Dogku by Andrew Clements

     Today I went to the library by myself! It has been years since I walked through those wonderful doors without the sounds of my children already bickering about who gets to push the books we are returning through the little metal slot. I was able to pick out a few books from the children's section, move to the young adult section and finally walk all the way across the library to the adult section. All in the peace of controlled silence that was not punctuated with the whine of my kids who hate the adult section. It was a bliss I had all but forgotten existed.

     I also enjoyed picking out books for my kids that did not have anything to do with princesses, cartoon characters also seen on TV, or anime creatures that have special powers only used for fighting. I spent a good deal of time wandering the waist high shelves filled with books geared towards little minds. Then I moved to the taller racks and got books that Max never would have thought to check out for himself. My last selection was the first book of Little House on the Prairie, which I have promised to read a chapter of every night to Juliana. She carried that book around all evening!

     Our bedtime selection for tonight is called DogKu, a story about a stray dog who finds a home. The book is entirely in Haiku. It's a touching book, with just the right amount of words per page. Nothing is lost by sticking with such an abbreviated style of writing, and in fact much is gained. The illustrations are charming and help little listeners better understand the poetry. It was a story time all the more cherished because our little Rikki was nestled between JuJu and I as we read.

101 Dalmatians

     We are back! Holy moly, the past few months have been hectic, to say the least. We finally got the house painted and all the furniture and pictures back in their places. We've gotten (somewhat) caught up on school work and activities. I'm finally in a place of relative calm and order. I feel like I can now get down to the business of being a stay at home mom instead of just someone who has no job. I liken it to finally getting my desk cleared of all the clutter when I was working. Now I can focus.

     We have adopted a wonderful little chiweenie puppy (chihuahua/dachshund mix) named Riccardo Schnellenberger-- aka Rikki. He has already wormed his way into our hearts and become a member of the family. Except with Molly the cat. She still hates him.

     So when Juliana picked 101 Dalmatians for her bedtime story, I was not surprised. The book follows the movie, leaving out lots of good details and a good portion of the plot. Still, it was a fairly long book and Juliana stayed with it the whole time. She's never seen the movie, so it was a whole new story to her. I've seen the movie a hundred and one times, so I filled in all the blanks for myself.

     All in all, it was nice to have a sweet little four year old nestled up to me, enjoying a classic story and winding down for bed. I missed our bedtime stories!