Tatty Ratty

My name is Mattie and I am a stuffed animal addict.

There...I said it!  Phew!  I have unfortunately passed on my addictions to my children.  I thought maybe they were the only children with this disadvantage until my twenty-four year old nephew and his grey pound puppy came to stay with us.  Apparently this is not an uncommon addiction to suffer from. 

Tatty Ratty, by Helen Cooper, is a book about a little girl who loses her stuffed bunny.  She is sad and lonely imagining all the dangers and adventures her little bunny is surely getting into while she is away from him.  Finally her parents come up with an inventive solution that will make you laugh while your kids sigh in relief that Tatty Ratty is finally found!

This is a cute book with a funny twist.  The illustrations are amazing!  It makes me want to find a Tatty Ratty of my own to add to my collection.

Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkin Soup is so delightful.  It was released in 1998 so it is not a new book but I'd never seen it before.  Probably because in 1998 I was worried about where my next apartment would be and if I'd pass that semester of college and not What the HECK am I going to read to my kids tonight?

Helen Cooper did an excellent job with this book.  The dialogue in this book reminds me of how my younger brothers and I sounded most of the time we were growing up.  One big mess followed by a lot of silly fighting which resulted in apologies.  Then REPEAT!  Definitely written by someone who knows what family life is like!  Her illustrations are so amazing.  My favorite is the one where Cat and Squirrel imagine how well Duck is doing without them!  It is a whole other story on its own.  Your kids will love you for reading this to them and you will love getting to read this.  The characters are cute and furry with attitude so I love the fact that each of them are their own little oxymoron.  Plus I really like it when children's books have a moral to them.  (You ask, "Don't all books have a point or moral?"  I'd answer, "Sadly, NO!")

 Even though pumpkin soup has never sounded good to me, reading this book again will always sound appealing to me.

ALSO look for: A Pipkin of Pepper and Delicious that are follow up books about Cat, Duck, and Squirrel.