Subscribe to RSS 2.0Children's books
So for the first time in my adult life I have an interest in children's books. Indeed, I already know a few of them off by heart. Here are my reviews of some of the ones we've read so far.
Ro's favourite is Stick Man. The things he looks for in a book at the moment are nice colours and shapes, and how the words sound. Stick Man has a nice lilting, rhyming story and the pictures are bright, with a lot of white space. Two thumbs up (if Ro had control of his thumbs yet).
Another favourite is The Gruffalo. He likes the physical book as much as the story - our edition is the board book and his fingers like to explore the edges of the boards and open the pages.
One Snowy Night hasn't gone down very well so far. I think the images are too pastelly for him at the moment. Aliens Love Underpants has similarly bombed. The rhymes compared to The Gruffalo et al are distinctly sub par. The Snail and the whale makes him cry - I think the colours are too dark. The Very Hungry Caterpillar will come into its own when he can poke his fingers in the holes although he does like the colours already.
Room on the Broom went down well. It's quite a good, lyrical story and the pictures aren't too alarming.
Finally, Peter Hamilton's Judas Unchained has been going down very well. I think he likes the swear words. A girl can't read only about brooms and Gruffalos all day long, you know.
Comments: 10
Gruffalo is a favourite in this house two (aged five). Have a look out for Gruffalo's Child, if he's enjoying it...
Posted by: Richard Wright on January 16, 2009 09:38 AM
Just wait until you get to the genius Mick Inkpen and "Kipper's Bear"
"There are birdies in the apple tree, and something peeping out. But where is Kipper's teddy bear? That's what this book's about."
Posted by: John A-W on January 16, 2009 10:16 AM
Yes, we have Mick Inkpen's Pet Shop book. And how could I have forgotten his real favourites - the Paddington Bear books. Not only do they sound good, they taste good too, apparantly.
Posted by: em on January 16, 2009 10:23 AM
Has he read Peepo! by Janet and Alan Ahlberg? That's my favourite book for babies.
Posted by: Sarah Stovell on January 16, 2009 10:50 AM
Peepo is my seven month old's favourite and has been since she was tiny. My personal preference is for Pants, by Giles Andreae. (Fairy pants, hairy pants, run away from scary pants...)
I saw Stickman on CBeebies at Christmas read by Derek Jacobi. Very good.
Posted by: Neil A on January 16, 2009 12:04 PM
When she was Rowan's age my daughter loved The Bugliest Bug (Carol Diggory Shields, Scott Nash) and Beegu (Alexis Deacon). The Bugliest Bug is American but like the Gruffalo in having a bit of plot and good rhymes. Not that she got plot at that age but it stopped my mind for going to mush!
Posted by: Catherine on January 16, 2009 02:17 PM
We have Room on the Broom too - with a storytape song version too.
We've got lots of storytapes, in fact. Some of our favourites are:
Alice in Wonderland
Talking Heads
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
although the best reading book so far is:
Calm Down Boris!
Posted by: Jenn Ashworth on January 17, 2009 09:20 AM
Our 8 week old is loving Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchinson. The colours and patterns in the illustrations are very involving, and the story provides plenty of room for dramatic voice effects!
Posted by: James on January 17, 2009 12:32 PM
I can recommend Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, but I've just looked on Amazon to double check it's by Mick Inkpen and I think it's now become a franchised series. If yuo can get an original, it's great. Also Inkpen's Big Blue Balloon.
And the Hairy MacClary (From Donaldson's Dairy) series of books.
Posted by: NaomiM on January 17, 2009 07:37 PM
The Baby's Catalogue and Each Peach Pear Plum by the wonderful Ahlbergs are my absolute favourite baby books. Almost worth having another baby for...
Posted by: Lucy Diamond on January 23, 2009 02:46 PM