Play with Me

We are now in month 3 of being parents. The eat, sleep, poop routine has added play into its rotation. We try the dreaded tummy time (if there is one thing I am successful at in parenting, it is failing to do tummy time), lots of kicking and giggling, and reading fun new books. Oscar is killing it on the reading front. He finished Charlotte's Web and is still making his way through The Graveyard Book with Jason. We've devoured all the board books and so now we have moved on to collecting library books.

Mas, once again, has gifted me a new author to love. She sent a picture of a book by Silvia Borando. I proceeded to check out every single book the Boston Public Library had by Borando. She is a new favorite!

Borondo is a member of an Italian children's book publishing house called minibombo. According to its website, minibombo is...

dedicated to creating innovative and interactive picture books for little children and the grown-ups who read along with them. minibombo use very simple shapes to create playful picture book experiences, so that even the youngest of readers can recreate their favourite minibombo characters.

Boy do they nail it! I was laughing along with every book! The ideas are fresh, creative, and simple. Oscar loved the use of color and thick black lines. If you are looking for a new favorite author, check out Silvia's books!

Another thing I love about her books is their shape. I don't know why but their shape, and the way they stack, feels good in my hands. It almost reminds me of Dr. Seuss books.

Shout out to Candlewick Press for taking on this Italian publisher!

The Cat Book

The first, and smallest, book of the crew is The Cat Book. In this book, the cat is yours. You choose a name and then you get to help take care of it! No fourth wall in this book. Oscar is still working on his fine motor skills so I had to help him pet the cat and squish the fleas. Side note, for those of you who love dogs and hamsters, there are versions with those pets. Our library just didn't have them available.

We called ours Mickey.

After a recent battle with fleas at our home,
this page made me giggle...and shiver. 

Squish those fleas!

Now You see Me, Now You Don't

Many of Borando's books are wordless. I love how this makes your brain work. On the first page of this book we see a group of animals. When we turn the page, the background changes color...and it is our job to figure out who disappeared. 

Take note, these animals disappear!

Can you spot the missing animals?

Near, Far

This is the book Mas sent me a picture of that started my rabbit's hole into Silvia Borando land. It reminds me of another one of my favorites, Zoom. Near, Far is another wordless book. We are presented with a zoomed in part of an animal's body and we get to guess what it is!

 

Close...

Farther out...

Alligator! Did you guess it?

Open Up, Please!
I think this was my favorite of all the books. Nearly wordless, you are invited to open up each cage. Silvia loves to play with more than just the pages of the book. In this case, the book starts with the title. The first page picks up from there when you do open up, as the title suggests, and the first animal says please. But what about that cardboard box at the end...

Interactive books...amazing

I was dying at every single "Thanks." in this book.
I mean, they said please, so it only makes sense. 

Wait a second...that's not a cage. That's a box...

Ruh-roh. What's going to happen next???

The White Book
As I mentioned above, Borando loves to play with the space in her books, not just the regular pages. I love her little paintbrush on the front title page. And I love the title page on the back of the cover. This book shows what happens when a boy chooses paint to color each page. Some amazing things appear and leap to life!

Shapes, Reshape!
If there was only one book I could get for my classroom, this would be it. There is mystery, there is counting, there is organizing and classifying. This book has it all! Your job, as the reader, is to look at the stacks of paper bits all neatly organized by shape and color, and determine what the author created out of those shapes! What could be more fun!

Black Cat, White Cat
This book was Oscar's favorite. Mostly because black and white things are his favorite. The story of two cats, living two lives, who get a chance to meet and try something new!

Shake the Tree

Silvia plays with the structure of the book again in Shake the Tree. Sometimes you read the book vertically, sometimes you read it horizontally, sometimes you shake it...well, I did at least. A little mouse sees a nut in a tree that she thinks looks yummy. But when she shakes the tree, a fox falls down instead! Another patterned book, this will surely invite a lot of shaking and laughter in your home!

So that's it! There is one more book that we haven't picked up yet so perhaps I'll write a follow up. Let me know if you check any of these books out! Enjoy!