Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, My Home is Littered with Doilies and Glue

My house was overrun by Valentine's Day preparations this weekend. Each of my three children had to construct their valentines boxes, the boxes placed on their desk during the class party to collect valentines from their classmates. The kindergartner's was easy. Cover a shoebox with red paper and stickers and call it a day. My eight year old daughter spent a fair amount of time joyfully creating a pink and red, doily covered, ribbon bedecked, glitter encrusted confection. While it screams "Valentine's Day" (and that its creator has two X chromosomes), something similar won't cut it for my nine year old son. It's a real balancing act, constructing a manly valentines box. Luckily, he likes to build and has a great imagination and ended up making this ice hockey rink out of an old shoebox with some help from his dad. Note the slots in the goals so his friends can shout "Score!" if they are so inclined while depositing cards in the box.

Speaking of boys with good imaginations who like to build, have you met Iggy Peck Architect? My son in kindergarten chose to share Iggy Peck Architect for the following homework assignment. He says he loves it because "it is funny and has good words and pictures." I couldn't agree more.

Andrea Beaty has written a great book about a boy who loves to build using found objects (shoes, food, diapers). His Great Sphinx and St. Louis Arch are impressive, but it is a suspension bridge he builds that saves the day and convinces his second grade teacher that architecture is worthy of study in school. David Roberts' illustrations are fantastic, and they need to be to convince the reader of the beauty of buildings. And while this might be lost on young readers, I would kill for the gorgeous retro outfits Iggy Peck's mother and teacher wear in this fun picture book!