Don't Let the Peas Touch! And Other Stories
Carefully, he placed three peas on top of his potatoes. "The peas are touching!" He screamed before erupting into a fit of laughter. A three-year-old has amazing retention when they love a story as much as my son loved the triplicate of tales in Deborah Blumenthal's Don't Let the Peas Touch and Other Stories.
Timothy Ering's vibrant illustrations bring to life the sibling dance of sisters Sophie and Annie. The book opens with "Don't Let the Peas Touch", where Sophie struggles to deal with the new culinary skills of her big sister Annie. Parents will be all too familiar with Sophie's food rules, like no foods touching. Annie comes up with a solution parenting magazines would be proud of, a segmented lazy Susan to serve as a food separator.
"Ssshh! It's Quiet Time" shows the common struggle where one sister wants to play quietly, while another has more boisterous intentions. This story is great if you are trying to teach your child to play quietly, say during a younger siblings naptime, or independently.
Younger kids want everything their big brothers and sisters have. In "The Surprise Pet" little sister Sophie wants a pet. Big sister Annie agrees, though their parents disagree. To make Sophie feel better Annie plants her a pet seed, and together they take care of it until it grows into a little plant.
