As a family we have always read and enjoyed books Mum and Dad had always read to us and I would like to share some of my favourites.
I would like to start us off with a selection of books by Julia Donaldson who is such a great childrens author. My personal favourites are Charlie Cooks Favourite Books because it is full of all the adventures he has inside his book. Another all-time favourite is Monkey Puzzle because it’s hilarious and incredibly funny and is also a great animal book. My final favourite is a squash and a squeeze because it is funny how the wise man uses simple tricks to help the woman realise that she has all she needs a good lesson in life for us all, to appreciate what we have. We all love Stick Man and the Gruffalo also the addition to the Gruffalo named the Gruffalo’s Child is a great sequel! My sisters love Room on the Broom and especially The Paper Dolls they even like making them themselves. Room on the Broom because it is fun and exciting, and The Paper Dolls because they go on exciting adventures, but it also shows us how we should stick together!
Moving on to a classic book called Paddington by Michael Bond, it is about a bear from darkest Peru who travels to London and gets found on Paddington Station, and that's where his name comes from. He then gets up to lots of terrible antics with the Brown children. My next suggestion is the hungry caterpillar, it is good for young kids illustrated and written by Eric Carle, it is all about how the caterpillar eats lots of food, becomes a cocoon, emerges and turns into a brilliant, colourful butterfly. It is also a picture book so you and your child can make up the words. I will also suggest Each Peach Pear Plum another great picture book first published in 1978, it remains a classic children’s book today with some of your favourite story book characters.
Another book to be amongst the best is HUG! A story with very few words so you can still make up your own, it is about a monkey going around the jungle hugging all the creatures until he finds his family.
A great story book is The High Street Written and illustrated by Alice Melvin each page is a beautifully illustrated shop front which folds out to show what is inside the shop. Sally must visit each shop to buy what is on her list, but will she get the yellow rose? This is Sadie, is what my youngest sister would always pick for her story, in the book Sadie uses her imagination to visit her own little worlds, places such as the ocean were she is a mermaid or the jungle were she was raised by wolves. Where would you visit?
As a child, my mum used to love Shirley Hughes books and she has passed that love on to us, especially the book called dogger, which we have just bought for my cousin to enjoy. It is a story of Dave’s love for his beloved soft toy. The Alfie series are also really lovely and Shirley’s illustrations show family life perfectly.
The Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph, is a brilliant book with a great moral about not fitting in, standing out and being who you are. Another one of my favourites is Augustus and his Smile written and illustrated by Catherine Rayner. A story about a tiger named Augustus who goes in search of the smile he has lost, but will he find it?
The Tiger Who Came to Tea, by Judith Kerr, is another book about a tiger but this time he is incredibly hungry. And eats them out of house and home.
Class Two At The Zoo has been a firm favourite of mine, our house loves animals so this fits right in it is about a class at the zoo but will the Anaconda open one eye and start to wander?
Saving the best till last we now, we know these books off by heart the MUM and DAD books by Antony Brown these are just the best they are about how great mums and dads are, they would make a great gift for parents as well as children!
I hope you have enjoyed this list of books.It would be great to hear what your suggestions would be and whether you have read any of my favourites, and what your thoughts are?
Charlie