closely with the characters and see a bit of ourselves in them. Some of these series have made their appearances on this blog before since they are such all-time favorites. Anyway, here are some of ours:

1.       Llama Llama misses Mama (by Anna Dewdney)

For months (years!!??), the toughest part of the mornings for me and my son has been drop off at daycare. All the tears and drama are often just for mama, but this mama (like most other mamas) melts at the sight of her little llama waving sadly to her as she leaves for work every day. Finally, thanks to this classic, my little llama has learnt that his mama needs go to work and will be back soon. The story is so simple and yet so effective in voicing a little child’s feeling of separation- my son just can’t get enough of the little llama classic!

2.       DW’s Guide to Preschool & The First Day of School (Little Critter series)

When our daughter started preschool a couple years ago, we were very anxious since she had been through the same months of separation anxiety at daycare (and we were yet to discover ‘Llama Llama misses Mama’ at the time!). Thanks to “The First Day of School” by Mercer Mayer & “DW’s Guide to Preschool” by Marc Brown, she seemed to transition so seamlessly. Both books go through the typical preschool/big school routine and the best part, is that they make it sound like so much fun!

The “First Day of School” is extra special since it was Abhay’s book (Does he remember it, Divya??).

3.       The Pigeon Series – by Mo Willems

How could I not include these much-loved and read books of ours? We’ve recently discovered 2 new ones – “The Duckling gets a Cookie” and “The Pigeon Needs a Bath”.

In the first one, the Pigeon is clearly jealous at how “easily” the duckling manages to get something he asks for, while poor pigeon is always denied his requests (whether it’s to drive the bus, or want to stay up late or better still, when he wants a puppy). I think my older one identifies a little with this feeling…Are we slightly more indulgent towards the “baby” in the family? Does he get away with more that she does?? As parents, we never make any distinctions, but I’m sure older siblings believe that their parents are tougher on them and more indulgent with the little ones...

But here is the best part…when the pigeon asks why the duckling got the cookie with the nuts, the duckling says “because I wanted to give it to you”. How generous..? Or perhaps clever? (I suspect the duckling doesn’t care much for cookies with nuts!).

While my kids would fight over cookies (and many other things), both have one thing in common. They always seem to drag their feet when it comes to taking a bath at the end of the day…much like the pigeon who’s now clearly in need of one. And when he finally consents (after much pleading/shouting), he doesn’t want to leave the tub (so much like our own 2 pigeons who can’t stop playing in the tub when they finally make it there!).

Thanks Divya, for giving me this opportunity to share our beloved books…Wishing you and this wonderful blog, many more years of reading, sharing and learning!