Leslie Patricelli Kid Books

As a mom, there are some classic books you turn to and immediately add to your child's bookshelves, knowing they will be loved and read many times over in the years to come. Well, get ready to make a little more room.

Leslie Patricelli is an author/illustrator that has just released a set of children's books that are sure to make some of the top spots on bookcases around the world. Her lovely, yet simple illustrations lend creativity to her simply story lines, and offer great backgrounds for letting you or your child improvise new story lines and new fun!

I was able to read "Higher! Higher!"-a story about a little girl getting pushed in a swing by her daddy-with my toddler, and he fell in love with it. The story is simple-the little girl keeps asking to go higher and higher; however, the expressive illustrations offer the real story. She went higher than a building, a giraffe, and finally met an alien boy getting pushed higher and higher in HIS swing!! My toddler loved to answer us when we asked, "What is she going higher than?" And he loved pointing out all the items in the scenery she was flying over! The story was also simple enough that he has it memorized, even though he is only now getting to the point of recognizing his letters. Little Dude feels so special for "reading" the story to us sometimes too! "Higher! Higher!" is a book I highly recommend to the parents of any toddler. What I loved: Everything. What I didn't love: Nothing.

Leslie also has a group of board books targeted towards infants, and I got the "Baby Happy Baby Sad" one. This book also has the same fun and creative illustrations, and the simple story line also lends itself to imaginative expanding to the simple story. Geared to teach the simple concepts of happy and sad, the book was fairly effective, though honestly my 9 month old, JR, was not terribly taken with the book. I think perhaps the images could have been a little more clear, perhaps of real babies instead of a drawing, or perhaps a bit more of a story to go with the drawings, instead of just repeating "baby happy, baby sad" on each page with an extemely simple image explaining each. Overall I thought the book was cute, but I do wish there had been a little more story to go along with the images, or vice versa. What I loved: The size of the book; perfect for my son's little hands and sturdy enough to take a beating and still look great. What I didn't love: Wish there had been a little more story along with the word repetition.

Overall, I think "Higher! Higher!" will be an instant classic for many children, and a very special story for a father to share with a daugther, since the characters are a father with his daughter. I will be checking out more of Leslie Patricelli's children's books and adding them to my children's library for sure! I hope you all enjoy them as much as we did.