We are a family of bibliophiles. The Podlings love it when we pack up a snack, a blanket and a pile of books and head outside for a good reading session. We have lots of favourites, but I thought I'd share some of the ones the Podlings are enjoying most at the moment. The crucial thing about these books is that not only do the children enjoy listening to them, I enjoy reading them. There are no doubt books in every child's library that leave the parent groaning whenever they are asked to read them, but I could happily read the following books to the Podlings again and again and not mind at all. Without further ado and in no particular order, here are a few of our favourite children's books this summer:
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"Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" by Judith Barrett is a wonderful story of a town whose weather comes three times a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. All is well until the weather takes a turn for the worse! This book has a lot of American terms, but the Podlings will now happily tell me that they mean jelly when they say jello and jam when they say jelly. It's a really fun story and always leads to lots of discussion..
"Where's my teddy" by Jez Alborough is a short story of what happens when a little boy called Eddy loses his teddy in the woods. The rhyming text is a delight and it never fails to make Mark laugh when we read it, so there's a ringing endorsement! Other great books by Jez Alborough that we enjoy include "Fix-it duck" and "Yes"..
"Harold and the purple crayon" by Crockett Johnson is a popular bedtime favourite with the Podlings. It follows a little boy whose drawings come to life and his adventures when he goes for a walk in the moonlight with his purple crayon. It is masterfully told and the simple illustrations add to its charm. We really love this book. We also have 'Harold's fairytale', which, though lovely, just isn't as good as the original.
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"Caps for sale" by Esphry Slobodkina is a retelling of a traditional tale of what happens to a peddler who falls asleep under a tree and awakes to find a bunch of monkeys have stolen his wares. It has proven a great favourite with Tom and Lily and is much requested. I bought this book after reading about it on aspiritedmind.com, one of my favourite blogs. A fellow bibliophile, Catherine has frequent book reviews on her blog for both adults and children and her recommendations for the pre-school crowd are worth a look.
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"Nighty night" by Colin McNaughton was Tom's 'prize' from his school prize giving assembly and it has proved popular with the Podlings. Littlesaurus isn't tired and doesn't want to go to bed and comes up with a stream of excuses as to why he shouldn't have to go to sleep. Tom and Lily love to join in when we are reading this one and it has become a regular bedtime favourite.
No English childhood would be complete without a healthy dose of Enid Blyton! I loved Enid Blyton as a child, so I am thrilled to now be able to read her to my own children. "Five O'Clock tales" is a collection of 40 short stories that are fairly typical Blyton fare. We haven't read all the stories as the Podlings have their favourites that they like me to read time and time again. The book is a good introduction to stories without pictures as most of the books we read together are picture books. Can't wait until they are old enough for the Famous Five!
"Harold and the purple crayon" by Crockett Johnson is a popular bedtime favourite with the Podlings. It follows a little boy whose drawings come to life and his adventures when he goes for a walk in the moonlight with his purple crayon. It is masterfully told and the simple illustrations add to its charm. We really love this book. We also have 'Harold's fairytale', which, though lovely, just isn't as good as the original..
"Caps for sale" by Esphry Slobodkina is a retelling of a traditional tale of what happens to a peddler who falls asleep under a tree and awakes to find a bunch of monkeys have stolen his wares. It has proven a great favourite with Tom and Lily and is much requested. I bought this book after reading about it on aspiritedmind.com, one of my favourite blogs. A fellow bibliophile, Catherine has frequent book reviews on her blog for both adults and children and her recommendations for the pre-school crowd are worth a look.
To prepare Lily for school, we have been reading a few 'starting school' type books. I love Shirley Hughes, and "Lucy and Tom go to school" doesn't disappoint. It simply tells of Lucy's first few days at school and I hope it gives Lily some idea of what starting school will entail. I hope she doesn't expect the milk in the playground that Lucy gets though, since that hasn't been available for some years! I find Shirley Hughes' childhood tales very comforting. We are also currently enjoying "Sally's secret" and "Annie Rose is my little sister" . Her nursery collection is also a favourite.
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"Nighty night" by Colin McNaughton was Tom's 'prize' from his school prize giving assembly and it has proved popular with the Podlings. Littlesaurus isn't tired and doesn't want to go to bed and comes up with a stream of excuses as to why he shouldn't have to go to sleep. Tom and Lily love to join in when we are reading this one and it has become a regular bedtime favourite.
No English childhood would be complete without a healthy dose of Enid Blyton! I loved Enid Blyton as a child, so I am thrilled to now be able to read her to my own children. "Five O'Clock tales" is a collection of 40 short stories that are fairly typical Blyton fare. We haven't read all the stories as the Podlings have their favourites that they like me to read time and time again. The book is a good introduction to stories without pictures as most of the books we read together are picture books. Can't wait until they are old enough for the Famous Five!.
Of course, we have many more favourites and I could go on talking about books until the cows come home. Instead, I think I shall retire to bed and read my own!
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