I tend to mock all sorts of things on this blog, from insane self-defense gadgets to sex toys to cat toys to my not-very-kind recap of The Sound Of Music.
Today, I’ll switch things up a bit and instead tell you about a fantastic children’s book I’ve come to love. No, really.
(I’ll give you a minute to get over your shock.)
As a father, I’ve learned a lot in the past year. For example, I used to think that the most exhausting thing in the world was completing an Ironman triathlon; I now know that the most exhausting thing in the world—by far—is trying to change a diaper on an infant who’s recently learned to roll and refuses to lie still for a single second. Trust me on this.
There are many things I enjoy doing with Nathan: building weird structures out of his Mega Bloks, helping him master new skills, crying silently over the mess he creates during every meal. But I think my favorite thing to do is read to him. Since Nathan is still some way from actually understanding words, I prefer books with many different characters and lots of dialogue, so that I can do voices and keep his attention.
Which brings me to the books from Lost My Name.
My wife bought “The Little Boy Who Lost His Name” for me as a gift, and it instantly became the go-to reading fodder for me and Nathan.
This is the one
“The Little Boy Who Lost His Name” is a beautifully illustrated, cleverly written, personalized children’s book. The plot is deceptively simple: There’s a little boy who can’t recall his name, so he sets out on a journey to find it. He meets a bunch of whimsical creatures along the way, and gets to keep the first letters of their names until he has enough to spell his own. The end.
It’s a straightforward idea, wonderfully executed. The book is full of color, the text rhymes, and there’s plenty of dialogue for me to practice my amateur voice acting skills.
“But what if I have a girl and her name isn’t even Nathan,” one of you just asked.
In that case they—get this—have a book called “The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name.”
You go to the LostMy.Name site, pick the kid’s gender, and type their name. For most letters, you can even choose which exact characters should show up (e.g. Aardvark or Alligator or Angel for “A”). Then you get to preview the whole book directly on the site. That preview is actually what I’ve used to illustrate the audio of me reading Nathan’s book. Yes, there’s an audio recording of me reading his book. Yes, you get to hear it at the end of this post. No, my voice doesn’t sound as smooth and soothing as Morgan Freeman’s. Sorry.
Hey, why am I telling you all this? Let the guys behind Lost My Name do that in about 1 minute:
Are you curious enough to check the book out? Do you also want to get 15 percent off if you buy it? Follow this link (or any of the other ones I’ve used throughout the post). It’s a personal link my wife received when she ordered the book, and it lets our friends save 15 percent when buying the book. We get something out of it, too: If three people buy using our code, Nathan will get yet another awesome book from the Lost My Name crew. It’s a triple-win.
Still not convinced? Need to hear a real-life version? Always wanted to find out how my voice sounds and bask in my ever-so-subtle Eastern European accent? Would you like to make fun of my attempts at voice acting? Want me to stop asking endless rhetorical questions? Please enjoy my dramatic reading of Nathan’s book. Nathan makes a few cameo appearances by yelling in the background. I prefer to think he’s enjoying my reading and not screaming at me to shut the hell up:
Sold? Get a “Lost” book of your own.
Nest Expressed - Read. Laugh. Learn*. Return. (*learning optional)