Rhyme Time

We have built up a fair collection of books by the dynamite duo Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Our first few were purchased in Scarborough, England. Even if you didn't know that they were British, you would soon find out if you just flipped through a book or two: Monkey is looking for his Mum, George looks very smart in his new trousers, and scarf is supposed to rhyme with laugh. Unfortunately, Daisy lets us read that line only by pronouncing it as larf.

Perhaps Daisy's favorite activity is reciting her books, which are all memorized to various degrees. It did not take long for the catchy Donaldson rhymes to lodge in her brain, and hence our days are paralleled by a constant stream of storytelling. Besides finding Daisy's voice as sweet as Nutella and the rhythm of spoken words as relaxing as Gregorian Chant, I educationally endorse these books because rhyming is a crucial building block of reading and spelling. With these books, the "Willaby Wallaby Waisy, an elephant sat on Daisy" song, and her Rhymes puzzle, I have a tidy literacy unit that comes in handy on rainy days. Have I mentioned that we have our fair share of those?

I caught one of Daisy's recitations on tape a month ago while she was sitting on her potty after a bath. Oh, is she good at stalling before bedtime! If you can look past my clunky editing, along with the shameful dark circles under her eyes and her lack of clothing, I believe that you'll enjoy her artful performance. It's a story about a respectable dad who happens to be a stick, but out in the big wide world, other people and animals find him expendable.

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