Our Personal Penguin

Fiona and Nora occasionally go visit a friend while I facilitate a program for the library. It's a great way to maintain my skills, and also to keep in touch with both my professional community and the public. And, let's face it, some grownup time is a nice change of pace even if there are more kids than grownups at any program I offer.

Anyway, while at our friend Janet's house, Nora discovered Sandra Boynton's newest board book entitled Your Personal Penguin. Janet told me that Nora fell in love with it, and estimated that she had read it aloud to Nora at least eight times during the short period of time that I was away. And while I doubted that Nora actually sat still for eight times through of ANY given thing, I was pleased for the heads-up about a new book for Nora to love.

Later, while poking around at Target with Ian, we spied the book, and I suggested we pick it up for our littlest charge. If something is that much fun, it needs to be available at all times! We buy a lot fewer books than we used to since both becoming professional librarians, and even less since only one of us is working full-time, but we tossed it in the cart anyhow.

Thank goodness! We got it home and watched Nora transform before our very eyes when she laid eyes on the book. We read it, she signed for more. Again, and again, and again. Ian, Fiona, and I learned to sing it a la Davy Jones (you can too by searching for it on youtube.com) It really IS one of her favorite books ever. Seeing the penguin on any given page makes her laugh out loud. What a hoot!

So Janet (and Nora), I apologize for ever doubting that our darling daughter could sit still for a book eight times over. Not only can she do it; Your Personal Penguin was the beginning of being able to do it for any book she wants to, whenever she wants to!

Audio book by Nora

I was helping Fiona floss and brush her teeth and Nora was sitting on the bathroom floor, looking at a book. I had read the book to her earlier - a cloth lift-the-flap book which features "peekaboo" on every page.

Now, helping Fiona floss and brush her teeth can be a trying experience. "Fiona, open your mouth. Don't talk. Please don't stand on your tiptoes. I can't do this if you lean on me." Etc. Finally, through the concentration to keep my focus and not get frustrated, I realized that Nora was talking.

"Listen, Fiona," I said. "Nora is reading the book to us." And she was: "Pe-boo!" Turn the page. "Poo-boo!" Turn the page. "Peep-boo!"