13 Clocks and Mr. Poppers Penguins

Summer has been delightful for reading more and longer books.

I'm sure I'm forcing long books down Chester's throat at way too early of an age, but don't worry--I still read him picture books, too. And I've been waiting for this for ages. 

The 13 Clocks is delightfully hilarious and clever. And the kid giggled and giggled whenever Thurber writes, "I'll slit you from your guggle to your zatch!" Wordplay is Chester's favorite thing--you should hear him try to rhyme! And Chester loved the idea of invisible characters. It is also cute to have him recognize and clarify with me which characters are bad and which are good. 

And Mr. Popper's Penguins! Is there anything better? Mr. Popper is charming, although I would not like to be married to him, and what an imaginative story. 

Now I am just pushing my luck too much with The Happy Prince and Other Stories and losing the kid entirely. (We love "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant" and I love everything Oscar Wilde, but there's a reason that some of these other stories have not been made into picture books--they are just too boring for little kids, although the irony and the sarcasm are just too good to be true.)