Today’s post is dedicated to developmental psychologist and former book-club buddy, Diane S. You really know how to pick ‘em, Diane!
I don’t usually look particularly glamorous in the morning. My hair ties itself in knots while I sleep and puffy eyes aren’t pretty. But I don’t usually wake up with the bruised, swollen upper lip of a prize fighter, either.
You see, yesterday I sustained the first injury of motherhood (pitocin-induced labor trauma aside). I’ve been working on an article on great books for toddler boys. A while back, I asked friends who are also moms of boys to share with me their boys’ favorite books. My friend Diane (mom of two boys) sent a fabulous list of titles and tips for engaging little guys as you read. This week, as I’ve been collating my research, we headed to the library to check out lots of recommended reads. One of the books Diane recommended is “Rattletrap Car” by Phyllis Root.
In this fun-to-read story, Jakie, Junie and the baby are hot and dusty. A cool splash in the lake sounds great, and they convince Poppa to take them. Soon they head off to the lake in their rattletrap car, carrying beach toys and sugary snacks. “They don’t go fast and they don’t go far” before a series of disasters takes place. The rattletrap car falls apart, one piece at a time.
Fortunately, Jakie, Junie, Poppa, and even the baby fix one problem after another using nothing but their beach toys and sugary snacks. It’s a “MacGyver meets the Clampetts” kind of tale, with wonderful rhyming, repetitious sound effects, and fun drawings.
It’s the sound effects that got me in trouble.
As I read “Poppa turned the key, brum brum, brum brum…fizzelly sizzelly…wappity bappity…lumpety bumpety…clinkety clankety…bing bang, POP,” I built such fun suspense that my son pitched himself backward in my lap to celebrate the POP and head-butted me HARD on the upper lip.
Tears welled up in my eyes. My teeth hurt so bad I started thinking about how we’d pay for the root canal and subsequent cosmetic dentistry. Now that’s something to cry about.
It took me awhile to calm down and finish the story. But finish we did. We’ve even read the story several times today -- and I'd highly recommend it.
I’m sure the bruise will fade soon, and I don’t think I’ll need a false tooth. But if I do, I hope the dentist “glues it in tight with chocolate marshmallow fudge delight!” My son would really get a kick out of that!
