You all can let me know if this is just a boy thing, but I’m finding the mind of an 18mo boy is a very fast moving machine that’s only capable on intaking and spewing out simple words and phrases. Our daughter was extremely verbose, but with Mountain Goat, it’s like talking with a caveman.
EAT
BED
GO
WALK
I almost picture him dressed in fur overalls thumping his chest when he talks to us. But I digress, bedtime is a wonderful routine with him. It’s such an enjoyable one because he’s not old enough yet to know how to slyly wiggle his way through every excuse (like Fox). We put on his pajamas, let him trot over to his bookshelf to pick out a book or two, read, have him turn out the lights, tuck him in bed, and blow kisses until we’re out the door.
Here are some of his favorite books he usually pulls from his shelf (or off his floor depending on how motivated I’ve been to pick up his room at bedtime).
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I Love You Through And Through – If you’re working through teaching your toddler common body parts, this is a fun way to teach it. Phrases like “I love your fingers and toes, ears and nose” with illustrations to accompany each word (you can see one of the pages via the title link). The rhyming also helps hold Mountain Goat’s attention (he usually asks “again” each time we finish reading it).
That’s Not My Goat (Touchy-Feely Board Books) – How could we not get this book when we were pregnant with Mountain Goat? This one sat on our shelf for months waiting for his arrival. And it did not disappoint. It has great touch and feel spots and uses descriptive words like “bumpy”, “smooth”, and his favorite…”fluffy”. Even his busy little mind catches onto words when they are simply stated.
The Carrot Seed 60th Anniversary Edition – I especially love this one because it’s a story of perseverance. Everyone else in his family tells him his little carrot seed will never grow. Yet he weeds and waters and waits. And guess what?! It grew! And it happens to be the biggest carrot you’ve ever seen. Another book requested on repeat. I think the young eyes are also drawn to the simplified colors in these illustrations. My new favorite!
Have You Ever Tickled a Tiger? – I’m sensing a touch and feel theme here. Is that a boy thing? This is cute because it introduces words like “touched”, “scratched”, “kissed”, and “hugged” and associates them with animals with feathers, scales, and rough patches. I’m pretty sure Mountain Goat learned to give us kisses from reading this book so much.
Sherlock Holmes in the Hound of the Baskervilles: A BabyLit® Sounds Primer – I’ll be dedicating an entire post to this line of books, but this one in particular is a PERFECT book for little boys. Call outs in bright and bold colors help him with associations: boots-scrape, wheels-clatter. We also end up howling like fools for “hounds-howl”. Mountain Goat has always been fascinated with the illustrations and the simple words match his busy little mind.
Baby Einstein: First Book of Puppies (Baby Einstein (Special Formats)) – This book introduces action words like “play”, “eat”, and “sleep” and it’s all attributed to, wait for it, puppies!!! The classic Baby Einstein illustrations are mixed with photographic images of real dogs and puppies hidden behind sliding windows in the book. Plus, it’s nearly indestructible since it’s such a thick board book.
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