An Odd Book Question

[twins r fun]

Don't go out of your way for this one, but as you're reading your board books, can you check and see which ones have any balls pictured in them and let me know? My boys are entirely obssessed with balls-anything remotely round is a ball to them, they carry a ball everywhere, balls just make them happy! So they do finally have an interest in books (yeah!) but in large part this interest is displayed as a scavenger hunt through the pages searching for balls. They get so thrilled when they find one! So I'm looking to buy them a few more books that feature balls. They can be just part of a picture or the main focus of the page. And actually they don't have to technically be balls-Humpty Dumpty passes for a ball as does a sun in two of our books. If you can give me some titles I can order a few online as opposed to standing in Border's for hours searching throught the pages of the board books. Thanks! And yes I know this is odd criteria for book selection.

[Rachels]

LOL! We have the same thing going on here. Abigail has a security ball that she takes everywhere, even to bed. It's a hackey sack. It cracks me up. (Sigh. We're having a tough night. This is a great post. It reminds me that I like babies.)

I'll look at my books for you.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[twins r fun]

That's so funny! I just read your other post and was going to refer you here because this is what I consider a funny/cute baby story!

J&C are the same about the "security" ball, though they use it more when going out than going to bed (they've got blankies). And they aren't particular about what ball they have-any will do, but there is a hierarchy. Basketballs are best, then footballs, then tennis balls, then raquetballs. Soccer balls and general "playground" balls are always a last resort. Balls actually intended for babies are generally snubbed.

Kids and balls! True love!

[Karenn]

Nicole,
I'll share my list of ball books with you- only if you promise to share the complete list with me. :) I'm convinced I'll be needing it soon too. Balls are second only to kitty cats in our house. DK's My First Word Book, Touch and Feel has several ball shaped pictures in it, and it's a great book in general. There is a textured picture on each page which really seems to get Colin's attention. I'll check my collection for others.

[lukkykatt]

I'll keep my eye out as we're reading, but one book pops right into mind. It's an Elmo's World book, featuring ya da da da...Balls! (ok, I know I have been reduced to pre school humor) Actually, it's got the best of both worlds, balls AND flaps. Should be a hit.

[August Mom]

How cute! "How Do I Love You" by P.K. Hallinan has at least one ball, as does "Where Is Baby's Belly Button?" by Karen Katz. I'm pretty sure that "Where Is Baby's Mommy?" by Karen Katz has balls on several pages (showing items collected by the baby as he searches for Mommy around the house), but it's in the nursery so I can't check right now to be sure.

Edited to add: I correctly remembered "Where Is Baby's Mommy?" It has a ball on all but the first page. And, it even uses "ball" in a sentence.

Another one that has a ball and various other objects that might be identified as balls is "Bear at Home" by Stella Blackstone. This book takes you into all the different rooms of a house, so there are lots of opportunities to identify things.

[LisaS]

"My Presents" by Rod Campbell is a great book that has a lift-a-flap ball. Its all about a birthday party and all the presents you get: There's a bear, blocks, a ball, etc...

It is one of my DDs (16 months) favorite books and she gets so excited to name the items b/c it says "X gave me a " and you have to lift the flap to find out what it is so she gets to name it.

There's another one about animals called "Dear Zoo" by the same author which is also really cute. Its probably the most popular children's book in London. My DD loves this one even more b/c she has an obsession with Puppies - she looks through books for pictures of puppies and loves to name them...but has learned a lot of other animals along the way from this book.

I second the idea of the DK books - they have so many with balls. There's one about playtime that definitely has a ball, another one about puppies with a ball, and I'm sure there are lots more. Also the DK my first learning library has balls in all 3 of those books (first words, abc and numbers) - actually any book with ABCs probably has a ball on the "B" page.

Happy book shopping.

Lisa

[twins r fun]

Thanks for all the ideas so far. We have a couple of the touch and feel animal books (including the puppies-a huge favorite, with many balls) but I'll have to look into the other ones. Also I had no idea there was an Elmo's World book about balls!! Does this mean that there is an episode about balls too? If so, I'll have to get that on tape! Thanks for all the suggestions-I'll be book shopping in a few days and pick some of these out. Keep 'em coming of you get a chance.

[brubeck]

This one isn't a board book, but we have one called It's Not Easy Being Big (a Sesame Street book) that we got from the Grolier Children's Book Club. It's part of the intro package. There is a big section on balls in the last 10 pages or so:

Big, bigger biggest
Small, smaller, smallest
Balls on the wall

Big, bigger biggest
Small, smaller, smallest
Balls off the wall

Time to play ball!

Balls over, under, around and through.

And yes, I typed that from memory, I didn't need to go get the book to see it.... :-)

[atlbaby]

Nicole,
I was going to suggest DK's My First Word Touch and Feel book too. It's one of Arielle's favorites, and since 'baaahhh's are big around here too I can certainly vouch for there being many inside. In that same series there's My First Word Lift the Flap book and I belive there are many balls there too--or circles, they serve the same purpose for us.:) That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I'll look through our "library":) and see what else I can find.

Arielle sleeps with Bally, a soft softball/rattle from Carters that MIL got her when she was 1 month old every night. It was the first thing she crawled to also!

edited to add: I was thinking...If the boys like searching for balls, another good book might be Karen Katz's "Where is Baby's Mommy?" It's a lift the flap book and different toys are hidding under household objects (and mommy is under the blanket). A ball is hiding under a plant, and then on each subsequent page it is somewhere too (with the rest of the things baby has found).

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2EDD 10/24/03-Another Girl!:)

[alleyoop]

In 'Ten Wishing Stars' (by Dillard) one of the sheep wishes for juggling balls. The book has glow-in-the-dark stars, too! I am a sucker for glow-in-the-dark.

[Andrews Mom]

You can also try "Olivia Counts" in the Olivia the pig series. It's not really about balls but there are some balls on the "Nine toys" page. My son loves to help count everything but he especially loves pointing to each of the balls on that page.