Gotta Love Spot

SPOT. You know. That cute little yellow dog with one brown spot on his side. The star of a huge number of books by Eric Hill. Also the star of several videos/ DVD's based on the books.

Spot entered our house sometime in 2002 would be my guess, when Katie fell in love with the books. The first was Where's Spot? It was a highly improvised strange interpretation done by Daddy, that involved the penguins demanding for the thermostat to be turned down, and the lion guarding the gateway to the Serengetti. For those of you who know the story, my only explanation is that he is an engineer and engineers seem to think that way. But Katie loved it, and grew to love every other Spot book that we bought from Half-Price or borrowed from the library.

Eventually we borrowed the video from the library, and it was a hit. It was simplistic. Followed the story perfectly. And was just a delight to watch with her.

Now it is Nicholas' turn. A few days ago, I found Spot's Big Learning Book that we bought for Katie. It covers colors, shapes, etc with Spot and the gang. Nick is in a color phase so he really got into it.

This afternoon, I introduced Spot Goes to the Farm.

At bedtime tonight, he chose the same book to read, and read, and read once more. Three times in a row, Spot went to the farm in search of baby animals. While some parents would pressure their two year old to read other books and expand his horizons, and some would grow weary of the same book over and over, I was delighted. Repetition is how he learns. He is being read to...something he just started enjoying the past several months. He is engaged by the pictures, the flaps, and is learning new vocabulary. He is learning cause and effect. And most importantly, he is being rocked securely in mommy's arms, and getting that precious one-on-one time that every child needs and deserves.

So a big YAY to Eric Hill and his lovable Spot. Books so simple and pure and delightful that they can please even a normally rowdy 2 year old boy, and his mommy.