Reading is a HUGE part of Riley's day!  Her father and I read countless books to her every day and she just can't seem to get enough (which I love)!  This, of course, is one habit I want to encourage as much as possible, which means that I am constantly on the lookout for great children's books.

Actually, their quality book selection is what originally drew me to discover EcoMom.  I have done reviews for this company in the past and have learned that they also carry a wide variety of environmentally friendly toys, food and gifts for both mommy and child.  EcoMom has a wonderful variety of books, so I jumped at the chance when asked to review The Story Tree: Tales to Read Aloud by Hugh Lupton and Sophie Fatus!

The Story Tree is a book which contains seven different tales from around the world.  These stories are rather short in length, which is great for tiny attention spans.  Here are the different stories featured in The Story Tree:

• The Magic Porridge Pot (German)
• Monkey-See, Monkey-Do (Indian)
• The Sweetest Song (African American)
• Little Lord Feather-Frock (Russian)
• The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Norwegian)
• The Little Red Hen (English)
• The Blue Coat (Jewish)

Right away, I was very pleased at the beautiful drawings in this book.  The entire page was covered with illustrations and the words of the story were embedded within these pictures.  Riley really enjoyed looking at the unique pictures, which looked as though they were drawn by a child.  They were definitely very interesting and captivating and went well with the stories themselves.

We decided to read Little Lord Feather-Frock together.  This story is Russian in descent and although this book comes with an audio CD whereby the stories are read aloud by the author himself, I read this story to Riley first.  I was kind of surprised that there was a huge typo in the very first two sentences though:

"Once upon a time there was a cat, a blackbird and a rooster.  Once upon a time there was a cat, a blackbird and a rooster and they all lived together in a little hut in the forest."

I thought that I had misread something or that possibly this story repeated itself often, but that wasn't the case.  (When we read the other stories in this book, I realized that they all start out with two sentences that virtually repeat each other...how strange)  We continued reading this story and Riley seemed to like it, though I didn't quite get the important lesson this story was supposed to impart.  This chicken was a very dumb cluck and never did what she was told.

She was almost eaten by the fox because of her stupidity, but her friends saved her AGAIN and everything was fine.  I guess the moral of this story is that it's okay to be stupid as long as you have smarter friends that look out for you.  :)  The second time Riley was read this story, I used the audio CD which came with the book.  Hugh Lupton was very charming and funny while reading this selection and Riley definitely paid attention while he read.

Aside from some of the criticisms above, this was a wonderful children's book that showcased several different stories from around the world.  I liked that there were new stories I had never heard before, as well as some timeless classics, like The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  The audio CD definitely helped bring these stories to life and held Riley's attention throughout.

My favorite part of this book had to be the colorful and vibrant, full-page illustrations.  If you are searching for an array of unique children's books or other eco-friendly baby products, then I would recommend browsing the selection at EcoMom!