What's Basbusa reading?

The books in this week's review are ones which Basbusa really liked when she was two or two-and-a-half, and still likes going back to every so often even now (at 3-and-a-quarter). I think she sees them as "light relief" from the picture books she mainly reads these days, with their more complicated plots and vocabulary. I hadn't really noticed how her taste has changed lately, until I came across these titles on my giant still-to-be-blogged-about list, and found myself thinking, "oh, but those are 'little-kid' books..."

Oh, A-Hunting We Will Go takes the old childhood rhyme ("A-hunting we will go, a-hunting we will go, we'll catch a fox and put him in a box, and then we'll let him go!") and adds a bunch of equally silly new verses (for example, we'll catch a snake and put him in a cake; we'll catch a brontosaurus and put him in a chorus...). I can't say I was wild about it myself, but Basbusa found it hilarious :) And she loved being able to use the rhyme to predict what would happen to each animal. We're definitely not talking classic children's literature here, but Basbusa did enjoy it.

No More Blanket for Lambkin was on our library's display shelf for weeks and I never even glanced through it, having assumed that it was some book aimed at helping kids learn to give up their blankies. In the end, Basbusa went and got it, and it turned out to be much better than I had thought. In the course of a playdate for Lambkin and Ducky, Ducky manages to detatch Lambkin from his blanket for long enough to throw it in the sink along with all the doll-clothes they are washing. Lambkin goes along with this plan very reluctantly at first, but then is beguiled by the fun of splashing and bubbles - until it turns out that her beloved blanket now has holes in it!! Oh no!! But Ducky comes up with a cute idea to put things right again. A nice, light read with a straightforward plot.

So Many Bunnies is "A Bedtime ABC and Counting Book." With so much ground to cover, you'd think it would surely be a dry and ugly set of flashcards in disguise, right? But no, it's actually sweet and quite a fun read! "Old Mother Rabbit lived in a shoe./ She had 26 children and knew what to do: / She gave them some carrots, some broth and some bread, / she kissed them all gently and put them to bed." And from there on, the text goes through all the odd places her children sleep. "1 was named Abel, he slept on the table. 2 was named Blair, she slept on a chair." And so forth, on through the alphabet. Basbusa's favorite is Mandy, number 13, who "slept in the candy" :) And after Mother Rabbit has finally gotten them all tucked up and gone to bed herself... all 26 bunnies arrive to snuggle up beside her in her bed. Very pretty illustrations with lots of detail and plenty to talk about.

Rockabye Farm is the story of a farmer who lovingly rocks each animal to sleep before rocking himself to sleep in his rocking chair at the end of the book. That's pretty much it, in terms of plot, but Basbusa liked the illustrations. It's not so hard to rock a chicken, but by the time he's rocking cows and horses, the cheery farmer has to go get his tractor or his hay-cart. It looks like this version is out of print, though, and the new, boardbook version doesn't get such good reviews on Amazon, though, just so you know.

Linking up with What My Child is Reading.