Come 1, Come All! It's a Birthday Giveaway...

I'm celebrating! Our grandson Peter just turned 1, and his creative Mommy hosted a cute circus-themed birthday party in our backyard. (Giveaway details coming...)

Dumbo is one of my daughter's favorite Disney films (can you watch the "Baby Mine" scene without crying? Alison Krauss has a beautiful rendition, here).  

Elephants and circus images grace Peter's nursery - so I wasn't surprised when his Mommy chose a circus theme!

And I found three unique circus books - two feature elephants - for Baby Peter that I'm excited to share with you...(Giveaway details at the end of this post.)

One book for NOW...
Of course, when I saw this cloth book of Dr. Seuss's Circus McGurkus 1-2-3 (based on If I Ran the Circus - a family favorite), I knew I had to get it!  [for 1-2 year olds]

It's fun and interactive, with a rattle on the page about the "Drum-Tummied Snumm" drumming away on his tumm-tumm. (Peter's favorite page.)  Stupendous! 

One book for SOON...
A new find,  The Secret Circus [ages 2-6], by Johanna Wright, is simply adorable!   I was immediately taken in by the quiet opening sentence: 

Somewhere, deep in the city of Paris, there is a circus that is so small, and so secret only the mice know how to find it... 

(Read this book in a whisper!)

One book for LATER...
Here is an incredible story that Peter will enjoy when he's a little bit older: The World's Greatest Elephant [ages 6 and up], by Ralph Helfer, based on the true story of an elephant and a boy born on the same day in a small town in Germany.  They grew up side by side in the circus (the boy's father was the elephant trainer).

I discovered this poignant book a couple of years ago on Anita Silvey's informative Book-a-Day Almanac website - you can read her post here.  The illustrations by Ted Lewin are gorgeous. 

AND NOW, INTRODUCING THE BIRTHDAY BOY! (and a surprise...)

Baby Peter and his Mommy.

(I think Peter is going to love all his new books...but right now, he'd rather play with his birthday balloons!)

Leave a comment and Peter might just share with you!

• He'll help me choose 1 lucky winner...  
• Which book will he be sharing?  The Secret Circus    
• You can enter two ways: here on my post with a comment, and/or by leaving a comment on my Good Books Facebook page link to this post.
• Giveaway ends Friday, October 18, 2013 at midnight, PST.   
• Winner announced on Saturday, October 19, 2013.

Celebrate Baby Peter's Un-Birth-Day With Us!

Last night my daughter, her husband, and I celebrated what marked her 34th week of pregnancy and my unborn grandson Peter's Un-Birth-Day.

The doctor said if my daughter reached 34 weeks without going into labor, we could throw a party.  You see, Baby Peter's expected birth date isn't until October 13th, and we are thrilled that he is staying put; my daughter has been on full bed rest for about six weeks.

In honor of this auspicious occasion, I took my daughter a custard fruit tart, topped with "34" (aren't the candles cute??), as well as some very delicious Vanilla Rooibos Chai Tea (caffeine-free, for no contractions!).

Baby Peter got a little blue sleeper with elephants, that says "I ♥ Mommy", along with the book, Letters to Anyone and Everyone.  Someday I know Peter will love this book, written by Dutch author Toon Tellegen, with whimsical illustrations by Jessica Ahlberg (daughter of Allan and Janet Ahlberg).

I'm taking advantage of yesterday's event to blog about this adorable book, since my posts have been few and far between lately - I've been busy helping my girl!!

Letters to Anyone and Everyone is basically a collection of letters written back and forth between all the animals in the forest - think Winnie the Pooh meets The Jolly Postman (yes, those Ahlbergs again).  My daughter loves elephants (did you spot Dumbo up there?), and I thought this cute little collection of stories was just right.

The first two letters in the story are between Elephant and Snail.  They are discussing dancing.  Since that's what Baby Peter does in his mother's womb all day, I thought it appropriate to highlight...

Of course, this post wouldn't be complete without a letter from me to my grandson:

Dear Baby Peter, 

Thank you for staying put these last few weeks - if you could wait until at least week 37 to show up, that would be even better! Who knows, maybe you'll even get to 40?!!

I'm so proud of your Mommy and Daddy, and how hard they are working to get everything ready for your arrival (it's a good thing Mommy can use her computer and make phone calls from the couch!)  

We can hardly wait to meet you and see you dance (especially me and your other Grandma, but the Grandpas and your parents are pretty excited too).  I hope you like this song.

Your grandma

BABAR AND OTHER ELEPHANTS

Our youngest son, Jonathan, went through a period from about ages 3 to 6 when he was completely fascinated and obsessed with elephants.  I think it was Colonel Hathi's Marching Song from  DISNEY'S JUNGLE BOOK movie that started the whole thing.  Jonathan had stuffed elephant toys and little plastic figurines. Every time we went to the library, he had to pick out an "elephant book".  For his fifth birthday, we even went to our local zoo where he could actually ride on the back of an elephant with his friends!

From Babar to DUMBO, elephants have long interested children. When Jonathan was in his "elephant stage", we learned about the differences between Asiatic and African breeds:  Among other things, African elephants have huge ears, very wrinkled skin, and no humps or dents on their heads.  Asiatic elephants have smaller ears, smoother skin, and humped structures on the tops of their heads, with dents on their foreheads.  We learned all this from visits to the zoo and Jonny's library books!  Here are some that were his favorites:

BUT NO ELEPHANTS by Jerry Smath. Endearing picture book about Grandma "Tildy", who loves all animals, "but NO elephants".  A salesman comes and sells her a bunch of pets, but she won't take the elephant.  After seeing him left out and all alone in the snow, she finally lets him inside and becomes very angry because the elephant eats all their food! In the end, he takes Grandma Tildy and the other pets to a "warm and sunny place".  (Or as 3-year-old Jonny used to say, "Gwamma Tiewdy went to a wom and sunny pwace".)

POLITE ELEPHANT by Richard Scarry.  "Everyone likes a polite elephant".

LITTLE GRAY ONE by Jan Wahl (illustrations by Frane Lessac)  This beautiful picture book, with bright folk-art-like gouaches, is about a day in the life of a Mother African Elephant and her "Little Gray One".  Your child will learn with the little elephant how elephants pick fruit, take a bath, stay cool from the sun, and relieve an itch.  Very soothing text, but exciting, vibrant illustrations.

ELEPHANTS: A BOOK FOR CHILDREN, by Steve Bloom.  Facts and beautiful photographs of elephants.  Any elephant-obsessed child would love this book!

THE SAGGY BAGGY ELEPHANT (Little Golden Book) by K. Jackson and B. Jackson (illustrations by Gustaf Tenggren)  The Saggy Baggy Elephant learns that there is beauty in differences. You just have to see them in other creatures. When he learns that he looks like an elephant, and dances his way into the jungle, being saggy and baggy isn't a problem anymore.

UNCLE ELEPHANT by Arnold Lobel. While his mother and father are away, a little elephant goes to visit his uncle. And what a time they have! Uncle Elephant makes wishes come true, tells amazing stories, and trumpets the dawn. The visit is perfect, except for one thing:  it ends much too soon.

HORTON HEARS A WHO by Dr. Suess (Past blog post)

THE STORY OF BABAR by Jean De Brunhoff.  "If you love elephants, you will love Babar and Celeste," writes A. A. Milne in his preface to "The Story of Babar". "And if you have never loved elephants, you will love them now."
The first adventures of the enduring, endearing elephant, Babar, was written in 1931 by French writer Jean de Brunhoff (1899-1937). Since then, it has been translated into at least 12 languages. Some pretty amazing things happen to this little elephant in the course of his first book: Babar loses his mother to a hunter, wanders into the city, gets a new wardrobe, becomes the hit of high society, marries his cousin Céleste (totally acceptable in contemporary Elephantine society), and is crowned King of the Elephants.  There's a whole series of these great stories!

THE JUNGLE BOOK by Rudyard Kipling.  Your children will love the stories of Mowgli, Rikki Tikki Tavi and more. (ages 8 and up)