Adorable Book Alert: The Potty Book (for boys and girls)

Andrew will be two in January so, with baby number two on the way, that means its time to introduce the potty! We  have had a musical potty hanging out in our bathroom since this summer, but he didn't do much with it but "flush" it. But, since we've had The Potty Book for Boys by Alyssa Satin Cupcilli, we have had one successful potty attempt! (I'm not kidding myself, though, that he won't be in diapers for a while longer. Two in diapers--yikes!)

The Potty Book for Boys--and its sister book The Potty Book for Girls--is adorable and features a toddler boy or girl as he/she learns to use the potty along with his/her beloved teddy bear. The story is just perfect, covering both the accidents and successes along the way to being potty trained. And the illustrations are so sweet, but do show a lot of bare baby butt--just in case you're opposed to that! 

For $5.95, I was also really impressed with the length of the book (32 pages) and the quality of the hardcover and its thick glossy pages.

And, of course, I do love that the children in each of the books have red hair!  

The Potty Book actually reminded me a lot of one of our other favorite children's books featuring a redhead and his teddy bear: I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rosetti Shustak. Both books are winners for kids with or without red hair--and great gifts too!

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Giveaway! The Very Hungry Caterpillar

*GIVEAWAY CLOSED*

Hooray for Queens Mama's first giveway!

One randomly-selected reader will win a board book copy of Eric Carle's classic THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR. All you have to do is post a memory of your favorite childhood book in the comments section below by May 23.

Reading THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR is one of my most vivid memories of nursery school. Much better than my one other vivid memory of forgetting my show and tell and having to sit in the coat rack as punishment!

I mean, what was there not to love about a book that was so colorful and so fun in its design that you didn't even realize it was teaching you to count? What a very talented and deviously-educational man Carle is!

More than 40 years after its publication, THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR has been translated into over 47 languages and brings back such happy memories for so many of us that we must share it with our little ones. I'm so happy I can give this book away to one reader to pass along to a special child.

Good luck and stay tuned for more giveways!

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Book Review: Baby Touch and Feel Animals

DK's Baby Touch and Feel ANIMALS was the first book Andrew ever received. My husband picked it up when we first found out we were expecting because of the bunnies on the cover. Of course, they don't look like our (increasingly evil) bunny, Cricket, but we've come to develop a soft spot for anything with a cotton tail and huge ears.

 








Exhibit A: Cricket before she grew into a electrical cord/clothing/wall-eating machine. 

Where was I? Ah yes...

After initally awwwing over the book, I placed it on Andrew's shelf and forgot about it. I've been relying on books with rhymes and more text for the baby's bedtime routine (namely Dr. Suess), so ANIMALS literally got shelved. Andrew didn't really even begin reaching for objects until 3 months anyway, so a touchy-feely book was of no interest to him.

Today, however, I spied it sitting there and decided to give it a go. And what a hit it was! The mix of furry and shiny pictures of baby animals got him touching and "talking" up a storm. I should have expected this of my genius little guy, who thinks that sunlight on our fake leather couch is the coolest thing ever. :)

So, thumbs up to DK's ANIMALS! At $5.99 it does seem a bit expensive for a little board book with, like, 10 words in it, but it probably costs close to that amount of money to produce all the fun effects. 

DK also makes a bunch more Baby Touch and Feel books, which I'm tempted to buy to keep Andrew occupied and, of course, learning. Among my favorites:



Too cute! And a great gift idea.

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