Philip's Pick: The Boy Who Loved Words

We got The Boy Who Loved Words out from the library a couple of weeks ago, because I saw it and thought, "Hey, is that book about Philip?"

It wasn't about him, but he (and Evalina, and I, and others who read it) sure did enjoy it!

The story is about a boy named Selig who loves words so much that he begins to collect them. He writes any new, fun, interesting, or particularly unique words down on slips of paper and carries them around with him, enjoying them to his heart's content. Sadly, his peculiar hobby gains him no friends at school, only ridicule. He is teased and called Wordsworth and oddball. He goes on a journey, collecting more and more words, until one night, overburdened by his words, he sets them out on the branches of a tree he has made into his bed for the night. Little did he know that the words on the tree would fall into the hands of a poet, bringing him new literary inspiration. Selig found his mission at last - not only collecting words, but spreading them where he goes. He brings happiness to formerly bickering neighbors, new-found success to a bakery where he labels the strudel scrumptious, and others take notice. He also manages to find true love for himself along the way.

The illustrations are lovely, and scattered through them are little slips of paper with some of Selig's favorite words on them. You could spend a lot of time going through the pages just enjoying those words. It was a joy for everyone in our house, and I was sad to return it to the library. I'm hoping to pick up a copy soon for us to keep.

Philip's Pick: The Sleepy Little Alphabet

As I have mentioned before, Philip loves letters and numbers. When I say this, people often think I'm exaggerating. Then they meet him, and see how he finds letters and numbers in every day objects (like an X in the top of a tent, or a Y in a twig) and how much he genuinely enjoys them, and they see I am just stating the plain, simple truth. Boy has a love affair with numbers and letters.

So, when I saw The Sleepy Little Alphabet, by Judy Sierra, I knew he had to have it.

Boy, was I right. He insists on having it read to him every night (though he knows it by heart), and snuggles it in bed like other kids snuggle teddy bears. It's funny.

The book itself is about the little letters in Alphabet town getting ready for bed. It goes through each letter - such as "M is mopey, N is naughty, oops, O and P upset the potty!" (that's a quote from the book, don't report me for copyright infringement, please!). Each page has a delightful illustration to go along with it, and the little letters are often accompanied by their (sometimes frazzled looking) "parents," the uppercase letters. At the end of the book, all of the letters are tucked into bed (except for that naughty n!) and each of them has something special either in bed with them or on their bedside table. It's fun going through and asking Philip what he sees with each one.

After reading the book through and singing the alphabet to him, Philip cuddles up and gets himself ready for bed.

And sometimes, he's just like that n. But let's pretend he's more like the snoring little z.