Urgent post because OMG. This Melissa & Doug puffy sticker set is the best $5 I’ve spent in a long, long while. I whipped it out while on our flight down to Florida and she was ecstatic. It kept her busy for nearly half (!!!) of the three-hour flight and then for multiple hours every day since. Yes, multiple hours every day since. In the words of Jonathan Van Ness: can you believe?! (N.B.: The set is technically for children three and older as it includes small puffy stickers, but, while supervised, it gave me no pause. She doesn’t put things in her mouth anymore, but I’d keep an eye on your child just to make sure.) I already added this one to my cart as a gift for her upcoming second birthday.
Other hits on the trip: this Minnie Play-Doh set, this Doodle Pro (she loves loves love this and though she could not at first figure out how to erase the board on her own, she’s since learned and will draw on this for long stretches of time), this coloring book (she adores Woody and all the Toy Story movies, and Mr. Magpie and I actually just decided to have micro’s gift to her be this talking Woody doll! She’s going to FLIP!), and Hop on Pop. I’d not given her any Dr. Seuss books, primarily because I did not grow up with his work, and Mr. Magpie one day asked, “Why no Seuss?!” My mother — perhaps idiosyncratically — felt that Dr. Seuss books were confusing to little children because, while inventive, they tend to include jibberish words, and children are already hard enough at work in learning English. I don’t pretend to understand the nuances of this and don’t mean to put it down as fact, but that was her reasoning and I’ve inherited it. Mini loved Hop on Pop though, and I appreciate the book’s emphasis on prepositions! (More of our favorite books here. I should probably update this now that she’s nearly two. Three of her current favorites are Madeline, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and Drum Dream Girl. I’m consistently astounded by how patient she is in sitting through increasingly long books! Drum Dream Girl is a fantastic girl empowerment book with poetic, lyrical language, and I like that a few of the pages force you to turn the book sideways. All kinds of cool disruptions in that book! I have a bone to pick with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, though. I’m probably taking this way too seriously, but isn’t the message annoying? Like, if someone asks for something, they’ll probably take advantage of you? A bit bleak if you ask me.)
P.S. If you fell in love with the Philip Starck ghost chair we bought for mini for her birthday, GUESS WHAT. I found it on sale for $103 here! Hurry, hurry! Also available in clear for $126. Trust me — those are the best prices you will find online for these chairs. I searched high and low.
P.P.S. This is me, this is not me.
P.P.P.S. More discoveries for minis.
Just wanted to chime in to say we’ve been super into Mo Willems books in our house lately–Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, and Nanette’s Baguette (the latter of which has a Seuss-like quality, without the made-up words!) They’re cute and clever, so I don’t really mind reading them over and over. Also, agreed that those puffy M&D stickers are the BEST! =)
Thank you!! I need to buy some of those! I’ve heard so much about them! xo
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is my least favorite kids book! Blergh. I dread reading it. Not only is the message uninspiring, the plot is basically nonexistent. I was relieved when Knuffle Bunny Too supplanted the Mouse as favorite bedtime read.
I’ve joined a local parents group that helps white parents talk to their kids about race by introducing diverse children’s books, and Drum Dream Girl was a recommendation we just recently borrowed! My girls (ages 4 and 6) also love it. For the going-on-two crowd, I have to recommend Please, Baby, Please. My 4-year-old still delights in it, but it was an every-night read from age 2-3.
(Sidenote I’m not a fan of Dr. Suess because I agree with your mom and after reading recent articles about the implicit racism in illustrations and messages, I’ve crossed him off our list, although we do have a copy of Hop on Pop and my younger daughter finds it satisfying because she can read—or “read”—most of it. So I don’t think Mini is missing out on anything!) There are so many wonderful books out there. I could blab about children’s books all day. So fun!
Thanks for the recs! Had not heard of either of the two you mentioned.
Interesting note on Dr. Seuss, too — I guess my mom is not alone!
xx
The Melissa and Doug puffy sticker sets are the best! We included sets in our kids’ Christmas stockings this year. We bring them along for every long car ride, and they love using them at home too… and then sometimes I find tiny stickers stuck to the dog, ha ha!
HAHA – yes, we find them stuck to the bottom of our socks/the side of our pajamas all the time, too 🙂 SUCH a good buy!
Yes! My 5 year old and even 8 year old loved it!
SO GOOD!