More on Ladybug Girl!

I've got all kinds of books to write about, but Mirette has become so attached to Ladybug Girl! that it's worthy of another posting. 

Ladybug Girl Loves. . . comes with us in the car and in the grocery.  She shows it to everyone, sings made-up songs about Ladybug Girl, and begs me to play the dress-up ladybug game on the computer.   She is hooked.  

Here is what she said in the car today: "Ladybug Girl has a tutu just like ME!"  "Ladybug Girl has a dog just like ME!"  I am getting the idea that she REALLY relates to Ladybug Girl.

Ordinarily, I'd be tearing my hair out with the same book read over and over again.  But this one, I am as equally into.  I was reading a kids' magazine the other day with Mirette and there was a piece about a girl looking around the yard.  It was cute, but ladybug girl somehow turns these simple acts into an adventure. 

This is our favorite page: "Ladybug Girl loves to go on trips with her family.  She always tries to guess where the car will take her next.  Maybe it will drive her to the moon!"

Mirette loves looking at the picture of the mommy in the car and likes the idea of visiting the moon.

I love this page because I think a lot about how kids have no control over where we take them.  I often imagine what it would be like to be in Mirette's shoes, at the parents' beck and call, never knowing exactly what adventure we are going to embark on.  I love the idea of the car doing the deciding!

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