Some Books and Some Chat

This last week turned out to be a busy one. I didn't really read at all. I actually do not feel like I accomplished much of anything. I plan to use the weekend to catch-up on a few things and hopefully get back to reading; but we will see how it goes. I have so many books that I am supposed to be reading. Some I have started, but others I haven't even picked up yet. March was going very well reading wise, too. Oh, well.

In television/movie news, we have started watching Battlestar Galactica. I have seen the mini-series and a few random episodes before, but this is going to be the first time we sit down and watch everything. We watched the mini-series last night and it starts of rather interesting. The big difference in viewing it this time is the guy has seen the older show. He was saying a few things here and there that they have changed. I just never seem to be very good at getting into shows until they are long off the air. As we are borrowing this from a friend it will be the main viewing until we finish and return it to her. We bought a Blu-Ray player, so we are watching the show in high definition. It should be a great experience.

Casey is going through an 'annoy the heck out of everyone' stage. If you want to take a bath you have to search through the house to find the plug. She has started getting up on the kitchen counter lately. The strangest aspect of her personality is that she can have a perfectly good dish of food and she will harass you endlessly like she is starving. All we do is dump the food back into the container and put fresh food in her dish. You'd swear we were starving her the way she goes to town on it. She's strange. I accidentally washed her laser pointer in the laundry and she is not all that impressed. She picks it up in her mouth and drops it at your feet, but it is currently not working and she doesn't get why no one will play with her.

On to the books... I don't have any young children of my own, so I don't generally pay a lot of attention to review copies of children's books. The other day, though, one came through my email about some board books and I got to thinking how I buy books for my friends/families children, so maybe I should start paying more attention. As a result I accepted Alice in Wonderland - A Colors Primer and Jane Eyre - A Numbers Primer by Jennifer Adams. I plan to pass them on to a friend that has a baby.

Alice in Wonderland - A Colors Primer  and Jane Eyre - A Numbers Primer by Jennifer Adams. Illustrated by Alison Oliver.

With the perennial popularity of classic writers like Lewis Carroll, Charlotte Bronte, Jane Austen, and William Shakespeare, BabyLit® is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature. With clever, simple text by Jennifer Adams, paired with stylish design and illustrations by Sugar's Alison Oliver, BabyLit® books are a must for every savvy parent's nursery library.

Let's face it. When I was offered these books I couldn't help thinking they could either be a really great idea or a really terrible one. I wasn't entirely sure how the idea would transfer into books for babies. I received the books in the mail today, though, and I immediately flipped through both of them to see just how they adapted their idea to a book that would appeal to the very young. First of all, the art is lots of fun. It is eye-catching without being overwhelming. It is obvious that a lot of fun was put into designing these books.  In the Alice edition, objects in the book are used as colors for the child. So when it says 'white rabbit' there is a picture of the white rabbit from the popular book. Then there is the Jane Eyre book that uses the book to teach a child numbers. I couldn't help thinking that it is possible that a child will have these books and then decide later in life to read the original novels. If it inspires children to later read the classics then that is wonderful. If it doesn't, though, the books are still nice on the eyes. Will they appeal to children? I can't entirely say on that aspect.

To learn more about this series you can visit the website by clicking here.