Hibernation: A Good Idea for All!

Record cold temperatures grip our country. Gray skies. Dark afternoons. What better time to volunteer to rock a baby to sleep for a nap or the night. Here's a lullaby book just right for your mood.

SLEEP, BLACK BEAR, SLEEP by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple, illustrated by Brooke Dyer.

This is an illustrated poem created by a seasoned team. Jane Yolen has written hundreds of books for all ages and Heidi Stemple is her talented daughter. Brooke Dyer's art is well known and much loved. The story focuses on a variety of animals as they snuggle down and go to sleep in winter. The tiny listening baby is encouraged to sleep, too. If you are the reader, you won't need encouragement. This warm tale may be for little ones, but it will have its effect on you.

How come it's only bears we hear about hibernating? Surely people are smart enough to take this on, too!

Start Your Engines!

Motors, engines, the roar of a bus, plane, or train. Kids love these sounds. They imitate them. And they love to hear about them as characters in books. When my daughter was 2, she brought me her book about Stubby the Tractor whenever I made a lap.

OTIS by Loren Long is another tractor book. The author/illustrator paired this lovable and loyal farm machine with a calf bawling for its mother. The combination hits just the right note of nostalgia for parents and the kind of warmth and comfort toddlers get from a favorite bedtime blanket.

What do your toddlers call their blanket?

Snuggle Book

Winter may be a gray time of year, but it can also be a cozy time. Snuggle under a quilt made by loving hands with a little reader or a very young listener and feel blessed.

ONE WIDE SKY: A BEDTIME LULLABY by Deborah Wiles is as wide as a yawn. Soft hues, warm words, and careful page turns will lull even the most resistant to quiet time. ZZZZ

Are you asleep?

Veggies for Monsters

Halloween is over and NOW your little ones like monsters so much they want to BE them, all the time. And of course real monsters don't eat the green stuff that's good for them. What's a caring cook to do?

MONSTERS DON'T EAT BROCCOLI by Barbara Jean Hicks, illustrated by Sue Hendra, may start out on a note of "no!" but it ends with a second helping. Read it aloud with your toddler. Happy munching sounds should follow.

Did they?

Picturebook for Little Wigglers

PLEASE PICK ME UP, MAMA written and illustrated by Robin Luebs is one way to multi-task. The little raccoon of the story wants to be picked up, put down, picked up, you know the routine, don't you? It struck me that this would be a great way for a new mom to exercise away unwanted inches, read to Baby, and enjoy a good action story with other toddlers. Baby also says "please" with each request. Another chance to emphasize manners!

What do you think?