What Wyatt’s Reading: October

On October 31, 2023October 31, 2023 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review7 Comments

Hey all! Can you believe it is the last day of October already? Crazy!

We read quite a few books together this month, and as always, there were favorites in the bunch!

I am going to start with the book we both absolutely loved, Night Owl Night by Susan Edwards Richmond.

There was just something special about this book. We have read the Jane Yolen book, Owl Moon, a million times and this had a similar type feel. In this book, little Sova desperately wants to go with her mom, who is an owl scientist, on her research nights during October. And one night her mom says yes. They wait for the owls to fly in so that her mom can band them and record them, and on the night Sova goes, only one owl flies in. But that is enough for Sova. It was an enchanted evening with her mother, doing field work. One thing I loved is that the author, when she had Sova asking her mom if she could go, her questions followed the hoot pattern of different owls. Like not actually hooting the question, but the rhythm and cadence of those hoots. We read this book in bed before bedtime and after we finished reading, I had our Alexa play the different owl calls that were referenced in the book. It was a small thing, but it turned into a very special moment for Wyatt and I as well, all snuggled up in bed, reading and listening to the hoots before he fell asleep.

The next few are definitely all Wyatt favorites of the month.

Wyatt is a huge Peppa fan, so that was an easy one. He loved this book and looked at it over and over until I had to return it. He also really loves the Fox series by Corey Tabor, which are just cute little simple stories about a fox and his friends. And finally, Biscuit and the Great Fall Day. He absolutely loved this one, way more than I expected. Like we returned it to the library and had to check it out again the next week because he loved it. I was surprised but he likes what he likes and this book was really cute. I mean, you can’t go wrong with a Biscuit book really.

We loved Night Owl Night so much that we read another owl book, The Barn Owls which was also fantastic. It talked about how the barn owls have been there over a hundred years, over and over, living in the barn and it was just a wonderful story.

Vlad the Fabulous Vampire cracked me up. Vlad, unlike his vampire brethren, is not a pale and wan vampire. Instead, he has rosy little cheeks that he feels he has to hide! He learns that he does not need to do this and can instead be the rosy complected vampire that he is. It was cute.

So Stickler. I loved this book, Wyatt was more eh on it. Stickler is that crazy little creature on the cover, and he is full of wonder for all the small things in the world, which he shows to Crow. He opens Crows eyes to these small wonders and Crow is grateful for the reminder. I loved it, Wyatt was more bored.

And Pete. I should have put this in the Wyatt section but oh well. He loved this book, he is still a Pete the Cat fan, and this book was fun because it combined nature with art! Pete and his friends had to go outside and find things in nature, then put them together into an art project. It was really cool and of course Wyatt loved it.

And these were our top favorites! Have you read any?

What Wyatt’s Reading: Halloween Edition

On October 20, 2022October 20, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review7 Comments

Wyatt and I have been hitting the library hard this month, checking out and returning books, for both school and pleasure reading. It is not unusual for us to leave with 25 books at a time, which seems absurd but we need them! We really do….

What We Have Read So Far:

How to Haunt a House was a cute little book about little ghosts in ghost school, learning how to haunt a house. It was a non-scary Halloween story and pretty silly too.

Halloween is Coming explores the excitement that builds before the holiday. We liked it because of the disability representation, and because it was fun autumn read.

No Such Thing and There’s a Ghost in this House were very similar – both have a little girl main character who exclaim there is either no such thing as ghosts, or that they have never seen a ghost in their supposedly haunted house. In No Such Thing, little readers can have fun spotting the ghosts that the little girl doesn’t see, and in There’s a Ghost there are see through pages that make the ghosts appear on the pages. Both are really well done and fun, and I love the art in both. There’s a Ghost in this House is a bit creepier than No Such Thing.

Wyatt absolutely loved Inside a House that is Haunted, Trick or Treat Crankenstein, and A Tiger Called Tomas. These three were his favorites besides the above ghost books – all of the ghost books. Inside a House that is Haunted is a progressive, repetitive story like There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, with picture clues as well. Wyatt loved this one and I did too, because Wyatt had so much inadvertent speech practice with it. Trick or Treat Crankenstein is about a little boy who was so excited for Halloween only to have the day not go as he had wished. Wyatt was loving this story. And A Tiger Called Tomas was adorable – I loved the art, and this story of a boy who is shy and unsure. His Halloween costume lends him some confidence with its anonymity, and he learns that not only do people still know who he is, but that they like him.

Finally Stumpkin and Samurai Scarecrow. Stumpkin was sort of sad for me – this poor little pumpkin who is waiting and waiting to get picked and no one picks him. But it does have a happy ending! It was very sweet. Samurai Scarecrow is a cute little sibling Halloween story. Yukio is so excited for Halloween, but he gets tired of his little sister Kashi following him around and copying him all he time. He gets annoyed with her and lets her know it. Then feels bad about it. In the end though they make up but how it happens is a pretty big surprise!

On Our Shelf Waiting To Be Read:

There is still time before Halloween so we are going to keep on reading! We have some waiting on the shelf to be read which we will get to soon – and maybe a few more after these even!

I would love to hear your Halloween picture book favorites!

What Wyatt’s Reading – Halloween Edition

On October 19, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading17 Comments

It’s been too long since I have written a post about the books Wyatt and I have been reading, that are not school related! I always have piles of books checked out from the library, and when I go in to pick up just one or two instead of twenty the librarians are always in disbelief. That only happens though when I have just been in and picked up a big ol’ stack.

We have been reading so many Halloween picture books this month that are amazing. All of them. The illustrations, the story, are all just wonderful. I am adding a few to my have to purchase list, which I try to keep tight but when it comes to Wyatt I sort of go crazy. This kid really loves books, just like his mom.

Wyatt has decided he really likes ghosts these days – the cute ones that is of course. These were all super fantastic awesome. How to Make Friends with a Ghost was written like a guide book, and Wyatt and I enjoyed the “Ghost Anatomy” page as Wyatt is very familiar with that from our nature studies and animals. Just never for a ghost!

The Little Ghost Who was a Quilt – well, this one tugged at my mama heartstrings a little. This little ghost is a quilt, not made from sheets like everyone else he knows. Which makes him slower and not really able to keep up with his friends and family who zoom around everywhere. The end is happy though and shows how being different is ok, which I absolutely loved as a message.

Gustavo the Shy Ghost is another one we both loved. We read this actually the same day that we watched Coco, and they went really well together. Gustavo loves to play the violin, and is so shy it is hard for him to make friends. The illustrations are gorgeous and the ending made us both smile.

Mr. Pumpkin’s Tea Party is adorable and suitable for younger kids as well – it is a counting book with not so scary illustrations. Plus, a tea party!

Alfred’s Book of Monsters was a fun one, and also involves a tea party! I loved the Victorian feel to this book, and the illustrations were amazing. However, I did like this one more than Wyatt. I think maybe because when I was a kid, my cousin and I used to write and illustrate our own monster books. I did the writing, and he did the drawings. So the idea of a Book of Monsters was sort of nostalgic to me. We watched a lot of Scooby Doo…

Hardly Haunted is another book about embracing who you are, even if you are a house that is haunted. Don’t try to change for anyone, people will like you for who you are, is such a great message, and I love that it is wrapped up in this cute little haunted house story.

The Little Kitten had Wyatt saying oh no mom! He was feeling a little anxiety about the cats in the book, but no worries, all is well that ends well. This was a sweet little story – be sure to look at the last illustration, through the window.

Of all the books that we read though, this was hands down Wyatt’s favorite. Because underwear are hilarious. Especially glowing ones. I should have known that he would love this one the best, as Creepy Carrots is another favorite of his. Creepy Pair of Underwear is one we are definitely adding to our home collection!

What Halloween picture books have you enjoyed?

What Wyatt’s Reading – October

On October 24, 2019October 23, 2019 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review6 Comments

We have been doing so much reading together! My little guy loves books, always has. I remember reading to him on day two of his life, through the little porthole in the NICU incubator. I was reading The Poky Little Puppy, which had been one of my favorite books when I was a little girl. So perhaps his early introduction to books has paved the way, or maybe he is just like his mother, a reader and book lover. Whatever the reason, I love our days out at the library picking out books, and then taking our bounty home and reading them. This past month or so we have done a lot of reading about fall and Halloween and mushrooms and different sort of “hunts”. It’s been a good month. Here are some of our favorites!

We read some “hunt” books because we were talking about how this month’s full moon was the Hunter Moon. We don’t hunt animals ourselves, but we talked about animals that hunt, and also about different hunts we could do, like mushroom hunts, or rock hunting. We both loved Twilight Hunt a lot! It is not only about a hunt, but also has some great illustrations that have camouflaged animals. It was fun to try to find them together. We also both loved Minerva Louise – she is such a silly curious chicken. She makes us giggle. Wyatt really loved Peppa Pig and also the Runaway Pumpkin – he has a thing right now for farm animals, especially pigs. I particularly loved Rhoda’s Rock Hunt, which is about a little girl who fills her pockets to bursting with rocks she finds. I am buying this one for our library, I think it will be fun to reread next summer when we can get out and explore for rocks easier. Dark Emperor is a book of nature poems for children. This one we read as a family, one poem a night until we were done. We liked it so much that I think it is something we might continue.