Even Firefighters Go to the Potty is a hilarious book by Wendy and Naomi Wax, and illustrated by Stephen Gilpin. If you have a child who is hesitant to start using the potty, proof that everyone who’s anyone sits on a toilet might be reassuring. As the title suggests, Firefighters use the potty. It’s true! Police officers do too! Baseball players, construction workers, doctors and dentists–they all go to the potty. Astronauts use the potty (although its a little difficult with those bulky space-suits). When you’re at a restaurant and wondering where the waiter is? He’s probably on the potty (and most definitely washing his hands!) Do polar bears use the potty. No–but you can bet the zookeeper does!
Picture Book
Mouse Paint
Mouse Paint is one of several wonderful books concerning mice by Ellen Stoll Walsh. In this installment Walsh’s mice are hiding from the cat, as usual, when they discover three jars of paint–one red, one yellow, and one blue. They, of course, jump right in (why not? there’s a jar for each of them), and start dribbling colors onto a white piece of paper. When they step in each other’s paint puddles (and do a little mouse dance) they discover that mixing colors together creates new colors!This is a fun book to help teach your child about colors, maybe with a craft to reinforce the lesson?
Duck for President
Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, and illustrated by Betsy Lewin, was incredibly popular around election season (check outs were usually accompanied by clever parents commenting that the duck seemed like a good candidate), but it’s a great story for any time of the year. Duck lives on Farmer’s Brown’s farm. He and the other animals all have chores, but Duck doesn’t like chores, so he decides to hold an election, which he subsequently wins. But running the farm is hard work, so he begins his campaign for governor. Soon Duck is head of the state, but this job too is extremely difficult. So Duck pulls out all the stops and runs for President (eventually retiring to write his memoirs). Duck for President is one of my favorite books! It’s a kid-friendly commentary on politics that hopefully everyone can enjoy.
Scaredy Squirrel
Make sure you wash your hands before reading Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt. Because Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of germs. In fact, Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of just about everything. This is why he never leaves his tree. This has advantages (less chance of being attacked by martians/sharks/tarantulas/etc) and disadvantages (it’s kind of boring). He spends his days just eating and admiring the view, until one day he sees a bee! In his haste to flee, Scaredy Squirrel abandons his emergency kit, with its top secret exit plan, and jumps into the unknown, discovering he’s actually a flying squirrel, and that the unknown isn’t as terrifying as he thought.
My Many Colored Days
My Many Colored Days is a Dr. Seuss book you may not be familiar with. It was published posthumously by his widow Audrey Geisel. He had written it, inspired by the view from his study, and envisioned it to be illustrated by an artist with a completely different style from his own. That mantle was taken up by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, who created beautiful paintings for the book. “You’d be surprised how many ways I change on different colored days,” Seuss writes, articulating how colors can affect, or be used to explain, our emotions, and how our moods may fluctuate throughout the week. My favorite pages are for feeling brown, and sort of “low down,” immediately followed by bright shades of yellow and feeling like a “busy buzzy bee!”
Alien Al
Alien Al is from the Funny Faces line of children’s books, with interactive features. Each of the pages have tactile elements, and introduce us to a new alien friend. Izzy is an interplanetary explorer with googly eyes and a furry green mouth! Zak and Jak visit the White House for fun and take a picture of their rough pink polka dots! Gaz is visiting a cousin on Mars in his shiny spaceship, and Beelo is having a birthday party on his parents’ moon base! The last page is the best! At the alien dance, Deejay “shakes and moves, to spacey sounds and future beats, and cosmic disco grooves” which you can hear for yourself when you turn the page!