You Read to Me I'll Read to You week 2

Slightly less mutual reading this week, what with the end of the school year and doctor's appointments--curling up separately with chapter books was more the trend. But my daughter and I did manage to share a few fun picture books, as well as a couple of chapters from the wildly amusing Horrid Harry series (who will be returning to this blog soon.)

NMD Read to Me:
The Doghouse by Jan Thomas

Yes Day! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; illus. by Tom Lichtenheld

I Read to NMD:
Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers
Horrid Henry's School Project by Francesca Simon, illus. by Tony Ross
Horrid Henry's Sleepover by Francesca Simon, illus. by Tony Ross
It's a Secret! by John Burningham

We Read Together:

Doctor All-Knowing retold by Doris Orgel from the Grimm folk tale; illus. by Alexandra Boiger

In terms of pure read-aloud fun, The Doghouse was the hands down winner this week. With it's reliance on cumulative storytelling, vibrant colors, and humorously building tension, a reader can really throw themselves into performance mode with this one. This week's new discovery was Doctor All-Knowing. I thought I was pretty well-versed in the Grimm canon, but I had never come across this tale before. It reminded me very much of Lloyd Alexander's excellent The Fortune-Tellers, in which a wily protagonist is able to rise above their station with a few well-placed words and some good old-fashioned luck thrown into the mix. (Note to self--reread The Fortune-Tellers this week!) And I think "oddest book of the week" goes to The Great Paper Caper. It's one part environmental-morality fable, one part who-done-it, and all parts goofy premise, starting with the lack of substantial legs on the animals! Good fun, though, and worth a visit.