Day 15: The Final Four

Before we get started, start playing this in another tab. Having taken care of the important stuff, we are nearly at the end, friends. Jack has sent 60 books back to the nursery bookshelf upstairs, and we have 4 books left. We've discovered a lot of favorites, but there are no surprises in the Final 4. Since the NCAA tournament was first seeded (1979-notable for many other reasons), there has never been a 1-1-1-2 Final Four. Great sports stories always have a hint of conspiracy, so go nuts: did I use my completely subjective judgment to seed the tournament or to read Jack's approval or disapproval into certain match-ups? Did I even read the books at all? Is there even a Jack? Put away your tinfoil hats and scroll down to see who won the whole thing.  

1. The Monster at the End of this Book vs. 1. Mr. Brown Can Moo!

This one was really close. I feel like I always had a good handle on how to read "Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?," but it took a while to get there with "The Monster at the End of this Book." And the secret is not to read the whole thing as Grover, but to really focus on the fear and frustration the little blue monster has as he tries to keep you from reaching the end of the book. But maybe the biggest lessons there are that the monster was us all along and that walls don't work.

2. Guess How Much I Love You? vs. 1. I Love You, Stinky Face

"Guess How Much I Love You?" started off as a book I thought I had over seeded, as it struggled to distinguish itself in early rounds against shy little kittens and brave little hippos. But it got into a good rhythm and started knocking off some big hitters, "Tiny T.Rex" and now "Stinky Face" among them. But can it's run carry it to the 2020 Championship trophy?

1. The Monster at the End of this Book vs. 2. Guess How Much I Love You?
No. It took an extra three weeks to determine the champion, but it belongs to #1 overall seed "The Monster at the End of this Book." My wife had gotten good at reading it in some off-bracket exhibitions, and was our special guest reader for the final game as part of her first Mother's Day (don't worry, she got other stuff too). Unfortunately she wanted to make sure she got things right. For the only match-up in the whole tournament, this one was repeated due to an inconclusive result. Twice. I witnessed all three attempts, and Jack was clearly more into "The Monster at the End of this Book" in that final, pivotal round. So we have our first ever book bracket champion. And it was a well-earned victory. Grover beat out 6 tough books:

• #16 Optical Physics for Babies
• #9 Doggy Kisses 1 2 3 
• #5 Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
• #10 Tennis Legends Alphabet
• #1 Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
• #2 Guess How Much I Love You?

And that's it! We know what Jack's favorite book is (we like it too), he's going to keep hearing all of these until he moves on to books with more words and less pictures, and maybe we'll try this again next year. Here's hoping that's "Jack's favorite hikes" or something that gets us outside. Thanks for reading, and stay well.