Grand-Baby #2 Update...

My daughter and I have been reading Olivier Dunrea's cute book, Ollie, to my grandson since before Easter, in anticipation of the birth of "Baby Brother".

Like Ollie, Baby Brother has been waiting until he is ready.

And like Gossie and Gertie, we've been waiting......and waiting.

And yesterday, Baby Brother finally arrived!!!!  Safe and sound!

Mommy, Daddy, and Baby are doing well.  

Big Brother is beyond excited and learning to be gentle. 

 

And Grandma and Grandpa are proud, thankful, and...relieved!

Book Themed Easter Baskets (They're Sugar Free!)

You can have fun playing Easter Bunny this year - with books!

Somebunny loves you!

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For babies and toddlers, I love all these cute combinations with board books for your child's Easter basket from A Lovely Lark...

 Ollie, by Olivier Dunrea

 The Tiny Seed, Eric Carle

Pat the Bunny, Dorothy Kunhardt

And this, from You Are My Fave would be perfect for a preschooler...

Gossie, Olivia Dunrea

How about these fun little pom-pom chicks?  Hide them in plastic eggs and pair them with a couple of cute Coco books...

Coco, Sloane Tanen/Stefan Hagen

For ages 4-8, one of my favorite Easter books is Patricia Polacco's Rechenka's Eggs.  You can read about it in my past post, "Why Eggs for Easter", here.

Wouldn't it be adorable in a basket with these unique tin eggs from My Sweet Muffin?

And they'd look so cute on an Easter Egg tree! (Go here for my past post.)

Looking for more ideas for 4-8 year olds? In case you missed it, yesterday's post had several more book recommendations for Spring and Easter reading, here. 

I think it's such a great idea to pair books with other non-candy items like chalk, play dough, bubbles, crayons, stuffed animals, stickers, stamps, and garden or beach toys. 

Of course, food items such as goldfish crackers and Laughing Cow Mini Babybel cheeses are fun treats too, that can be tucked into plastic eggs...along with maybe just a few jelly beans and chocolate eggs? (More about eggs in my next post!)

SIX GEESE A-LAYING for New Year's Eve!

Tomorrow is the start of a New Year! In Greece, Christmas gifts are exchanged on January 1st, St. Basil's Day.  Basil is one of the four Fathers of the Greek Church (Basil, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa are collectively referred to as the "Cappadocian Fathers").  Tradition holds that St. Basil is supposed to visit all Greek homes on the first day of the year, bearing gifts and toys. Vasilopita, "Sweet Bread of Basil" is prepared and a coin is baked into the ingredients. The person who gets a slice that contains the coin is considered blessed for the New Year. (recipe HERE)

Back to the Sixth Day of Christmas:  Today - geese. (Tomorrow - swans!)  You can click here to read my past post about Mother Goose books, but I'm really excited to share six "Gossie" books with you!

"Gossie is a gosling.  A small, yellow gosling who likes to wear bright red boots.  Every day."

These simple, sweet board books are perfect for preschoolers.  Gossie, Gertie, Ollie, Peedie, and BooBoo will help your child learn about friendship, siblings, and sharing.

I've enjoyed perusing author/illustrator Olivier Dunrea's website.  He lives in a tiny remote village on the western edge of the Catskills Mountains on the Upper Delaware River. The house he lives and works in is called "Henwoodie" - the Henhouse. Henwoodie is a large Arts & Crafts style house surrounded by an acre of gardens, lawns, and terraces.

He says about his Gossie books:  "Gossie & Friends began in 2001 with sketches of goslings while I was staring out the studio window watching Canada geese fly overhead, honking loudly. A pair of red rubber toy boots sat on my bookshelf for some strange reason. As I sketched goslings I started drawing them wearing red rubber boots. And that is how the idea for Gossie and her "bright red boots" came to life."

Gossie


Gossie and Gertie


Ollie


Ollie the Stomper



Peedie


BooBoo


[this blog reposted from December, 2010]