Lars Klinting, _What Do You Want?_

I do not ordinarily put reviews of children's books up. But I'm going to make an exception for this one, because it is really awesome.

Sure, I could quibble (pacifier, baby carriage, heterosexist, ends with a sleeping baby. Blah, blah, blah. I empathize with you if I bore and annoy you. I bore and annoy myself and I've had a lot of time to inure myself). But why?

It's short. It has few words. It has attractive but not overly cute illustrations. It is NOT ageist. It depicts a soft shoe on a toddler foot. It has a clever structure but doesn't run in it right into the ground.

If there are babies, toddlers or even early readers in your life (or if you have the capacity to enjoy great art aimed at a slightly different age range than your own), run right out and buy copies for those people. Yes, I know it's a little steep. ($15.95 list, but you can get it cheaper online new and used) But it's really, really great.

plastic paradise issues

First major problem: the spinning moat on Weeblelot is not working. We're not sure why. That's a bummer.

Second problem: the Fisher-Price Little People Kingdom Castle (NOT the pink palace) has a flag that makes a fanfare noise and opens the drawbridge and flashes the lights when pressed. Unfortunately, you have to press it slowly and firmly, and Teddy pushes it quickly and not firmly. So there are a lot of tantrums happening right now.

*sigh*