The Old and the New: Dick and Jane meet the Ladybug Girl!

There are so many great books to introduce to Mirette—both old and new.  We could read, read, and read some more and not even begin to cover ground!  It's pretty cool that there is so much to choose from. 

THE OLD:
In a used bookstore I found the reissue of the Storybook Treasury of Dick and Jane and Friends. I know that Dick and Jane tales are considered the quintessential boring kids' books.  I agree that it would be awful if our collection was limited to this one nuclear, white, wide-eyed family.  But given the diversity of our bookshelf, it's retro and fun to read aloud.

THE NEW:
This week, I took Mirette to storytime at the Mockingbird independent bookshop in Seattle http://www.mockingbirdbooksgl.com/.  The storyteller noticed Mirette's ladybug shoes and turned us on to Ladybug Girl!  I may be behind the times here because according to the storyteller, Ladybug Girl and her brother Bumblebee Boy are all the rage right now.  What a great discovery!

The series, developed by the husband and wife team of Jacky Davis and David Soman, is based on the life and adventures of their kids.  They do things like explore the backyard, study ants, dress up, fight the bad guys etc.  It's very cute stuff and it reminds me of Mirette's little friends trampsing around this beautiful island we live on.  

Their website has some simple kids' games on it like rock painting, dressing up Ladybug Girl, and helping her jump up and collect leaves.  The rock painting was interesting, but Mirette couldn't really do it herself.  She loved the dress-up game and thought the jumping to catch a leaf one was hilarious.  http://www.ladybuggirl.com/author.html