Regular readers will know I have tried to get the little ones interested in books from a very early age. Yes, we do all the usual things such as reading at bedtime and throughout the day as and when opportunities arise. One of the things that I have done, is to put some books in the toy box for them to play with. This seems to have worked, as Toddler boy happily sits and looks at books turning the pages carefully, which always surprises me as he does his best to destroy everything else which comes into his path.
Now Toddler Boy has a baby sister, he is doing his best to encourage her to look at books. First he places them just within reach, this encourages a bit of crawling. Then he lets her get to them, have a few nano-seconds of playing and then he takes them away with his battle cry ” MINE, SHARE!” I have done my best to explain the concept of sharing but it hasn’t sunk in yet.
The other day he went out and left her (us) in peace, hence she actually got to have a good look at some books. This got me thinking about the best books I have found for her age group. Here are the ones that seem to go down especially well in our house:
- That’s not my……. (Teddy, Penguin, Bunny) by Rachel Wells and Fiona Watt
- Tickle, Tickle by Helen Oxenbury
- The Busy Little Train by Anna Claybourne, Jo Moon
- Where are you Little Penguin? by Nicola Baxter
- Maisy’s Big Flap Book by Lucy Cousins (any Maisy book goes down well though)
- Yellow Digger by Benedict Blathwayt
- Pip The Puppy illustrated by Axel Schaffer
- Dinosaur by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells
- Elephant Wellyphant by Nick Sharratt
- Chimp and Zee’s Animals By Catherine and Lawrence Anholt
8 Comments
I *love* those It's not my… books! (I mean Dylan does, obviously :P) and "where's that monkey?" is another favourite – it's really clever,has little cut out windows on each page that *look* like the monkey's poking through, but it turns out to be something else – kept me guessing to the end!
I wonder how many of these you will be able to recite by heart in a few weeks. Husband and I spend date nights reciting 'Dear Zoo' to one another. Not v. romantic..<br>I have tagged you over at mine. Sorry.
Nice list. I found Rosemary used to love the rhyming books when she was a small baby and then again when she was around 18 months old. Things like Hairy Mclary and Each Peach Pear Plum, but also some of the old Ladybird ones, like (my favourite) Ginger's Adventures. <br><br>It's my friend's daughter's first birthday today and yesterday Rosemary went into town with her dad to get a
We've got a few of the top ten!<br>We keep loads of books in the living room along with their toys. They are a popular choice, makes me happy 🙂
Good stuff!<br><br>If we get them interested in books it certainly won't do them any harm will it.<br><br>I think my favourites from that age (which I still occasionally inflict on Sam) are Guess How Much I Love You, the Hairy McClary series, and my childhood favourite Ladybird book Tootles The Taxi.
Great list – my favorite though is still the gruffalo's child and i can't wait to get Mia into Enid Blyton with the far away tree and Mr Moonface and also My naughty little sister by Dorothy Edwards and Shirley Hughes – i love books and it looks like all my girls do too!
Ah, moonface! fond memories :)<br>I picked up a copy of all the far-away tree books rolled in to one in a charity shop when I was pregnant – I know it'll be *ages* before the little man is ready for that one, but still, t'was a bargain 🙂
Have you tried Dear Zoo (and the other books by the same author) ? Nice flaps and simple designs – Toddlergirl is a big fan<br><br>She's also nuts for Meg & Mog (I think its to do with the BOOM)<br><br>Off to investigate the other ones we don't have