Rhythm
Whiffy Wilson The Wolf who wouldn’t go to School by Caryl Hart & Leonie Lord
We’ve been reading another great picture book to prepare a child for starting school – Whiffy Wilson The Wolf who wouldn’t go to School. I love the humorous approach that Caryl Hart has added to a familiar situation and she has created a wonderfully supportive friend, Dotty, who helps to ensure that Wilson has lots of…
The Night Pirates by Peter Harris & Deborah Allwright
The Night Pirates has a crew of girl pirates who ingeniously outsmart a crew of grown up pirates and steal their treasure. This swashbuckling adventure is fun to read and overturns traditionally stereotypical pirate roles. It is a celebration of girl power (with help from a little lad, Tom).
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae & Guy Parker-Rees
Giraffes Can’t Dance is a wonderfully uplifting story of friendship and learning to be yourself.
The Wheels on the Bus
“What were the first books that your daughter enjoyed?” asked a friend of mine last week. Without doubt my daughter loved The Wheels on the Bus and Old Macdonald had a Farm, classic rhymes told in board books with holes. They are sturdy, small enough for little hands and the lovely bright, colourful illustrations provide…
Amazing Aeroplanes by Tony Mitton
If you are planning a holiday that combines planes and small children I recommend this colourful, non fiction picture book to introduce the experience of flying. We bought it for our daughter (who first flew at the age of four months) and its bold, bright pictures and easy to read, simple rhyming text were an…
Caryl Hart recommends Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell & Helen Oxenbury
The Story: There once was a duck who had the bad luck to live with a lazy old farmer. The duck did the work. The farmer stayed all day in bed. Poor Duck. He is so tired, and fed up that the other animals make a plan to get rid of the lazy old farmer once and…
The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson & Rebecca Cobb
The Paper Dolls is a beautifully gentle story about a childhood activity which encouraged us to make our own paper doll chains 🙂
UPSYDOWN TOWN by Beth Shoshan and Sue Hendra
We love a bit of nonsense in our house so UPSYDOWN TOWN is very well read! It isn’t really a story, just a lovely nonsensical description of a land where everything is a bit topsy turvy. Fun elements include fish and various other animals flying in the sky, birds swimming in the sea, thin elephants, trains…
Doing the Animal Bop by Jan Ormerod and Lindsey Gardiner
I was sad to hear of Jan Ormerod’s death last week, her books have given pleasure to me and to many readers over the years. One of our favourite books, written by Jan Ormerod and Lindsey Gardiner, is Doing the Animal Bop.
Big Red Bath by Julia Jarman and Adrian Reynolds
The Story: Ben and Bella are joined in their big red bath by a succession of animals. When Hippo tries to get in the bath it leaves the bathroom and ends up flying around the world. Flamingoes come to the rescue so that Ben and Bella can get home and tell Mum and Dad about…
