Good Night, Gorilla

I have to take a minute to post about this book. I am so so so so happy to finally have our own copy. It's one I've wanted since J was born but somehow always forget to grab whenever we buy books.

Last week when our power was out, we spent Monday morning at Barnes & Noble. They had everything we needed that morning: coffee, blueberry scones, and lots and lots of books! J had so much fun--I think it was the longest he's ever been happy in a store!

So, Good Night, Gorilla was one of the books we bought, particularly because they had the oversize board book version as opposed to the small one. With illustrations as detailed and attractive as these, the small board book just doesn't cut it! After lunch we read the book with J and when I finished he picked it up and walked over to Nina, handed it to her and said, "Read." When she finished, he walked it back over to me and commanded me to read it again as well. He really is enthralled by it. It's taught him some new vocabulary words (hyena, flashlight, armadillo, and 'ooo-paper', which is J's way of saying zookeeper).

On top of being just a really fun book to read together, Good Night, Gorilla is also a culmination of all sorts of pre-reading skills. It forces parents to make reading a conversation, using dialogic reading; it expands children's vocabulary; and reinforces the idea that the pictures of a book tell a story. By talking through the story and asking questions as we read, we are giving J the skills he'll eventually need to read a story, grasp the sequence of events, and be able to retell it. Amazing!