Captain Underpants and Professor Pippy PeePee Poopypants

I can not believe I am reading these books.

But Ike is obsessed with them and laughs so hard that I'm afraid he's going to forget to breath.

The Captain Underpants series is science fiction for kids who still like pictures with their books, but have attention spans that take them beyond typical picture books which rarely top 20 pages.

Captain Underpants books are, by comparison, more like 200 and the drawings are simple black and white pencil creations. The drawings are, in other words, just enough to help a four-year-old get over the hurdle of needing a place to put his eyes while Mom reads and reads and reads.

The book follows the adventures of George and Harold, who hypnotized their mean old school principal once and now don't know how to undo it. Anytime someone snaps their fingers, the principal turns into Captain Underpants. Tra-la-la!

It's juvenile. A lot of the humor comes from enemies with names like Professor Pippy PeePee Poopypants. I occasionally fit it a bit overly precious. (I roll my eyes when the kid heroes make comments on whether or not various plot points will work for a children's audience, for example.)

But they're action-packed, definitely fun and must easier to sell to a four-year-old boy as a first chapter books than Little House in the Big Woods is. I mean, come on. How long can a four-year-old really be expected to sit still while listening to a description of canning.

So it's Captain Underpants for us. Tra-la-la!

The Plant Sitter By Gene Zion

This weekend my son caught me in the middle of a something he doesn't often see me do. I was planting something! I was actually getting my hands dirty, trying to transplant a decorative cactus into a pot on our patio.

My four-year-old thought this was great and he immediately started plotting. "We should have plants in the whole house," Ike said. "So many that you can't even walk around. It will be like that book."

That book?

"That book with the boy and the plants."

Ah, The Plant Sitter, a 1959 book by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham. You may know their more popular book, a 1956 delight entitled Harry the Dirty Dog.

Harry the Dirty Dog, as of today, is still a top-20,000 book on Amazon. Not bad for a book that's 51 years old. But The Plant Sitter is out of print. You have to find one from, basically, an antique dealer. We have a copy only because of a friend who scours Goodwill shops for children's books and then passes on good ones to family's with kids.

Thanks to our friend, my son has a lot of books. So it speaks well of this one that it is remembered and referred to, even when it hasn't been read in months. My husband was grilling our holiday meal. A sandbox and a new bike beckoned. But my son was running inside to search his overstuffed bookshelf for a book that was even older than his parents. "We need to read that book again," Ike said. "It might have a little recipe at the end to show us how to do the same thing."

He found it and we sat on the patio and re-read the story of a boy who decides to spend his summer earning money by caring for vacationing neighbor's plants. He does such a good job that the plants thrive in his home and soon every room in the house is filled with plants. When his father wants to turn the channel on the television, he has to fight his way through. It is almost like a jungle. ("I guess he didn't have a remote," Ike said.)

Here's why this book is great:

1) It shows a boy in a nurturing role. He's not fighting, getting into trouble or exploring. He's gently caring for living things. It's a nice change from most books.

2) It shows a boy turning to books for answers. When his plants threaten to take over the house, he finds a book at the library called: "Are your plants too big?" It helps him solve his problem.

There was no "recipe" at the end, but it did force me to vow to go to the library to find a book about gardening for kids.

What more could you want from one old picture book?

I love Harry the Dirty Dog. Who doesn't? But I think I like The Plant Sitter even more.

Mo Willems new books are a hit!

"Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus," by Mo Willems has been heralded as a new classic for kids ever since it was released in 2004. It's spawned several sequels and it is truly a delight.

But Mo Willems new series, launched last month and featuring the friendship of a pig and a elephant, is even more fun.

"Today I Will Fly" and "My Friend is Sad" are books that work on a lot of a different levels. I initially spotted them as potential baby books. They had the hallmarks of that -- just a few words and very simple drawings.

On closer inspection, I noticed that they repeat just a few words over and over again -- the classic sign of books for beginning readers. (Although better done than most.)

So was it a book for a reader or for a baby?

The answer came when I read "Today I will Fly" to my pre-reading four-year-old and discovered that this new series works for everyone -- including mom. This is a simple story made fantastic by the use of excellent facial expressions, body language and real emotion. (The elephant and pig get frustrated with each other in ways that any family will be quite familiar with.)

I don't know the last time we enjoyed a book so much! And we enjoy books every night!

My son was laughing in absolute delight and when he said: "Read it again!" I was happy to do so. In fact, I would have insisted.