April Showers Bring May Awesomes. (April 2013 in Review)

So April was a pretty awesome month.  Mostly because of the weather.  My pasty-pale self is now becoming pasty-pale with a scattering of freckles, which must mean the sun has arrived in Upstate New York.  If only all my freckles would meld together, I would be blessed with the most luscious tan.  Ah, the life of a ginger.

Also, my lil (not so lil anymore) brother got engaged this month!  I am wicked excited for him and his fiancee (who has received the Big Sister Seal of Approval).  Let the wedding plans begin!

As per usual in my monthly recaps, I will also grace you with a photo of Sir Small Fry.  He was very serious about his outdoor play time this month:

Obviously Mother has done something for which she should feel ashamed.

Now, enough about me, onward to the book-related goodness!  Apparently the warm weather led to less reading and more outdoor time, because my reading/posting pace was a little slower.

The April 2013 Fave/Least Fave choices were difficult, and honestly, my "least" fave shouldn't be read as being a "bad" book...it's just the one I gave the lowest rating to on Goodreads (a 3-star, by the way).

March 2013 Favorite: How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
March 2013 Least Favorite: The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J Maarten Troost

In total, I read/reviewed 6 books:
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn
Found Objects by Peter Gelfan
Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson
The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne
Weelicious by Catherine McCord
The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J Maarten Troost

I also posted one new Small Fry Saturday Review of Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury.

In other book talk, I was one of the first features on Book Bloggers International, we took a trip down my college-era memory lane, and I told you all the topics that, if melted together, would create my ultimate read.

May is going to be a busy month around here--we're getting a new roof put on today, and Small Fry is getting ear tubes inserted tomorrow, so already we're off with a bang.  But May is also my engagement anniversary (awww).  And, let's not forget that Mother's Day is coming up.  YOU'RE ON NOTICE, HUSBAND.  Fine jewels and massages as far as the eye can see!  (Or at least the ability to sleep past 6am.)

Have a great month!

Small Fry Saturday #17: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury

It's time for installment #17 of Small Fry Saturdays!  This is a when-I-feel-like-it meme to showcase some of books that my 21-month-old Small Fry is currently reading.  Feel free to do a SFS post on your blog (with the graphic above) or leave a comment below about your favorite kiddie reads.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury

I received this book as a gift for one of my baby showers.  For a long time, Small Fry wasn't really interested in it--I think mostly because the illustrations are in rather muted colors, so when his book "reading" was very eye-catching-dependent, this wasn't a favorite.  However, it is now a nightly read in our house.  He's at an age where he loves pointing out his fingers and toes, AND he loves pointing at babies/kids in pictures ("bay-beeeee").  This book has PLENTY o' that, so he rightly adores it.

One of the things I like about this book is the diversity of kids that it portrays.  Basically each part talks about two kids...for example, one little baby "lives in a tent" and another little baby "born on the ice", etc.  It includes babies that are white, black, Asian, etc. and a wide variety of homes that they grow up in.  But both babies always have 10 fingers and 10 toes.  This is a nice way to incorporate visuals of diversity at a very early age.

This probably isn't a great pick for the itty-bitty newborns due to the lack of pop-off-the-page pictures, but for ages 18 months and up, this is a fun read with a nice message behind it.

What are some of your fave kid's books that illustrate diversity (in any form)?