Dive In!

We are officially in summer, in case anyone missed it, so now is the time to really dive into some summer books!  I've been searching for something new for PDub to read, and now I am adding Baby Bird's new book to the search, too.  I don't know why summer has such the reputation for reading, except I guess, that people take vacations and find more time for reading.  Gotta tell you, though, that children need to be immersed in books all year.  You heard it from Grammy.  Books are always a great investment for your children. Never feel guilty about buying them.

So, on to the selections...

For PDub, I picked Jonathan and the Big Blue Boat, by Philip Stead.
I was drawn first to the illustrations.  Having illustrators in the family, I can not help but be a fan of the illustrator's work.  This is a beautiful book with no accidental details.  Look closely and appreciate the story told through the drawings and the use of color.  Secondly, the story is one of a little boy who has lost his beloved teddy bear.  He sets sail to find him and picks up a rag tag crew along the way.  There is adventure and triumph and will spark PDub's imagination.  Last, there are lessons of shape, size, and colors that will continue to help him learn new concepts.  So let's set sail with this one for PDub's beach book this summer.

Now Baby Bird needs books, too, so I am going with a board book favorite of mine, Karen Katz's
Where is Baby's Beach Ball?  Much like Where is Baby's Belly Button, this is a lift the flap book that I think Baby Bird will enjoy for easily his first year.  I have a feeling that PDub may sit and help read this one to him while they are at the beach together. 

For Grammy, I have selected What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty.  In this story, Alice wakes up to find the last ten years gone from her memory after an accident. What if you woke up with the last 10 years of your life erased from your memory? What has changed in that time? How has your family changed? Your friendships? Your living arrangements? Your personality and appearance? Those are questions I am sure I will be wondering as I read what will be a different kind of beach book for me this year. 

And speaking of diving in, I have done that with my mother's estate and have begun to shift through at least 30 years of collecting various antiques, collectibles, and trinkets.  I started with some of her jewelry.  What a blast to the past as I sorted through 30 years of earring collections.  It was a wonderful few days of recollecting both those times and my mother's takes of the events during the 70's, 80's, and 90's.  There is much more to do, and it can seem overwhelming, but the material things remind me of the priceless treasures she gave us all.  My sister said, "We know that everything in the home is meaningful, as my mother wouldn’t have gotten anything without it having some particular significance. She would never have placed anything in her home without great thought and intention."  We honor her in how we now give her things new homes. I just have to remember to come up for air.

~Stay afloat~