My granddaughter Jasmine is starting to get more and more involved in my reviewing process. She loves books almost, if not more than I do and her first words to me any time she comes over are, “Hi Grammy – any new books?”. We usually spend a huge amount of our time together reading and finding new books.

Like every Saturday, today we went on our walk of the neighborhood. We love our walks together so much. Jasmine and I walk and Aiden rides in the jogging stroller that also acts as our mini-sherpa for all the things we carry. There’s plenty of room for books in that thing.

As usual, we spent quite a bit of time in Read Books, Eagle Rock’s charming used bookstore. The combination of a great children’s section, knowledgeable and extremely nice proprietors, good atmosphere and the cushy, deep couch that begs you to sit under the window and read a book all make a super winning comibnation and I find myself there more often than not. Today Debbie surprised me with a book I have been wanting for years – a Noel Streatfeild classic, Dancing Shoes! Watch out for a review of that in AmoXcalli’s Reviewing the Classics of Kidlit series very soon.

I believe I mentioned before that Jasmine is four years old and already starting to read small words and put short sentences together. I asked her if she’d like to pick some books to review and she quickly hopped up and over to her shelf to gather what she thinks would make a special post. I thought it would be pigs but she surprised me with a selection of Little Scholastic.

Little Scholastic books are great in that they cater to the littlest child. Their books are chunky enough for little hands to easily hold. They come in fancy shapes, textures and colors and they are simple enough for the toddlers and entertaining enough for the bigger children. They help to promote a lifelong love of reading and that makes them special to me. Good job Scholastic!

Five Shiny Stars is a lovely little rhyme that teaches counting. The sing song rhythm of the rhyme is just right for little ones who love a sense of music in their talk/play. Shiny stars grab attention and the sweet faced kitty on the cover captures their love of animals and makes them smile. The book has cut out stars and and at the end, the Twinkle, twinkle little star song that is one of the first songs little children in this country learn. The book is thick and gently rounded, giving little fingers ease of page turning and makes it easy for uncoordinated hands to carry. It’s probably even a little chewable for those teethers, although i wouldn’t recommend chewing on a book.

Colors is another special little book that Jasmine and Aiden love to read and touch. Colors teaches colors with simple drawings all in the color of that think. Lion is yellow and so is duck. The duck has a soft belly you can touch and teach children the textures of things.

Kids love to touch things and the book gets them used to using their sense of sight and touch in a fun way. There’s a green frog with a bumpy body, a shimmery blue fish and an extra fluffy red bird. Aiden loves to touch that one. The book is small, a board book with rounded, safe corners for those little hands.

Circle is just what it seems. A book shaped in a perfect circle with a shiny mirror in the back that glitters enticingly. Babies love mirrors. The book is in bright yellow and black and each page has a different circle to look at till you get to the full mirror at the end. The book provides a lot of entertainment with no words. It’s something any small child can spend some time on their own just holding and looking at or having an adult teach them to say the shapes and colors and they help turn pages.

Star is a wonderful star-shaped book that always captures Jasmine’s attention. It’s in the same bright yellow and black as Circle and has a mirror as well as rattling little beads which is perfect for babies and small children who love noise and rattles. Jasmine loves stars and so do most children I know so they love the shape of the book and the designs inside.

Our last Little Scholastic Book in this round-up is Aiden’s favorite. The book is called Good Night, Sleep Tight. This adorable little book comes with it’s own little blanky. Each couple of pages are dedicated to putting a little animal to bed.

This book is beautifully and almost dreamily illustrated in soft watercolors that just make you want to take a trip into dreamland yourself. The soft looking bunny, kitty, pup and other little animals charm little children into hopping into their own little beds. The handy blanky they can hold to their face further helps them find their own way into dreamland. The book is big and padded giving further illusion of sleep time with it’s pillowy feel. Goodnight, Sleep Tight is the perfect book for bedtime.

We do hope you enjoyed Jasmine’s choices for you today.

Happy Reading!

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