She Knits Shizknits

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bookish friday

I've been on a bit of a book binge lately....actually buying books that aren't about knitting (gasp!). We receive a lot of Barnes & Noble gift cards for holidays/birthdays and I always love getting them because that means 'free' books!  I thought I'd give you all a peek at what the popular reading material is around our house these days:

-Monkey Boy loves loves LOVES Chugga Chugga Choo Choo with a passion; he asks for this book almost every night. The pictures are gorgeous and very toddler friendly: lots of bright, saturated colors in a realistic but still blocky style.  The words are in simple rhyming pattern and lend themselves to being repeated over and over.  Some books are annoying to read, but this one isn't. I usually get into the "whoo whoo" bit and so does Monkey Boy.

Other books Monkey is currently 'reading': This Train- another book with simple narration ("this train is yellow"  "this train is red") but lovely artwork.   Dinosaur Train- cute story about a little boy who loves nothing but dinos and trains. More colorful pictures that include dinos dressed in clothing and eating veggie burgers in the dining car.

Little Man always asks to read his Beginner's Bible before bedtime, but we usually add at least one more book to the routine.  Lately we've been reading  This Rocket (by the same author as "This Train").  LM likes the many different paintings of rockets, space ships and space shuttles.

And both small ones enjoy Stop That Pickle! which features some pretty hilarious scenes such as the pickle being chased by a gang of raisins and a PB&J sandwhich. A childhood favorite of mine that they have fun reading is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It's the story of the town of Chewandswallow, where food falls from the sky instead of being bought at the supermarket. Great illustrations of hamburger 'storm fronts' and orange juice 'rain'.

And what have *I* been reading? Well I picked up this adorable book about making softies
called Plush O Rama. Lots of wonderful ideas for making cute and whimsical stuffed animals. I'm sure you've seen some of them around the blogosphere or on Flickr, but this is a great collection of new (to me, anyways) designs.  I picked the book up not so much for the patterns - because even a beginner seamstress could figure those out by just looking at the photos- but for the inspiration of seeing all the great softie ideas in one place. It's a cute book that's well photographed with great instructions even for the sewing challenged. I also really liked that they gave you measurements of the photographed projects so you know how big they should be.

I also got Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing book. Again, not so much for the patterns as for the inspiration provided by the great photography and designs. There's a cute reversible apron that I am planning on making if I get some crafting time soon.

And if you're looking for a parenting magazine that isn't full of your typical "make your kid smarter, prettier, better" crap, check out WonderTime.  I found this mag a few weeks ago and really like the way they seem to emphasize the creative and questing spirit of childhood instead of pushing ideas about how to make your child into something else. The issue I have has a short article on teaching your child how to skip rocks, for instance. The layout reminds me of Real Simple (another mag I love)- including a tear out page that has space for ideas for journaling about your child. Very cute. Melissa at Buzz Off featured a great deal on WonderTime ($4.95 for a year's subscription) if you want to check it out.

What are you reading this week?