Feet & Toes Board Books

Babies and toddlers are fascinated by feet! The five books on this list will have them tapping and tickling their toes all day long.

Tickly Toes by Susan Hood, illustrated by Barroux (ISBN: 9781894786522) 
In this 2014 release from Kids Can Press, a mother and father marvel over the fact that their sweet little boy loves his own toys over all other toys. This is an ideal book for pre-crawling babies, especially those who have recently discovered their feet. (I reviewed this book last summer.)

Whose Toes Are Those? by Jabari Asim, illustrated by LeUyen Pham (ISBN: 9780316736091)

This rhyming story shows off the cute brown sweetness of toddler toes, leading up to the reveal that they belong to a little girl. The illustrations are by one of my favorite illustrators, LeUyen Pham. Find more of her books on this list.

Rain Feet by Angela Johnson, illustrated by Rhonda Mitchell (ISBN: 9780531068496)
A little boy named Joshua puts on his raincoat and rain boots and enjoys the wet weather as it plops and splashes all around.

Feet Are Neat by Susan Pearson, illustrated by Emily Bolam (ISBN: 9781934618462)

This BeginSmart book teaches the youngest readers all the things feet can do!

Busy Toes by C.W. Bowie, illustrated by Fred Willingham (ISBN: 9781580890564)

Little toes are busy all day long in this book celebrating some of the unusual and silly things kids and grown-ups can do with their feet.

9 Kids' Books Illustrated by Lane Smith

Lane Smith is the illustrator of two Caldecott honor books: The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka (honored in 1993) and Grandpa Green, which he wrote himself (honored in 2012). He is married to Molly Leach, a book designer who has designed many of Smith's books. Listed below are works by other authors which Lane Smith has illustrated. 

Novels 

• Lulu Series by Judith Viorst
  There are three books in the Lulu series, and Lane Smith illustrated the first two. In Lulu and the Brontosaurus, a little girl who wants a brontosaurus for a pet gets a very big surprise when the dinosaur brings her home to be his pet instead. In Lulu Walks the Dogs, the same little girl decides to walk dogs in order to earn some money, but things don't go exactly as planned. (The third book, Lulu's Mysterious Mission, in which Lulu tries to outsmart a crafty babysitter, is illustrated by Kevin Cornell.)
• Time Warp Trio Series by Jon Scieszka
  Lane Smith illustrated the early volumes of this popular series, in which a group of friends explores history by traveling through time and having funny adventures.  The following titles feature Smith's illustrations: 
• Knights of the Kitchen Table
• The Not-So-Jolly Roger
• The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy
• Your Mother Was a Neanderthal
• 2095
• Tut Tut
• Summer Reading Is Killing Me
• It's All Greek to Me 
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
  Though nothing can compare to Quentin Blake's well-known illustrations for this book, it is fun to see Smith's own take on the story in this 1996 reprint edition of the beloved novel.

Picture Books

• Princess Hyacinth: The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated by Florence Parry Heide
  A princess with a unique problem finds ways to cope and makes a new friend in the process in this laugh-out-loud contemporary fairy tale. 
• Hooray for Diffendoofer Day by Dr. Seuss and Jack Prelutsky
  This book was originally conceived by Dr. Seuss, but was completed by Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith after Seuss died. The story focuses on Diffendoofer School, where the principal worries whether his free-spirited teachers have prepared his students for the upcoming standardized tests. 
• Big Plans by Bob Shea
  A young troublemaker who has been placed in time out reflects on all the big plans he has for his exciting future. 

Bout of Books Progress Day 7 / Final Wrap-Up Post

My very first Bout of Books has come to an end! This was really the ideal way to kick off the year. Of the 38 digital ARCs I had on my to-read shelf at the start of the week, I read 30, and I've already started getting the reviews scheduled. It will be nice to get back to a point where I'm reviewing the books before they come out instead of months later. I haven't been able to do that since Little Miss Muffet came along two years ago!

Here are the titles I finished on Day 7:

• Cody Harmon, King of Pets by Claudia Mills
• New Friends by Michelle Misra
• Mission Mumbai by Mahtab Narsimhan
• This is All Your Fault, Cassie Parker by Terra Elan McVoy
• Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan 

I'm already looking forward to participating in the next read-a-thon, coming in May 2016. See the other books I read this time around in my previous progress posts.

Bout of Books Progress Day 6

Only two books to report for Day 6. I finished The Forget-Me-Not Summer by Leila Howland and The BFF Bucket List by Dee Romito. Hoping to get a few more in before today is over!