I love reading with my daughter, and most of the time she enjoys it too!
I’ve spent a lot of time looking for great reading material online for us, and thought I would share a few of our favourite items here. There are many lift-the-flap style books here, and a couple of books with absolutely fabulous music.
The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
This book may not have helped me to get my little one to sleep, but the fun rhythms and amusing illustrations are quite winning. The length of the sentences is just right – not too short, not too long!
Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae, Illustrated by David Wojtowycz
Again, another title which features wonderful rhyme and illustrations, all about jungle animals – a great subject for nearly any little kid! The opening two pages of this book are our favourite: all the animals almost hidden away behind the leaves, with the odd trunk, paw or tail escaping the greenery. These pages alone have caused much excitement and hours of amusement!
The Nutcracker by Susanna Davidson, Illustrated by Anna Luraschi
A lovely version of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s classic Christmas tale for little readers. We have spent many happy hours with this book. The musician in me loves the sound bites from Tchaikovsky’s score; they are of decent length and have an amazing (and unexpected!) orchestral depth and colour – no half-baked harmonizations or anything of that kind here. Just really lovely illustrations and sounds.
Little Children’s Music Book by Fiona Watt, Illustrated by Elisa Squillace
Another of the Usborne Noisy Books (as is The Nutcracker, above), this lovely book also has wonderful illustrations, accompanying a pleasant story about animals rehearsing music in the forest for a concert. Great for little musicians, or anyone for that matter. Again, while this may be a ‘Noisy Book’ in name, the sound quality is anything but; beautiful, clear sounds of different instruments practising their parts, and then coming together as an ensemble performance in the final pages of the book (the music teacher in me is very happy about introducing the concepts of ‘practice’ and ‘rehearsal’ at this early age!)
Moomin’s Very Big Lift-the-flap Book
Spend a day with the Moomins! This book features Tove Jansson’s unique Moomin family in a series of beautifully coloured and imaginative pages. There are lots of flaps to lift and fun objects – juicy apples, colourful fish and more – to be found beneath.
Meg and Mog Play Hide-and-seek by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski, Illustrated by Jan Pienkowski
Okay, sorry readers, I know this book is not in stock at the moment, but I just wanted to include this link and let you know about it, in case it is available elsewhere, as this book is a real favourite of ours. Meg and Mog take me back to my own childhood – I have memories of library time at school, and my library book bag, and I remember often borrowing Meg and Mog books. This particular book features Meg and Mog, busy in the garden, making spells, playing hide and seek in a castle, and having a tea party with Owl’s friends, to name just a few things!
Spot Goes to School by Eric Hill
Who doesn’t love Spot? We have a few Spot books now, and hopefully this collection will grow! I have just included one Spot book here – his very exciting first day at school! For a lovely article about Spot’s creator, Eric Hill, who passed away last year, click here.
*Please note, this post contains affiliate links (I may receive some income from any sales made through said links).
walk and cook 