Trouble At the Dinosaur Cafe by Brian Moses, Illustrated by Garry Parsons

An angry T-Rex comes into the happy Dinosaur Cafe and decides that he wants to eat the other dinosaurs. But Terry Triceratops saves the day!! This book is hilarious and reminds me of a western shoot-out. The illustrations are amazing and your child will ask to read this book again and again. I am a firm believer that illustrations need to be just as strong as the story in picture books in order to grab and sustain your child's attention. I think this book will be good for demonstrating sequencing when the time comes for Ricky. If your child is working with Sequencing activities in pre-school or kindergarten, this story has good examples of cause/effect relationships. If your child likes dinosaurs, add this book to your list!

Goodnight Me, Goodnight You by Tony Mitton, Illustrated by Mandy Sutcliffe

I guess I'm on the bedtime book theme lately, but that's because I always end our bedtime reading with a bedtime book so I think I read these type of books more often than any other. But this book is also one that Ricky has memorized. And for that, I just have to include it in my blog. The book is written in the rhyme fashion, and it is so cute. The book shows how everyone and every thing is going to sleep. I think this is one bedtime book we will be checking out of the library several times until Ricky no longer wants bedtime stories read aloud to him.

Shhhhh!! Everybody's Sleeping by Julie Markes

The title of this book caught my eye because it is exactly what my husband tells our son every night when he tucks him in. The book shows precisely that everybody is sleeping - the librarian - among books, policeman- with his whistle, fireman - in a fire truck bed, etc. It really illustrates the point. This is one of the books Ricky asks for by name. I always end our night-time reading with a bedtime book and this is a really good one.

I Know It's Autumn by Eileen Spinelli, Illustrated by Nancy Hayashi

Besides the fact that this book is nice to read to your child when the leaves turn colors, this book is also the first picture book I have encountered that features an inter-racial couple as the mommy and daddy. The mommy is Caucasian and the father seems to be American Indian or Asian. Since my son is half Caucasian and half Filipino, I think it is neat (and I *never* use that word - it's so very 80s) that there is a book out there that features an inter-racial family.

The story is sweet and the illustrations are great too - thanks to the talents of Nancy Hayashi. Ricky is starting to memorize this book...a Fall favorite!

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague

Little Ricky loves this book because he likes dinosaurs, it has a great flow, and the illustrations are so funny. We actually own this book, but take her other great dinosaur books out of the library like How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? and How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? In terms of picture books, these books should have a place on your child's bedtime reading list at some point during the rotations before and during pre-school.

These books actually feature a different dinosaur on each page with its name clearly written somewhere in the picture. Ricky enjoys reciting the dinosaur names to me after I read each page and its so cute. His favorites so far are the T-Rex and Stegosaurus - his least favorite is Triceratops because he says he does not liked horned dinosaurs...