Kiss, Kiss!

A Week's Worth of Our Favorite Mommy Books

Book #1

Sensory Play with the book Kiss Kiss

With Mother's Day around the corner, it seemed appropriate to get our favorite "Mommy" books off of the shelves.  So I went searching and didn't have to look too far for Kiss Kiss, since it is a "regular" almost every night!

When I was pregnant with our first, the teachers I worked with had a shower for me.   They each brought a book for the baby.  Kiss Kiss! by Margaret Wild and Bridget Strevens-Marzo was from a wonderful friend of mine and I am sure she would be happy to know that we read it all of the time!

Kiss Kiss! is a sweet story about a little hippo that is in such a rush to go and play that he forgets to give his mom a kiss.  He travels through the squelchy mud, tall grass, and bumpy rocks.  In each place he passes there is a baby animal giving his mama a kiss, but Baby Hippo doesn't realize that he forgot to give his mama a kiss until he reaches the leafy leafy trees.  Then he runs all the way back to his mama. 

We have read this book so many times that my three year old pretty much reads it to me.  

It was a beautiful day outside when my son and I decided to go outside and play with the animals from Kiss Kiss!  We were ready to go outside and get dirty just like Baby Hippo.  I collected all of the animals from the book and some tins and plastic containers to help us set the scene for our messy play.

First, he dug up some dirt and added water for the "squelchy, squelchy" mud.

We searched for a branch for the "leafy, leafy trees" and my son ran to the side of the house yelling, "I found it!"

We had mud, rocks, and a mossy bank.

When our scene was done, my son added the animals and played along as we read.

He loved the mud and learned to use the grass as a towel to wipe his hands!  

In case you didn't notice, Baby Hippo is actually a rhinoceros.  I can't believe that with all of our animals we didn't have a hippo!

My son did some "fact checking" as we played.

He wanted all of the animals in the mud, and brought Rocket out to "swim" in the water.

After we played with the animals for a good amount of time, we played animal hide and seek.  I found the zebra upside down in the bushes, and my son found the elephant buried in the mud.  We had a blast!

Reading Kiss Kiss! and spending some quality time together outside was a great way to start of our favorite mommy book week!

Check back later in the week for more mommy book posts including

Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?

I Love You Stinky Face

If I Could Keep You Little