TODAY WE REVIEW: Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue and Pamela Zagarenski

Sleep Like a Tiger by Mary Logue
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Violet Says: 3 Stars
I like this book but only OK. I don't like that the girl goes to sleep when I want to stay up. I see through my Dad's plan to try and get me to want to go to sleep by reading me this book. Nice try, Dad.

Dad Says: 5 Stars
Here is another of the rare Dad-Violet book divergences. I love this book while Violet will only allow me to read it occasionally. I think she generally rejects the message of "going to sleep," which is one strike against this lovely and quiet tale. I also think the art is sophisticated enough that a lot of what I enjoy is perhaps a little lost on Violet? Either way, I think this book is gorgeous and soothing and read it any time I feel like pushing real hard for it.

Final Tally: 4 Stars

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Harriet's Had Enough! by Elissa Haden Guest and Paul Meisel - review

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6353923-harriet-s-had-enough" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Harriet's Had Enough!" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320451738m/6353923.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6353923-harriet-s-had-enough">Harriet's Had Enough!</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/326300.Elissa_Haden_Guest">Elissa Haden Guest</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1403143371">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Violet Says: 5 Stars.<br>I love this book and ask for it a lot. I love it so much that we've checked it out of the library probably 4 or 5 times by now. I always want my mom and dad to read it to me.<br><br>Dad says: 3 Stars<br>Usually Violet and I are fairly close in our assessments of the books we read. Sometimes she'll like something I find somewhat annoying, or I'll want to read a beautiful book she doesn't care so much about, but for the most part our tastes align nicely (knock on wood). "Harriet's Had Enough" is perhaps our biggest point of disagreements. Violet loves it, while Dad has only come to loosely appreciate it after much deliberation. If I had to guess, maybe Violet's fandom has to do with an appreciation of the depiction of the volatile emotions that trigger Harriet's decision to run away from home? Really who knows why any of us like anything. Part of my issue may be that I work hard to find good books and this was just a random find off a shelf during some library visit long ago. Could I be just as successful picking books at random? Existential crisis time.<br><br>Final Tally: 4 Stars
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The Dark by Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen - review

The Dark by Lemony Snicket
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Violet Says: 5 Stars
I love this book about Laszlo. Most of the time I just call it "Laszlo." The pictures are very dark but Laszlo looks nice and his house is pretty cool -- kind of like my house. When my Dad makes me pick out a "good night" book to read last, this is usually the one I pick.

Dad Says: 5 Stars
I generally don't like reading books that introduce fears to my children that they don't already have. Like, why do I want to read a book about "why vegetables aren't nasty" if my kids generally eat vegetables without fuss? Likewise, I was initially hesitant to read this book lest Violet be tipped off that some kids out there are afraid of the dark. But the story is told so elegantly that I don't think she even takes away any generalized fears. I think it could actually be a pretty scary book...but we don't read it in a scary way, and it goes over great. There's drama but not suspense. It's thrilling without being terrifying. I'm not super-familiar with the other works of Lemony Snicket, but The Dark is written in such a lovely, subtle, lyrical style that it sets the bar for how text in a children's book ought to be crafted. The art is simultaneously muted yet vibrant, dramatic while still remaining accessible. Really it's an absolute powerhouse home-run book.

We recommend it to everyone!

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Mr. Tiger Goes Wild - review

Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Violet Says: 5 Stars
I loved "Children Make Terrible Pets" also by Peter Brown so we got this out of the library and it's even better! I love Mr. Tiger, especially when he ROARS, which is definitely my favorite part. I usually tell him to close his mouth because his it's SO big! And when Mr. Tiger takes a dip in a fountain I like to tell him that he needs a towel. Basically, I love Mr. Tiger Goes Wild and ask for it a lot, but I kind of try and reign him in when he's acting a little TOO wild. I mean, enough's enough, Mr. Tiger.

Dad Says: 4 Stars
A really fun book, especially for a kid who's a pretty regimented rule-follower, and an even better book for a Dad who's much (much) worse. I initially felt like this was a kind of played-out idea for a children's book, but the fantastic art and elegant execution elevate it above its somewhat pedestrian central idea. There's a real richness to the off-beat quasi-Victorian world that Peter Brown creates. It's quite lovely and beautifully crafted. I may not love it quite as much as Violet (the end basically makes no sense and feels a little tacked-on), but I definitely do not mind reading it over and over. Highly recommended by us both!

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Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale - review

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Violet Says: 5 stars
I love this book! It's one of my favs, and one of the books I've probably read the most. The best part is when Trixie and her daddy forget Knuffle Bunny in the laundry machine. Before I could even talk I loved to point at Knuffle Bunny peeking out the window of the laundry machine and say "uh oh!" There is also a dog or two in the background of some of the pictures that I like to point out.

Dad Says: 4 stars
The story here isn't anything exceptional, but it's told in a lovely style with drawings mixed with black and white photographs. Trixie and her daddy walk through the city (pretty sure it's Brooklyn but who's counting), go to the laundromat, and forget Trixie's bunny, Knuffle Bunny, there. Because Trixie can't talk yet she can't explain that they've forgotten the bunny so it isn't until they get home that Mom realizes what's wrong and the whole fam has to hurry back to find it. I don't really appreciate that the dad is the dolt in the story, especially since he's the one going to the effort of taking the kid out AND doing the laundry AT THE SAME TIME...but that's nitpicky I realize. Anyway, the drama is pretty limited after the first couple readings, so it's not my all-time favorite, but it's just exceptionally solid across the board: well-written, nicely constructed, great art, cool style. And Violet loves it when they forget the bunny.

Violet probably likes it a little more than dad, but both of us recommend Knuffle Bunny highly!

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The Library! The Library!!!

A crucial part of this project -- and our daddy-daughter reading in general -- is the library. In our case, it's the Chicago Public Library, recently named the best urban public library by a German university (weird, but whatever, I'll take it).

With a library card we can cycle through a ton of books easily and for free to see what Violet and/or I respond to, then (as in the case of "The Day the Crayons Quit") if we find something we both really like, we can spend our hard-earned dollars on it. Plus, plenty of kids books are perfectly fine for a little while, but not great enough to bother owning forever ("Elephant & Piggie Are In a Book," I'm looking at you!).

Especially given the vastness of the world of children's literature, and the capriciousness of my daughter's reading moods, it helps to have a whole bunch of books on hand to offer up at bedtime or naptime or anytime. The library is crucial for us in maintaining a proper crop of variety, while also allowing us to limit the books we buy to the best of the best. To this end, I am not ashamed to say that I am in possession of not only my own library card but also my wife's card. It is a nearly impossible amount of borrowing power that I hold.

Now, I don't know how it works in other areas and library systems, but the Chicago Public Library's online system is absolutely fantastic. You can search the entire card catalog on the web, and put books on hold electronically. Then you wait -- sometimes a day, sometimes quite a while -- and you get an email letting you know your book (or movie! or CD! or whatever!) is waiting for you on the special shelf in the library of your choice. Plus, you can renew books online as well. I'm telling you, it's an absolute life-changer. I canNOT recommend the library highly enough. I've even been known to get a book or two out for myself by accident. And even more by accident to get a movie for the weekend.

"The Day the Crayons Quit" - Review

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Violet Says: 5 stars!
I love this book! I'm still working on learning my colors, and each crayon gets their own page, which is a great way to try and keep all these colors straight. I especially love the peach page, where the crayon is naked; that's funny. The drawings are funny and I like to guess how each crayon feels by looking at its "facial" expression. I ask for this book a lot; because long titles are a pain to pronounce, I call this book "Duncan" since the crayons are all Duncan's crayons, and they each write a note to Duncan.

Dad Says: also 5 stars!
A funny book with a great hook and excellent (crayon-based) art. Each of Duncan's crayons have sent him a letter expressing their various concerns, complaints, and compliments. The book is almost entirely these literally self-penned notes. The text may be on the longer side (I sometimes need a glass of water mid-book) but there are enough jokes to keep it moving, and enough going on textually and visually to make re-reading a pleasure. Some of the pages are quite funny, a couple pages connect to tell little mini-narratives, and the variety within the wonderfully stylized illustrations (by Oliver Jeffries who I'm just learning about) on each page keeps both of our attentions. We first got this book out of the library, but when it had to be returned we actually decided to go out and buy a copy of our very own! This is, of course, the highest praise any book could ever hope to receive.

"The Day the Crayons Quit" is highly recommended by us both!

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