Ken and I, we were quite skeptical at first.

These books, they seemed too easy to actually work.

Could it be possible that all we had to do was read an engaging story, with adorable, lovable characters who didn’t want to eat or sleep to make our grumpy 3-year-old think that eating and sleeping was cool?

No…way, we thought.

Way.

Now, we are going to have to make a special trip to Chicago to thank author Amy Krouse Rosenthal personally as her sweet stories have, well, inspired change in a child whose stubbornness rivals that of a bull – times 27. Illustrator Jen Corace is going to have to get a big, huge hug from us too for bringing it all to life.

These two are the creators of Little Pea – the story of a pea who had to eat all his sweets or he couldn’t have vegetables for desert – and Little Hoot – the story of an owl who hated to stay up late.

Little Pea is the first in the series, inspiring kiddos to believe in the coolness of vegetables.

We laughed when we first read this book to the tiny person, as both of us thought it such an obvious tactic that would never fool her finely tuned veggie detector.

That was until, at the end, she blurted out “I love spinach” and ate everything we put in front of her for a week.

Is Little Pea the magic salve in the world of the vegetable-eee deficient? Probably not.

But, she even talks about Little Pea in the veggie aisle at the store now. So, nice work Amy.

This story makes me feel like a little girl, which means it ranks really high on my read-o-meter. I dig that “Awwwwww” effect that some books provoke, which is excellent calming juju during these early days of three (we skipped the terrible twos) in which our house is complete chaos amongst the transition to, well, more chaos.

Enter Little Hoot.

Little Pea most definitely needed a companion, and Little Hoot who loves his sleep is just the pal to team up.

Sleep and the preschool crowd are often an oxymoron.

So, anything to induce extended periods of rest is a welcome addition around here. I know a few CVK mamas like Bevin and Reesh are right there with me.:)

Little Hoot can’t even figure out what is up with Mom and Dad, who insist that he stays up late playing and running around.

He wants to know why he can’t go to bed early, like the rest of his friends.

Oh, if only this was our dilemma.

But, hmmmm…Little Hoot LIKES to go to bed.

That is an interesting theory, according to the tiny person.

As long as mom and dad don’t think going to bed is cool, then – hey – it’s cool.

Welcome to sleep time and a kiddo who thinks it was her idea.

Pea and Hoot will be joined soon by a third – yet to be announced – pal. I can’t wait to see what sort of major household drama we can tone down to a dull roar (for at least an hour) with the introduction of new rebellious cuteness.

If kicking mom and dad’s theories on life to the curb starts this early, we might as well train them to think they got their way knowing we got a cute story and some excellent parenting psychology tools in the process.

You can find Little Pea and Little Hoot in hardcover on the Chronicle Books rack over at Planet Kids (formerly Bears & Balloons) in downtown Comox.

I suspect these will be one of those collections that makes it into gift bags for parents as kids move into those preschool years – as the gift givers nod knowingly at the unsuspecting adults watching their tiny people blow out the candles on their cake:)

Book covers courtesy of Chronicle Books