Capyboppy, by Bill Peet (our review)

Jon loves Capybaras. Calvin knows this very well thanks to all of our zoo visits, so he decided to get Jon a copy of Capyboppy, by Bill Peet, for Christmas (this being, of course, a lot like Homer Simpson buying a bowling ball as a present for Marge). We actually ordered the book before reading it, but knowing that it was by Bill Peet I was pretty sure it would be a hit. Turns out I was right. I love Peet's very easy and real voice in his stories, and his illustrations are always delightful. And the best thing about Capyboppy is that it is actually a true story from Peet's parenting days. Here's what Calvin says:

"It's about a woman and a man and a boy and they get a capybara. And they chase the little guy until they get him because it's bedtime for him. He runs away out of the fence because someone left the gate open. He squeals because he wants to be let in. And a boy comes over and the capy bites him and his shirt is dripped with blood but the doctor gives him stitches and the boy comes back to give him (the Capy) water and food. It ends in a happy way because they take him to the zoo and he's happy there. He sits in the food box and eats cabbage and carrots."

"I like the writing and I like it because it's a long book."

His favorite part is "when they leave the gate wide open because they find him again on the porch."

The only thing I have to add about this one is that it truly is a long book with less "excitement" in it than most. It is almost more a memoir than a story following a very direct arching path throughout. Calvin loves long books and has a great attention span for them, but I know that not all four year olds do. That being said, it is one of our favorites.

Why Is the Sky Blue, by Sally Grindley (our review)

This is a book we picked up either at a garage sale or at our library's monthly book sale, and was quick to make its way into our regular rotation. The book itself is light and fun to read, but seems to be hiding a few  lessons or choice tidbits about learning and education. Whether intended or not it definitely has something to say about teaching and learning methods (why won't the donkey teach the rabbit unless he sits still?), and I can be pretty sure the author meant for us to hear a note on the teacher learning from the pupil. Read the right way this could become an unschoolers statement. In any case, it's enjoyable. Here's what the little reader had to say:

Why is the Sky Blue, by Sally Grindley

[What is it about] A donkey and a rabbit. Rabbit is wondering why the sky is blue and rabbit has taught something to Eeyore [sic] about ladybugs—some have more spots than others. And then rabbit knows why the sky is blue—because it was the only color left in the paint box. Only that isn't true.

[Did he like the book? Why?] Yes. I like the pictures and the story. I like the donkey and the rabbit. My favorite part is when donkey says I will only teach you if you sit still and listen. [why?] Because I like the words in that part. And I like that donkey gives him a ride home because that's a nice thing to do.

[Would you recommend this book to others?] Yes, because it's a beautiful story.

As a note, our version of this book is an older one, but I would hope they were about the same. The only part I've been able to compare is the cover, and the price, and the only reason I mention it all is because I have seen children's books change drastically over the years thanks to over-zealous editors (I Can Fly is a good example of this, when they actually edited out half the book and we had to go through an antique book dealer to get the original 40 page version). In any case, the original edition of this book is going for $70 used and I have to wonder why.

A Visit to William Blake's Inn, by Nancy Willard (our review)

This is the book that we got for Calvin for his birthday. It wasn't something we stumbled upon, but pretty much a sure fire hit; not only is this a favorite from Jon's childhood, but we already know that Calvin has a special fondness for poetry, which he and I read together many days after lunch. So we went shopping for this book and a copy of William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience on Better World Books and these were our gift to our son for his fourth birthday. They were a big hit, and I'm sure we'll talk again some day about Blake's book, but today here's Calvin's review on A Visit to William Blake's Inn, by Nancy Willard:

[In summary] it's kind of a story about animals and a boy but it's also poems. It has animals in it. It has gentle artwork pictures.

[I like the book] because I like the animals in the story and I like it because it's poems.

[My favorite part is] the King of Cats because I like the cat that's in the poem because he eats lobster and he gets full...bigger...like the moon.

Would he recommend this book to others? A resounding yes.

Groundhog at Evergreen Road, by Susan Korman (our review)

A couple of months ago I happened to spot a post on Craig's List for a nearby garage sale being held by a retiring early childhood teacher selling many of her books and other learning tools. I got there just as the sale was opening and could have spent all morning—there were boxes upon boxes of beautiful, practically new books; we came home with over 50 new books, a couple of puppets, and a small stuffed elephant, all for less than $20. Groundhog at Evergreen Road, by Susan Korman, was one of those books (you'll be seeing a lot of them in the next few months) and is a real treasure: the pictures are delightful and the story informative yet fun. We used this book Five-in-a-Row style (more on that later), so we read it at least once every day for a week focusing on a new part of the story each time: one day we read it then took a walk looking for things that made us think of the groundhog; another day we used our kitchen scale to measure out dried beans in the weight of a baby groundhog versus an adult; we colored and drew groundhogs and mapped out dens; we planned menus, we practiced new words, we talked about predators and prey. It's amazing to me the paths that one short story can set you upon.

But before I overlook it, here's Calvin's commentary on the book:

His summary of the book: "It's a book about groundhog. It's about groundhog going in his den and making a den and eating green beans. It is a pretend story but it could actually happen in real life. It is true that a hawk or a coyote would eat a groundhog like that."

He likes the book because "I like the groundhog when he scurries into his plunge hole."

He couldn't pick a favorite part because he likes the whole book and would recommend it to others "for sure."

Any final comments? "I love this book! It's my favorite book." (this week, that is).

The Korean Cinderella, by Shirley Climo (our review)

Calvin's rehash:
"It's about persons and ox and fruit. It's about Cinderella. They're mean to her. They make her do mean work. But the frog helps her fill the jug, the sparrows help her polish the rice, and the ox helps her pull out the weeds and then he eats them up. Then there's a band and then they're mad all over again. Then a man pulls out he shoe that was missing and he wants to marry her. There's a picture. They're getting married and they have a wedding."
"I love the book because I love the frog and I also love the ox."

My own thoughts? It's a fine book—the illustrations are beautiful and the writing is good. Why do I sound unenthusiastic? Really I'm not a big of most of the old fairy tales, particularly the Disney-fied ones. Cinderella is one of the books Calvin enjoys hearing again and again, and he also has the book on tape (a hold-over from his dad's childhood collection, and one that I'm certain I had, too, only on record), and at first that seemed like a grand thing. It is, after all, from the days of yore, and I tend to like vintage, eh? But the more I listen to the story, the more I am disappointed by it. Cinderella is gentle and kind and never loses her temper, and the story has a happy relatively ending, but it bothers me that she's entirely reliant on the good will of a fictional fairy godmother and an equally fictional prince charming to make it out of her oppressive life situation. Deductive moral of the story? You'd better have a fairy godmother and small feet or else you're up a creek. I'm sure I'm missing the forest for the trees—the moral of the story, after all, is that kindness is rewarded and evil loses out, right?—but something about the antiquated nature of the story line makes me cringe for girls everywhere.

That being said, I'll freely admit that I am likely over-thinking this, and I have no plans to snatch either the book or the tape out of Calvin's regular rotation. Some day we'll just have to discuss the other options that should have been available to Cinderella, like the doors opened by hard work put into a good education.