Day 7: Narrowing the Field

We go for only the most strictly literal open source pictures on this blog. I blame it on sleep deprivation. Anyway, we've read 64 books in a week, and 63 more in the next two weeks. We have books that have looked unbeatable, and those that have squeaked through by getting a little less of Jack's focused indifference. We have books about pottery, penguins, peacocks, and puppies (lots of puppies). The seeding hasn't been too off from the NCAA tournament, either, and 10 of the top 12 are still in. Before we get to the head-to-heads that will set our Sweet 16, we have 4 more match-ups to talk about.

Sandra Boynton Region
8. Blankie vs. 9. Doggy Kisses 123
The good news is that reading these books has become the highlight of Jack's day (except maybe the first bottle after a long nap. I felt bad taking all of quality time, and so for the first time in the bracket Jack's mom did the honors. And this one was a draw, but my wife likes doggies. I hope you didn't have a lot of money riding on this.

Dr. Seuss Region
5. The Saggy Baggy Elephant vs. 5. The Poky Little Puppy
The Dr. Seuss Region is for all-time classics, and these Golden Books were what your grandparents paid a quarter for in the 1940s. Both of these stories were a lot of fun, and written for an era when kids presumably had larger attention spans and the only competition was whatever was booming out of the refrigerator-sized radio sitting in the family parlor. But Jack loved the story of the poky little puppy, and the comeuppance he finally gets at the end of his adventures.

3. Goodnight Moon vs. 14. Hush Little Polar Bear
"Hush Little Polar Bear" is a great little book that I hadn't read before, and should have been seeded higher. I learned during this reading of "Goodnight Moon" that it's a part of some extended Moon-iverse, because there are crossover characters from 9 seed "The Runaway Bunny." These two could play each other in the Elite 8, which is a fun potential story line to look forward to!

Shel Silverstein Region
We've noticed that Jack seems really interested in various prints we have around the house. In particular, we have a Miró over our bed, and his eyes will track the movement happening there for long stretches of time. So I really took my time with each of the gorgeous pages of these two books, and neither book is one where the words on the page get in the way of the art. He was a good audience for both, but "Little Town of Spirals" really got him furrowing his brow and trying to understand what he was looking at.

Tomorrow: the updated bracket goes up, and we may forecast a couple of the more exciting pairings of the next round.