Pete's a Pizza

Pete's a Pizza by William Steig
1998

     Pete was in a really bad mood because, just when he was ready to go outside to play with his friends, it started to rain.  His father, noticing that Pete looked miserable, "thinks it might cheer Pete up to be made into a pizza."  Pete's father lays him down on the kitchen table and starts pretending that he's pizza dough, kneading him, stretching him, and even tossing him up in the air.  The game continues until the pizza has all the toppings (with a tickled session in between steps) and it's placed in the oven (the couch). "It's time to slice our pizza," said Pete's father. "But the pizza runs away," and as his parents capture him and hug him, Pete sees that the sun has come out so he can go outside and play.
     This entertaining story about pretending to be pizza dough is based on a game that William Steig used to play with his younger daughter.  I'll guarantee you that once you read it out loud at home, you'll be asked to play it as well.  The illustrations are simple with ink and watercolors over a white background which pair perfectly with the text.  Pete's a Pizza is also published as a board book, so you can share it with the youngest ones at home.  A fun game/tale by the amazing Steig.
  

A Color of His Own

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
1975

     I grew up reading Leo Lionni books and getting lost in his beautiful illustrations.  I had Frederick and Alexander and the Wind-up Mouse at home, but I hadn't read A Color of His Own until my son got it as a gift when he was a baby.
     All animals have a color of their own: "elephants are gray", "pigs are pink", "parrots are green"...all but the chameleon who changes colors all the time.  And he doesn't like it anymore, he wants A Color of His Own.  He decides to stay on a leaf so that he can be green forever.  The problem is that as the season change, the leaf changes color and with it, so does the chameleon.  Sad and "black in the long winter night" chameleon waited alone.  When spring came he found another chameleon and told him his "sad story": "Won't we ever have a color of our own?"  The other chameleon, who was older and wiser, explained that they will never have a color of their own, but it they stayed together, they will change at the same time and always share their special colors. And so they lived happily ever after.
     A Color of His Own is a sweet story of friendship and companionship.  It's a nice way of introducing colors and seasons to the youngest ones at home, so I highly recommend the boar book edition.
   

Blue Hat, Green Hat

Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton
1984

     I was talking to a good friend today and she asked if I had included any board books in my blog.  I realized that, after months of blogging, I had failed to include a single board book so I'm doing it today.  Blue Hat, Green Hat was one of my son's favorite board books.  He's four now, and still gets a kick out of it.  An elephant, a moose, a bear, and a turkey are getting dressed. Somehow though, the turkey always manages to mess it up.  The elephant puts on a blue hat, the moose a green hat, and the bear a red hat, but the turkey puts the hat on his feet. The text is simple since much of the story is told through the illustrations: "red shirt, blue shirt, yellow shirt, oops."  The oops is always the turkey (who in this case tried to wear the shirt as pants).  The repetition reinforces the knowledge of colors and clothing and kids memorize it quickly and will start reading it aloud to you soon.  By the way,  we have every Boynton board book at home, and we go back to them all the time...my four year old now "reads" them to his younger sister.