Kangaroo and Cricket

My daughters, ages 4 and 2.5, are big fans of the books written by Lorianne Siomades. The bright colors are eye catching, the text featuring large font is easy to read. As a parent I am constantly searching for books that are not only fun to read but educational as well. This book packs in a lot in 32 pages. I can teach my girls the similarities between familiar animals, such as "Dog and squirrel...both bury things." I can introduce animals that are not so familiar, such as a badger and dragonfly. I can encourage my girls to find the wriggly worm on each page. AND - as an added bonus- the author has "hidden" another worm somewhere on the page (hint: look for the eyes). My girls are thrilled when they find those! Definitely recommended reading!

Our 19 month old daughter has two of Siomades' books - this one and "My Box of Color." Undeniably, among all of the books we've gotten her, and she must have 100 by now, these two are her very favorites. Tell her to choose some books to read, and invariably she will come back toting these two. She will want us to read them to her not once, not twice, but over and over again. Often I will find her even leafing through the pages, engaged by their contents, all on her own. Try to interest her in another book, and very often she'll toss it aside and reach for "Kangaroo and Cricket" one more time!Although we also think they're darling, my husband and I have tried to guess at their great allure through a child's eyes - whether it's the brightly colored illustrations, the rhyming and rythmic text, or possibly the signature little worms on each and every page (some a challenge to find), which at every reading, our daughter takes great pleasure pointing out to us with squeals of delight as she shows us every one. Whatever the reason, the two books have become a joyous daily ritual of interaction with our daughter, one that never fails to derive many smiles from all three of us at every reading. These are among the moments spent together that we all look forward to the most. This is clearly a toddler's choice for the perfect book. A good choice, in our opinion, as the lesson it teaches is that we all have something in common, regardless of our differences. As a parent, we live for such things that delight and tickle our children. I would highly recommend this book, and we intend to seek out other books by Siomades as well in order to expand our daughter's "oh so very favorite" part of her library!