Kid Konnection: One Big Pair of Underwear Blog Tour

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week, I'm going to share with you guest post from the author of ONE BIG PAIR OF UNDERWEAR.

Summary: Count and share with…underwear! Come along on a zany adventure with hilarious pictures from the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.

What’s one thing that two bears, three yaks, four goats, and six cats have in common?

They hate to share.

But look out—here comes a pack of twenty pigs ready to prove that sharing makes everything twice as fun!

This seriously silly picture book with artwork by the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site irresistibly combines the concepts of counting and sharing. -Beach Lane Books

I am so excited to welcome author Laura Gehl to my blog today. She has written a picture book called ONE BIG PAIR OF UNDERWEAR that looks perfect for little ones! The book has gorgeous illustrations by Tom Lichtenheld, bestselling illustrator of GOODNIGHT, GOODNIGHT, CONSTRUCTION SITE; and it doesn't have "too many words." You'll see what I mean after you read Ms. Gehl's guest post!

Thank you so much to Julie for hosting me on this stop of my ONE BIG PAIR OF UNDERWEAR blog tour!  

Have you ever hidden a book from your child?  Well, I haven’t.  I would never do such a terrible thing!  Just kidding.  I do it all the time.  Sometimes, I hide books because the books themselves are...let’s just say…sub-par.  Such as books written around a TV character.  My 4-year-old daughter finds Dora books at the library, and she knows how to check them out herself with the scanner.  So we bring home the Dora books (or Thomas the Train books), we read each book once, and then I hide them.  Or sometimes I hide a really good book because we have read it one hundred times in the last week and I am craving some variety.  But the most common reason I need to hide a book is because it has TOO MANY WORDS.  I am happy to read these books during the day.  But at bedtime, the fewer words, the better!  It is true that this rule leaves out many wonderful books, including most Dr. Seuss and my beloved A BIRTHDAY FOR FRANCES.  But I am exhausted and frazzled by the end of the day, and a short book is a welcome book. 
  
Since I know other parents are similarly worn out by bedtime, I thought I would talk about some of the favorite books at our house with very few words.  Keep in mind, this list does not include any books with NO words.  I find that books with no words actually take a very long time to read, because I end up talking about each picture with my daughter. 

Of course, board books almost always have few words.  Some of the best in my opinion are GOODNIGHT GORILLA by Peggy Rathmann, MOUSE PAINT and MOUSE COUNT by Ellen Stoll Walsh, DEAR ZOO by Rod Campbell and HUG by Jez Alborough.

But when you want an actual picture book without many words, here are a few to try:

1. CHU'S DAY by Neil Gaiman.  A little panda bear causes havoc with his enormous sneezes.  Prepare for a lot of fake sneezing from your children.  
2. DINOSAUR KISSES by David Ezra Stein.  A baby dinosaur wants to learn how to kiss.  As with Chu, disaster results.  This book contains chomping, stomping, and whomping….My 4-year-old and 6-year-old both collapse in giggles at the final “Whomp.”
3. THE PERFECT NEST by Catherine Friend.  One of our favorite books to give new parents, The Perfect Nest features a hapless cat whose delicious omelet hatches before he has a chance to eat it.
4. KNUFFLE BUNNY by Mo Willems.  Trixie’s dad loses her precious Knuffle Bunny at the Laundromat.  This book has been turned into a musical and an animated short movie…a theme park may be next on the agenda.    
5. RHYMING DUST BUNNIES by Jan Thomas.  For some reason, Bob can’t manage to fit in with the other dust bunnies, who joyfully rhyme all day long.  But maybe the other dust bunnies should be paying a bit more attention to Bob….

Note: I could have picked any book by Mo Willems or Jan Thomas to include on my list.  All of their books are short, funny, and fabulous.

May your bedtime reading be enjoyable…and brief.  And while we’re talking about briefs, ONE BIG PAIR OF UNDERWEAR by Laura Gehl doesn’t have too many words and makes a fun, fast bedtime read.  Or so I’ve been told.      
*****

Laura Gehl is the author of ONE BIG PAIR OF UNDERWEAR, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, which was released in September 2014, as well as several other picture books to be released in 2015 and 2016.  Laura lives with her husband and their four book-loving kids in Chevy Chase, MD.  You can read more about Laura and her books at www.lauragehl.com and www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraGehl.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!