Category: books

It would be so nice if I could connect all the books to the season, a topic we talk about a lot, to the month or some special days. Well, I can’t really. So the books are mostly random, though I really try my best to select them according to the girls’ interests. Not always with success.
What’s more, our reading time has decreased as kindergarten has started for E. and the mornings are really busy and in a rush most of the times. In the evenings we have little time together so I don’t read that much after dinner, we rather play a little more.

E. is getting bored with L.’s “baby books” so I read her books separately in bed as her bedtime story or in the  mornings when she cannot be woken up by anything else but a story. When I read for her little sister, E. brushes her teeth or watches Alphablocks on youtube.

So here are the books for a 21-month old toddler (1st list) and a 5 year old kindergartener (2nd list). (E.’s favourite, L.’s favourite, both loved it)

List 1

1. Kittens and Puppies (Touch-Feel-Hear)
   
   Well, this touchy-feely noisy book is boring. The girls looked at it 2-3 times but weren’t interested at all, although they usually enjoy noisy books. I’ve put it in the “for sale” box.
2. Wait and See by Sue Heap
   
   A nice autumn board book with animals who wait with the bear under a tree. What are they waiting for? I don’t want to spoil the surprise. E. liked this book and joined us whenever I read it for L.
3. Happy Birthday, Pookie by Sandra Boynton
   A cute but a little lame board book about a birthday piggy. L. loved it so much she asked the book by the piggy’s name, Pookie, which sounds like passing wind in Hungarian and we always thought she needed to go to the potty to poo.
4. Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton
   A really nice bedtime book about pajamas, brushing teeth, and having fun throughout the bedtime routine.
5. Hug by Jez Alborough
   Both of my girls liked this short classic about a little monkey who badly needs his Mommy’s hug. Mind you, there are no other words in the book but “hug” and you need to put the story into words. I really like these kind of books as you can say as much as you want; either going into small details or just run through it.
6. Does the kangaroo have a mother, too by Eric Carl
   
   A beautifully illustrated book by the famous Eric Carl about animals, young ones and adults. Look into it in this video. E. really loved what mother, father and baby animals are called (there’s a list at the end of the book). There were some surprises.
7. Jungle Tales by Kay Widdowson
   A brightly illustrated book about jungle animals. As for me I found it too bright. The kids did not enjoy it as much as the other books on this list. The fascinating thing is that the book pages are not rectangular but rather irregular in shapes. Each page has a hole so kids can peep through to the next page. I bought this book as L. find flamingos funny but not in this book.

List 2

1. Zog by Julia Donaldson
   Well I don’t think I need to popularise this book as it IS very popular and well-known both with children and adults. E. liked it although she’s not into dragons, but the storyline of Julia Donaldson’s books always fascinates her (just like me). Surprisingly, we read it only once.
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
   
   One of my all time favourite children books is E.’s favouite. I feel over the moon. As it is a chapterbook we didn’t read it at one sitting. I saw her “secretly” reading it at quiet time at the weekends. One evening when we had 3-4 more chapters to read she told me the story until the end. She had the idea to role play the story with plush toys and other props like in case of Room on the broom. The story in short: Three farmes decided to kill the fox that is killing their poultry. But Mr Fox is smarter than them.
3. Great Day for Up by Dr. Seuss
   
   This wasn’t the first time we’d read this book by Dr. Seus but I wanted L. to have a look as E. was about 2 when she got Great Day for Up and she loved it. Well, L. wasn’t that interested so I’ll save it for later. E. started basic reading with this book.
4. Whales and Dolphins (Usborne Discovery)
   
   This is a gorgeous book about whales and dolphins with real-life photos, all kinds of topics concerning cetaceans like echolocation, swimming long distances, birth-giving, connections with people, being endangered etc. The book includes some internet links where you can listen to whales’ singing for instance.
5. The Magic Stone (Read it for yourself)
   
   Originally I wanted E. to read this book on her own but she wanted me to read it. So be it. There’s a lot of repetition in the book that makes it easy for a beginner reader to read it and enjoy it at the same time. At the end we needed to talk about why the woman felt frustrated, why the tramp tricked the woman  and so on. E. was evidently puzzled by the story.

   Whoops… I left one really important book out. Harold and the purple crayon by Crockett Johnson. E. loooooved it and read it a lot all by herself.

   
   If you’ve read something with you little one(s) recently that you think we would enjoy, please share it in the comment section. Check out the earlier posts about books we’ve been reading:
   2017June Book list
   2017July Book list
   2017August Book list

Another month has passed and we’ve been reading on. Here are the books that we’ve covered in July. I’m trying to take age groups into consideration when organising these book posts.
Most of the time we read 3-5 books at an occasion. Both kids listen to the stories, though E. spends the after-dinner reading sessions playing 30 mins on the tablet instead.

If you want to read more about our new book reading routine click on the link.

(Colour codes: E.’s favourite and L.’s favourite and the books they both LOVE)

So here come books for my 18 months old:

1. Spot bakes a cake by Eric Hill
   
   Last months Spot goes to the circus was a great hit so I chose more Spot books from our secret stash. Still, L. tries to tear off the flaps, although less frequently.
2. Where’s Spot by Eric Hill
   
   A library book. Yes, in a Hungarian children library we found quite a few English books for kids. I’m convinced it’s due to the Mums’ English Club that takes place there.
3. Spot goes to the farm by Eric Hill
   
4. Zoe and Beans – We’re not scared by Chloe and Mick Inkpen
   
   Both Zoe and Beans  books are from the library.
5. Zoe and Beans – Hello, ladybird by Chloe and Mick Inkpen
   
   There’s a squeaky ball in the story. Whenever L. touches the squeaky ball with her finger E. squeaks a squeaky toy behind her back. We buzz when we find the ladybird on every page. It’s fuuuuun!
6. My Granny (Peppa pig)
   
   The least favourite. Neither of my children is a great fun. E. had a period around the age of 2 when she liked it. Mainly she asked for the Bubbles video.
7. Baby does by Elenor Taylor
   
   Very simple board book with a few words. Still, we can talk a lot about the pictures, like identifying toys, or describing action in more details.
8. Caterpilar’s wish by Mary Murphy
   
   A very simple and cute story about the metamorphosis of a butterfly.

For my 5-year-old:

1. Doctor Duck (Songbirds – Phonics) by Julia Donaldson
   
   Both of my kids enjoy this first reader book. E. can follow the easy text while I’m reading it. Tough I think it’s way too easy for her. L. likes when we sign “hot” and “sick”.
2. This is the bear and the bad little girl by Sarah Heyes
   
   I can’t say that this book has become E.’s favourite. We’d read This is the bear and E. seemed to remember but when we started to talk about how the bear feels when the bad little girl steals him, she wasn’t that happy about it.
3. Our Baby by Tony Bradman and Lynn Breeze
   
   We don’t normally compare our kids but E. really enjoyed to see the loads of things described in the book that her baby sister can’t do but she can. Baby L. was fascinated by the crying baby at the end, and when the big brother/sister makes the baby laugh.
4. The fish who could wish by John Bush and Korky Paul
   
   A strange story about a fish who wished for strange things. Illustrations are funny too, but the kids seem to find it funny.
5.  Fidgety Fish by Ruth Galloway
   
   E. got this book for her birthda. The vocabulary used in the book is quite varied and fun.
6. Ten Shiny Snails by Ruth Galloway
   
   A really nice board book for smaller children (age 3+ I would say) but E. likes counting and L. loves snails so I thought it’s a nice combination. While counting backwards through the story the snails disappear, then at the end there’s a big pop-up page where all the 10 snails gather around a flowerpot.
7. Wriggle and roar (poems) by Julia Donaldson
   
   Lovely short poems with funny illustrations. E. liked some of the poems but  they’re not her favourites. I read it to her when L. wasn’t around because she would be interested at all. I loved this book.
8. Life Cycles: Ocean by Sean Callery
   
   The list wouldn’t be OUR book list with a special interest, ocean book. E. was amazed by the food web/chain depicted on the last page. A very informative book with beautiful pictures. I’ve already ordered another book of this series: Grassland.

One extra: Noisy peekaboo Splash Splash! (DK)

Once we had an especially wonderful day (among the many horrible, whiny days when nothing seems to work out) I presented them this noisy book as a special gift for behaving like little angels all day. They both LOVE it. It’s noisy, there are flaps to peep behind, it’s about bath-time. There are quite a lot in this series too.

I hope you’ve found some good books on the list above that can entertain your little one(s).
What are you reading now? Let me know in the comment section.