Penelope's literary favorites

My brain has all sorts of unnecessary info. You have a question about the preamble of the constitution? I can recite it for you. You would like an impromptu delivery of Hamlet's soliloquy? Got ya covered. If you want a couple's act, Chris and I both know a lot of Macbeth quotes and scenes. I've now added some other material to my "why do I have this memorized?" repertoire:

Go Dog Go
Green Eggs and Ham (can also be performed as Huevos Verde Con Hamon if the demand is great)
The Foot Book
An entire collection of Caillou's stories
Tickle the Duck
The Cat in the Hat
Yummy Yucky

There's a big sign in our local library telling parents how important repetition is to young kids and to not get frustrated if they want the same book read over and over again. It makes sense. Every day they are learning so many new things, there's definitely comfort in reading the same book or watching the same video. It is nice for us to both recite the same books together, even if I do longingly look at the dozens of books on her shelf she refuses to add into the mix.

I really do understand the comfort it brings. The characters become a part of you. I will admit I reread the Babysitter's Club books, my abridged classics series, all the Little House on the Prairie books, and Sweet Valley High series enough times that even now I can easily recollect the characters and all the scenes. Of course as an adult I'm in the race against time to read everything on my list. Maybe I'll start rereading things at age 70?

As you notice from Penelope's list we are in a big Dr. Seuss phase. This started over a year ago. Penelope first got interested in the Dr. Seuss books because she could point to pictures in the book and then point to them on the walls in her room. Now like all other kids she loves the rhymes and the stories. Today we went to the MN zoo where they have some Dr. Seuss sculptures for the summer. Penelope got more excited for the Dr Seuss exhibit than any of the animals we saw:

Penelope with Sam I Am

Or Juan Ramon, if you are reading the Spanish version

 And can I just point out to Dr. Seuss that it is really annoying that the one other character in Green Eggs and Ham doesn't have a name? Every time we read it Penelope wants to know his name. Sometimes I ignore her question, or say he's the "Egg and Ham Hater" or once I said "He's the Everyman character, first developed in English morality plays during the middle ages. No name necessary as he is meant to be all of us. This particular character represents humans when we won't go out of our comfort zone and try something new." By the time I've explained all that she is swinging off the car bed with socks on her hands and shorts on her head. Oh, well, makes me feel like I'm using my english degree.

Oh, and one other thing, I know my grammar isn't always great on this blog, but Go Dog Go is so blatantly wrong in the way it ends the majority of the many sentences with a preposition. Drives me crazy to read "The blue dog is in, The red dog is out" The picture clearly shows a dog inside a dog house and one outside a dog house. So I say "The Blue Dog is in the house and the red dog is out of the house"

Penelope with the Lorax

We've hidden The Lorax book. I know, horrible parents. But it is crazy long and Chris and I really think Penelope chooses it as a bed time stall tactic. She'll sit in my lap for 2 pages and then be running around the room, coloring, playing with puzzles, etc. She only picks it at bedtime and doesn't notice if I skip 5 pages. In the other books if I miss one page she goes berserk. She thinks she is such a smart cookie...but we're on to her tricks!

In all seriousness, I love having a kid who loves books. We go to the library twice a week so we do get some variety, but every night we read her favorites. Hopefully I can keep her love of reading going so we can always share it together (wow...that's a really sappy sounding mom dream)