Friday, May 23, 2008

Georg Hallensleben

My favorite illustrator is Georg Hallensleben.  I bought two of his books, Mommy Hugs and Daddy Kisses, before the arrival of the WB, and they are gorgeous.  

They are board books and each page shows a mommy or daddy animal hugging or kissing his or her baby animal.  The illustrations are gorgeous and allows for wonderful interaction as you can hug or kiss your WB.  Reading them has become a lovely bedtime ritual, which allows me to hug and kiss WB to my heart's content right before I put her down for the night.

I have also purchased Mommy Loves, which has the same wonderful illustrations and text, but also includes counting as each page has one more baby animal than the previous page.  It is a small addition and doesn't take away from the illustrations or the story, but adds a little something.  I'm planning on buying the fourth book in the four-book series, Daddy Cuddles, for my wonderful husband for his first Father's Day.  

I then checked out Close Your Eyes from the library.  It is a wonderful book.  The story is about a baby tiger, whose mother wants him to go to sleep, but he wants to stay awake and see everything around him.  His mother keeps reassuring him that if he closes his eyes, he can see even better things.  He confesses that he is scared, but his mother promises him that she will be there.  Ultimately, he goes to sleep curled up with his mother.  It is a lovely store and encourages dreaming.  And the illustrations are breathtaking.  I highly recommend it.

I note that Mommy Hugs, Mommy Loves, and Daddy Kisses are written by Anne Gutman and Close Your Eyes is written by Kate Banks, and all the texts are wonderful.  

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