Reading Our Library- Alan Baker

Alan Baker is a British author/illustrator who has written a series of children's  books called "Little Rabbit Books". Several of these books are written to reinforce early concepts. We checked out quite a few (not all) books from the series and overall they were quite the hit with Jonathan. Here's what we read the past couple weeks:

White Rabbit's Color Book

Jonathan loved this book. He's known his colors for a while now, but he just really enjoyed this simple story about a little white rabbit dipping herself in paint. The rabbit makes different colors from the red, blue, and yellow paint and eventually ends up a totally different color all together. This was a book that Jonathan wanted read again and again. I think we may end up trying to combine paint colors to make our own color mixing experiment.

Black and White Rabbit's ABC

This book attempts to teach the ABCs through a little rabbit's efforts to paint a picture of an apple. This is a clever little book, but Jonathan didn't enjoy it as much as some of the other books. I liked that the book included both uppercase and lowercase letters though.

Brown Rabbit's Shape Book 


In this book, brown rabbit receives a box in the mail. Inside the box is a tube of balloons and rabbit proceeds to make different shapes out of the balloons until he is worn out. Jonathan also really enjoyed this book about shapes. He's recognized shapes for a while, but this book included some new shapes such as "tube" and "pear'shaped". It also included some fun sound effects. This is another book that he requested frequently.

Gray Rabbit's 1,2,3 


Another cute book about a gray rabbit who finds several lumps of clay and makes animals of different shapes from one worm to ten mice. Jonathan really liked this book- I think he was fascinated by the idea of making animals out of play dough.  Jonathan  requested this book frequently as well. I think we may also try to do some play dough sculpting this week!

Little Rabbit's First Word Book 


I checked this book out thinking of Grace, but was pleasantly surprised by its appeal to Jonathan. This is in one sense a typical word book, with rabbits presenting words under different topics. What makes this different is that the book has some games you can play with your child at the back such as matching shapes, colors, etc. Jonathan had fun pointing out different items and even did pick up a few new words.

Little Rabbit's First Time Book 


This is a book that follows rabbits through the day. It has a clock with moveable hands that you can set to the time in the book. Jonathan really liked playing with the clock, and that actually distracted him from the story itself at this point. I think it will be a great book for when we are learning about time!


Overall, we really enjoyed these books and I will probably try to add them into our collection. They would also fit in quite well with an Easter/Spring theme!

Reading Our Library- Jim Arnosky

Jim Arnosky writes and illustrates books that focus on animals and the natural world.

His books are beautifully illustrated. I learned from Carrie over at Reading My Library that Jim Arnosky uses a camera to photograph wildlife in action and uses this as a basis for his artwork. His illustrations are gorgeous and full of details. I love simply gazing at them and finding "hidden" animals-- animals that are not the focal point of the story, but happen to be part of the illustrations. Sometimes this captures Jonathan's attention as well, but not always.

This is kind of an odd review post. I tried to pick out some books that I thought would be toddler friendly, but only a couple of the books held Jonathan's attention. I'm guessing that most of these books would be more suitable for preschool and up, and I think we'll revisit them as he gets older.

Rabbit & Raindrops

This was our first Jim Arnosky book, as it appeared on a recommended book list for toddlers. It's a perfect book for Spring! In this book, momma rabbit and her babies leave the nest for the first time. It soon begins to rain and the rabbits must rush back to their nest. Jonathan sat through this story and had fun  spotting other animals as I pointed them out (ants, spiders, birds, etc.)

Grandfather Buffalo

This is a touching story about an older buffalo who usually is at the back of the herd. This ends up being a positive thing, because he comes to the aid of a young calf and its mother. The older buffalo helps keep the young calf safe and remains a valuable part of the herd. Jonathan paid attention through this story and I pointed out some of the animals like snakes and skunks that appeared on the different pages.

Every Autumn Comes the Bear

This story tells about a bear that comes near a local farm to hibernate. It follows the bear as he makes his preparations to hibernate for the winter. The illustrations are warm and detailed. It's a perfect story for Autumn or for a unit on bears. Jonathan didn't focus in on this story at 2 years old,  but I think we may try it again in the fall.

Babies in the Bayou

This is probably my favorite, of all the books we read. It shows all the animals living in a Southern swamp- alligators, raccoons, turtles, ducks. All of these animals are shown under the care of their mothers. The artwork is very soft and soothing and the prose is very rhythmic. Jonathan paid attention a little more easily to this one and I think it'll be another one we repeat in the future.



Jim Arnosky has written over 91 books for cihldren and I think any of them would be wonderful additions to  a science or nature study. While Jonathan is too young right now to appreciate these nature-loving books, I think this is one author we will be revisiting in his preschool years.

Library Links 


Babies in the Bayou
Every Autumn Comes the Bear
Grandfather Buffalo
Rabbits & Raindrops