Can I ask what sort of books uour 2/3 year old like best?

[Maggiesgirl]

Myself and my artist DDIL are thinking if writing a childs book ( even if it is only ever read my family children).

My Grandchildren are older than this age now and although I have spent my life working with children, I retired sometime ago from the EYFS age group.

The classics are still read I know, but what would you like to see in a book.

Colourful? Black & White?
Drawn or Computer generated art?
Short text ? Long text?
Moral? Fun?

Thank you if you feel you can answer me .

Oh am not a new member, just a name change have been hee from the beginning.

From the days of Peter having his transplant, the Barrrrrr being open and Lisdie having the tea shop everyday.

It needs to be easy to read out loud.
Repeated lines are also good... they join in on their favourites.
Bright colours.
A bit silly.

Interactive. Either physically like Calm Down Boris or something where the listener is addressed directly like Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus.

A black and white lengthy book with a moral story basis will never appeal to a 2 or 3 year old.

Books that are a hit for this age group are bright, colourful, silly short books which contain lines they can repeat or which rhyme. It also needs to be easy to read aloud and have an easy to follow plot.

When my DGC were small it was Hairy McClary and Brown bear Brown bear.

I'm playing around with text about a child who kerosene saying No! And another when she wont go to bed. Noth done in a humorous way.

Short text with rhymes. Hand drawn pictures. Colours. My 2 year old loves Hairy McLairy. Both my 2 and 4 year olds love Julia Donaldson books- Zog especially.

Have you joined SCBWI? Highly recommend it if you want to write picture books.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel what is SCBWI please? Thank you

Mine love julia Donaldson.

When my DGC were small it was Hairy McClary and Brown bear Brown bear.

Both are still incredibly popular with this age group and for good reason they tick every box of a perfect story for a small child. Using what's already popular and has been for a while is a great indicator of what works well in a children's story.

Mine loves the ones with rhymes that she can remember and join in with, and pictures with details she can look for every time. Her favourites are the Julia Donaldson ones and Each Peach Pear Plum

Each peach pear plum is still a hit with mine even though youngest is now 8! He likes the familiar characters, rhyming text, lots to spot in pictures.

Julia Donaldson

No bed without ted

Mog

Peepo and Each Peach pear plum and Dogger

My 3yr old loves Lift the Flap books and ones that have interactive elements in them.

Society of Children’s Book Writers And Illustrators
Thing is, there is a lot of technical and industry stuff that you wouldn’t necessarily realize about writing picture books and SCBWI is very good at helping you develop your craft as well as an excellent and supportive community.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel thank you will look into it

My 2 year old loves 'An alien is in your book'. It's really fun and interactive. She loves shouting Zaa Zee Zoo

My dd loved: Rudie Nudie by Emma Quay, Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox, Meg and MOG books by Helen Nicoll, Slinky Malinki Early Bird by Lynley Dodd, The Potato People by Pamela Allen.

Some things that appealed to my dd were stories that have a bit of humour, surprised her with the unexpected, used repetition, relatable and were well written.

Flaps are very popular at that age, and a sort of irreverent random humour - mine adored Sandra Boynton's "Hippo's go Beserk," for example. In terms of pictures, they like unexpected surprises, like little things hiding on each page.

Good luck

My DD loves lift the flap books, many of the ones we have are farm based so she loves naming the animals and doing the noises.

Colourful, drawn, moral. Normal names. Simple story with strong moral. Detailed drawings. Real life, not aliens etc.

Colourful, drawn, not too much text to the page. Rhymes are good. My DD especially loved Hairy McLairy, Hippos Go Berserk, Shark in the Park and Chris Haughton books like Oh No, George! and Shhh!