(photo by my son)

“Revenge of the Living Ted,” by Barry Hutchison, illustrated by Lee Cosgrove (Delacorte Press, 2019, 192 pages, $9.99). Have you ever been to a Build-a-Bear, perhaps for a little kid birthday party? All of those little shoes and boots and fancy bear slippers? The overalls and biker outfits and pink tutus? The accessories and the little red hearts that you jam inside before they blow stuffing into your creation? Kinda creepy but kinda fascinating, am I right? Am I the only one? Nope, I’m not. Because here come those little rascals, step-sibs Lisa Marie and Vernon, in the sequel to “Night of the Living Ted.” Yes, it’s hilarious. Will the kids find it scary? Maybe the little-littles, probably not ages 6 and up. (Book 3 in the series is “Invasion of the Living Ted.”)

“Decoding Boys: New Science Behind the Subtle Art of Raising Sons,” by Cara Natterson, M.D. (Ballantine Books, 2020, 232 pages, $27). Is this even possible, to “decode” boys? Hmm. Alternately: Sure, why not?

“There’s No Manual: Honesty and Gory Wisdom About Having a Baby,” by Beth Newell and Jackie Ann Ruiz (Avery/Penguin Random House, 2020, 262 pages, $18). They lost me at gory. Back labor, 65 hours of it, left me a little twitchy. Looks like an interesting book, though. Pick it up for a preggo girlfriend or relative. Here’s the advice one of our ultrasound techs gave us when we were pregnant with our first kid, and I will now impart it to you:

1. It’s not the terrible 2’s, it’s the terrible 3’s.
2. “Would you like the blue sippy cup? Or the yellow one? The red shirt? Or the green shirt?”
3. After you have your baby, your dog will just be a dog.

Yeah, that’s all I’ve got, still, after 21+ years of motherhood. Ha! And bon appetit.

WM