To read Roald Dahl to my nearly 3 year old

[Discopanda]

OK, more light-hearted than your average AIBU. I have a mental bucket list of books I really loved growing up that I want to share with my daughter and I adored Roald Dahl books from a very early age. I'm thinking of starting with the shorter stories like The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me and Esio Trot. Baring in mind she is very bright and loves books, I personally think toddlers are more than capable of enjoying Dahl books too. Does anybody else have a reading bucket list?

[Grokette]

Ooh yes I bought a boxed set of Roald Dahl when my twins were four months old! We've read most of them, okay I've read them aloud while the children look bored and/or fall asleep.

I also read all of the Famous Five books aloud to my pregnant stomach.

I have a bookshelf of bucket list kid's books in the playroom. DT1 can name all the little pictures on the spines of the Harry Potters, I get a completely unreasonable thrill when she says 'Dubbledoor!'

[Charitybelle]

Yes! I have a 2.4 yr old dd and am counting down the days til I can read her all my old roald Dahl books, my Enid blyton collection, the Narnia series and various other favourites. Most of them she will probably read on her own when she's older but I can't wait to discuss them all with her. Got all my fingers and toes crossed that she's a little bookworm like I was!

[catsofa]

I am 18 weeks pregnant and am living on my own until my DP moves in with me in a few months (hopefully) - he is currently in a different city. Apparently my baby is starting to be able to hear things outside the womb including the sound of my voice, but I just don't talk all that much because of living alone, so...

For ages I've been collecting all the books I loved best as a child, and I think I need to start reading them aloud to the bump now, even though I think the actual bump is still mostly jaffa cakes!

I have Hello Aurora by Anne-Cath Vestly (little known and very good!), The Demon Headmaster, the Ramona books and The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverley Cleary, Barbapapa's Ark, The Witches by Roald Dahl, Carrie's War, A Stitch in Time, Charlotte Sometimes... I can't remember what else, I have loads!

Incidentally my mum read Great Expectations aloud to me when I was about 13, it was lovely - teenagers can enjoy being read to too!

[catsofa]

Oh of course the Very Hungry Caterpillar - I remember my fingers being small enough to poke through the holes in the board version of the book - and Where the Wild Things Are.

[JoandMax]

We started with the short Roald Dahl books around 3 and now on the chapter books - DS1 reads them aloud with a bit of help (he's 6.3) and DS2 (4.7) listens. They are loving them!!

I have spent a fortune on books for them for Christmas - Paddington, Winnie the Pooh, Enid Blyton...... I loved these books so much as a child and it is so amazingly lovely to now be sharing them with my children.

[fatowl]

Don't forget all the amazing picture books toddlers love like Room on The Broom, GRuffalo, Duck in the Truck - my kids loved those.

[ComradePlexiglass]

Yabu. The law of reading with children is that they automatically hate all the books you loved as a child. Sorry, but it is ever thus. Sob.

[Mehitabel6]

It depends if they like them. I agree with ComradeP- you often find they don't like your favourites. I didn't like my mother's absolute favourite.

[MorelliOrRanger]

Yes do read them. I read then to eldest dd when she was 3ish. She still loves reading now aged 7.

Someone mentioned Room on the Broom. That imo is jd's best book. I love it.

[Mehitabel6]

It is quite upsetting when they don't like your favourites!

[Asleeponasunbeam]

It's okay to read them and have high expectations, but it's really vital to value picture books for their early years. There's so much that they can get out of them - skills of prediction, inference, noticing rhymes and patterns. Don't just rush ahead because your child is bright.

[Mehitabel6]

The best you can do for them is a library ticket and a weekly visit.

[SolomanDaisy]

Oh, I'm desperate to read all that stuff with my DS. I can't wait until he's old enough for Narnia and Harry Potter. I'm waiting though, as I want him to enjoy the stories for the first time when he is old enough to really enjoy them. There are so many fun books for preschoolers too and I do remember things like the tiger who came to tea from when I was little.

[Mehitabel6]

They love a lot of them- just don't build up your hopes and then you won't be disappointed.

[hazeyjane]

When the dds were babies, I read them children's books that I loved because they enjoyed the sound of my voice, rather than the story.

By 2/3 ish, they would rather I read them picture books, now at 7/8 they read books like Tom Gates, Roald Dahl etc themselves (well dd1 does, dd2 is dyslexic so would struggle with Roald Dahl) and they enjoy having stuff like The Borrowers read to them.

Ds has only really started enjoying looking at books recently (at 4.5).

Your expectations pre children is often very different to the reality - but still amazing, whether it is 'That is not my...' books or Alice In Wonderland!!

[IAmAPaleontologist]

My 2 year old is obsessed with the enormous crocodile audio book .

[Discopanda]

You can get a sound book version of Room on the Broom! We've got that, The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and a few other Julia Donaldson books :-)

[MissYamabuki]

Like comrade says, my DD systematically opposes anything I suggest. Roald Dahl seems to be the exception .

We've started with Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts (her favourite). At 4 she's not interested in reading but loves being read to and she now knows chunks off by heart!

The downside is that she has learnt some choice words and phrases that I hope she won't use in school (esp all the many words to mean "backside")

[pictish]

Yanbu but please be aware that at 3, even if she's super bright, a lot of it will go over her head.
Personally I think you'll get a more favourable response to age appropriate picture books at this stage, and should leave the Roald Dahl till she's older...but it certainly won't do any harm.

[fuzzpig]

There's not much I enjoy more than sharing my old favourite books with my DCs! It makes me so happy. One of DD's presents this year is a box set of the first 5 famous fives and secret sevens (less than a tenner in WHSmith!). Thankfully DD is so far very happy with listening to things I loved at her age.

Also, my DSD (16) has told me she is getting DD the faraway tree books this year - they were her favourites as a child and she wants to share them with her little sister, I'm over the moon she is doing this :)

Hazey we are a few chapters in to the Borrowers ATM! :o

[fuzzpig]

BTW DD is 7 and I think she was 5 when we read our first chapter book (George's marvellous medicine), she didn't really have the concentration before that so we stuck with picture books.

DS is now 5, though with a significant speech disorder, I think we will start soon. Probably the iron man or Winnie the Pooh. I'm struggling to decide whether to keep their Storytime separate or not so they still get that individual time.

[TheLovelyBoots]

I'm impressed, we were still on story books at this point. My almost-9 year old still likes Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.

I was extremely keen to read A Wrinkle in Time, which I did. It was well-received. A proper "moment".

[ireallydontlikemonday]

We've had the Twits and the BFG and are on George's Marvellous Medicine for 3.4yo DTs. They love it, a chapter a night.

They have kids books in the day and 'grown up' books at bedtime.

[catsofa]

Pippi Longstocking, I LOVE Pippi Longstocking. Desperately wanted to go and live with her when I was little.