Dragons Love Tacos

This book found its way into our library bag a few weeks ago. 

I was skeptical. 

I sort of started to like it when I noticed all of the tacos on the endsheets. That's pretty funny. 

Then we read the first line:

"Hey kid, did you know that dragons love tacos?"

Then we learned that they love tacos and parties, but not spicy taco toppings. Definitely not spicy salsa. What they love most of all are taco parties, which are parties with lots of tacos. 

"Hey dragon, are you excited for the big taco party?"

By the end, we were in love and already flipping back to the beginning to read it again. Suddenly, the tacos on the endsheets were even funnier than they were the first time we noticed them.

After reading it 1,000 times, we couldn't even pull it out of the bag without cracking up. It's just funny. Deadpan funny. Majorly fun to read out loud. And so silly that you have to laugh every single time. It's one of those books that kids memorize after a few reads and then walk around the house reciting. 

I could never have guessed that this silly book would become one of our favorites. But it's true. We love Dragons Love Tacos. 

Merry Reading

Yesterday, when the girls came home from school, we "turned the fire on" and snuggled up to read.

These are some of our favorites that have become traditional reads in our home.

Brian and I both grew up with this book. Now we share it with our kids.

It really is "splendiferous!"

So funny and so very Olivia. My oldest daughter just figured out this year that it's the dog who eats the cookies ;).

And this one, ah this one. We pass this book around the room each Christmas Eve, so everyone has a chance to read aloud. The cut-outs are amazing. This one is a treasure to behold.

When the glow of the Christmas tree lights illuminate our house, and all is cozy and bright, we turn to books more than ever.

Merry Reading!

Very Fragile--Please Touch

There's a short stack of really old books, prettily arranged on the table in the living room at my parents' house. It's been there as long as I can remember.

They are old, family heirloom books, most with sweet inscriptions written on the title pages dating back to 1926. They are very fragile. But they are not just for decoration. They are for opening and reading and in the case of Miss Sniff, touching.

Miss Sniff, the fuzzy cat, is really fuzzy. She's been touched by so many fingers over the years that her black velvety furr is pretty matted and worn. But she's still the fanciest cat on the block.

Originally published in 1945. 

My all-time favorite is Mother Earth's Children. 

Someone (my mother) took the touching a little too far and actually wrote on the book. Not good. But the thought of my mom as a naughty little girl, adding doodles of her own to this book makes me smile.

Each vegetable and fruit has its own little verse.

This was my grandmother's favorite. She marked it so we would never forget. 

Then there's Winkle, Twinkle and Lollypop. 

Winkle, Twinkle, and Lollypop are three triplets who get to meet Mr. Sun and Mrs. Night, and Mr. Wind, too. 

The girls and I sat down together this morning and read these books aloud to each other--just like my grandmother and my great aunt did 80 some years ago, and my mother and grandmother after that, and my mom and me even later.

They get more and more fragile over the years, but continue to touch our lives. 

Turkey Round-up

I love holidays and traditions. And Thanksgiving is at the very top of my list as far as both are concerned.

Right along with pulling the Thanksgiving decorations (yes, we decorate for Thanksgiving) out of the bin and pulling my great-grandmother's stuffing recipe out of the recipe box, comes pulling every Thanksgiving book we can find out of the library.

Here are a few we've read this season.

We are choking from laughing so hard at this one.  Not everyone loves Junie B., but we really do. 

A perennial favorite. You get to go back in time to Plymouth, just like we do every year on our annual trip to Plimouth Plantation. We're reading the non-fiction companion book this year as well.

An eye-roller for sure, but lots of fun, as usual.

This book allows you to put yourself in Pilgrim shoes. 

There are many, many more, but these are the main books we've read this year.

I am so thankful for the time we spend reading together.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Anything But...

Anyone who's read this:

Knows that this:

Is not this:

It's this: