Waiting For Spring...

Now that we've entered March, we know that spring is just around the corner. March, however is an unpredictable month full of roller coaster temperatures. Take, for instance, this past week in my beautiful state of Ohio, sixty degrees one day and twenty the next. So as I sit here writing this blog post, I am grateful that the books I chose to review this week are books that gently remind us of what awaits. Books that will hopefully linger on our minds like the delicate beauty of newly blossomed violets.

The first book in my lineup is Chicken In The Kitchen by Tony Johnston. Told in rhyme and accompanied by deliciously cute illustrations, this book takes us on Dog's journey to make his chicken happy. Dog's chicken runs willy nilly about the kitchen until Dog finally figures out what his chicken wants. Once he figures it out, Chicken is not only happy, but Dog's ends up with an unexpected surprise. Pretty sure both your boys and girlies from ages four to eight will enjoy this happy book.

Next I read The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen. Such a great book to read as I notice small growing things begin to emerge in my flower beds. In The Imaginary Garden, Theo and Poppa enjoy passing the time of day sitting in his garden underneath a beautiful tree. But one day Poppa moves and there is no room for a garden in his new apartment. All is not lost, however, as Poppa teaches Theo to use her greatest gift, a glorious imagination. Children and adults alike will enjoy the imaginary garden that Theo and Poppa create, and who knows, perhaps it will inspire you to create an imaginary garden of your own!

Wrong Way, by Danish author Mark Macleod, turned out to be a delightful book about a mother and her three baby ducks. Wrong Way isn't like his siblings, and doesn't do anything quite the way Momma tells him. But even Momma comes to recognize that doing things differently isn't necessarily wrong. You might have a harder time fining this book unless you find a used copy, but it's worth checking to see if your library carries a copy.

And last but certainly not least, I read Fluffy and Baron which was written and illustrated by Laura Rankin.  Baron is a gorgeous German Shepherd who makes friends with a small duckling named Fluffy who comes into his life. Soon they do everything together, that is, until some wild ducks show up. will this be the end of Baron and Fluffy's friendship, or will Fluffy come back to him?

This last book reminded me a bit of the Fluffy that came into our life. Our Fluffy is a cat and not a duck, but we love her none the less. She likes to hide among Emily's stuffed babies. Can you find her?

Where In The World Is Fluffy?

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, my very own early grade chapter book, Fern Valley, and my soon to be released sequel, Return To Fern Valley, coming summer of 2014! I'm also on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.