Attention Keepers

This post is for my friend Amy. She's going to be flying across country very soon with six children... does Ellie have any recommendations for books to hold their fancy? Well, aside from drugging the children with Benadryl and keeping an endless supply of bribery M & Ms on hand... it's all you can do to survive that flight. Still, there are some books that might help tame the beasts. What you're looking for Amy, is books with a lot of detail, lots of things to look at and hold their attention for as long as possible.
My first instinct screams, "Buy some Richard Scarry!!!" My kids can spend hours with his Busy Town books. I think this one in the picture is his meatiest, though they are all so fun, it's worth getting a couple more (like Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day ). You can spend all kinds of time finding Goldbug or other silly imagery.

Then you might want to pick up a couple Anno books. I know you guys are going to be working on your times tables this summer so this might be a good pick. It presents a different perspective on math. Any of Anno's other books are great in detail also...

There are some fantastic pop-up books out there! We love Robert Sabuda for one... also look at this this little gem here! Lots of material to occupy curious minds in this one.

Then again, you may want to avoid fragile books with lots of toddlers clamoring about. How about something Minnesota related? The Discover America State by State series is pretty informative.

Or you could stick with the goal of "keep their attention as long as possible" and go with the old standby books in this category like I Spyor Where's Waldo? Finally, I'd stock my carry-on bag with things like Mad Libs, and lots of paper with a new, fresh set of crayons or colored pencils, maybe a portable Etch-a-Sketch, and a couple of new, dollar store Made-in-China toys just to have for novelty's sake... but don't forget the bribery candies. Yes, you ought not to overload the children with sugar normally... but remember that you are in survival mode. :o)