What book did your toddler children love you reading to them?

[JimandPam]

My two boys are at the age where they are absolutely loving story time before bed. They are 2 and 4 so a great age to enjoy a good story

We have really exhausted our book collection and I wondered what story you cherished reading your children at this age/they cherished you reading to them?

We have all the classics but I've been surprised when gifted books I would never have bought myself as they gone down so well

I know it is cheeky using AIBU but I wanted to put an order in World of Books tomorrow for the weekend!

So what were your much loved books?

Mine loved

Cars and trucks and things that go - Richard Scarry

Dogger - Shirley Hughes
We're going on a Bear Hunt -
Snow Bears Surprise by Piers Harper

We also had a couple of illustrated fairy tale compendiums which gave lots of re-reading opportunities.

Definitely agree with the tiger that came to tea

Stickman! I can still recite that from memory and my toddler is now 14 😀
What The Ladybird heard is great, and The Singing Mermaid is an alltime great. Julia Donaldson was worshipped here!

Who's In The Loo was also a favourite., sadly also a truly horrific Dora The Explorer one, avoid those at all costs. Let's not even get started on the Disney Princess boxed set a misguided aunt sent...she loved, we wanted to burn them 😂

Julia Donaldson a hit

Giraffes can't dance
and
What the Ladybird Heard
for interaction and looking for the tiny insects was always fun.

Six Dinner Sid
Cats Car
Mummy I lost My Purr (not exact title)
Biscuit Bear
Mrs McTatt

Most have already been mentioned but also On the Way home by Jill Murphy - our copy was mine in the 90s and it's managed to follow me around for 30 years somehow!

Also meg and mog stories but might be a bit too simple for four year old

All the old favourites like The Tiger who came to Tea and Winnie the Witch. One my DD really enjoyed before she started school was Don't go to School by Myra Zepf.

Mine loved all the Hairy Maclairy books. His favourite was 'Rumpus at the Vet's'. He also loved Allan Ahlberg, especially 'The Runaway Dinner', 'Previously' and 'The Pencil'. Oliver Jeffers was a big favourite, especially 'Stuck' but also 'The Way Back Home', 'How to Catch a Star' and 'Lost and Found'. Another huge, huge favourite with all of us was 'Not Now, Bernard' - I actually bought a new copy of that last year when he was sitting his GCSEs and used it to help him with his anxiety! When he was very little, he adored 'Peek-a-boo Penguins', but yours might be a bit too old for it now.

Oh gosh yes...Oliver Jeffers! My son's absolute favourite was How to Catch a Star. We had (still have I expect) the CD to accompany it which was read by one of the McGann brothers. It was gorgeous! I can still hear it today 'Once there was a boy and the boy loved stars very much...' Such a gentle book, perfect bedtime reading.

Bedtime Bear was a favourite in our house.

My son loved Shirley Hughes' books as a toddler, especially the Alfie and Annie Rose ones. The pictures are amazing.

Zog

PP have mentioned the giant jam sandwich which makes me very happy as I have known the man who wrote/illustrated it all my life and he is one of the loveliest humans I know 🥰(and it was a book I adored as a child and also my son now loves it. Another great one by John lord is ‘the runaway roller skate’).
thanks to pp for other book suggestions-we will be checking out some not previously known to us. 📖📕📗📘📙📚

My 2 year old loves all the Julia Donaldson and the classics like Jack and the Beanstalk, having to read the Wonky Donkey books at night at the moment, although he says the Donkey has 2 eyes and isn't that smelly, lol.

My 3 year old LOVES the runaway pea books! Thinks they're hilarious !

Mine are almost-4 and 15m. We love love love stories!

The preschooler loves:
'You're called What?' by Kes Gray (love the author)
'Oi, Frog!' and 'Oi, Platypus!' (also Kes Gray)
'No-Bot the Robot' by Sue Hendra
All the '...Love Underpants' collection and the '... in Underpants Save the World' (Dinosaur, Pirates Aliens etc) (Claire Freedman)'
The Albie books by Caryl Hart and Ed Eaves (e.g. How to Win a Monster Race)
'There's a Monster in your book' and 'There's an Alien in your book' (both Tom Fletcher)
'Send for a Superhero' (Michael Rosen)
'You Choose' Nick Sharratt
'My cat likes to hide in boxes'
The Large Family series e.g. 'Five Minutes Peace', 'A Piece of Cake'
The '10 Little....' series by Brownlow and Rickety

The toddler loves:
'Where's Mr Dog?' and 'Where's Mrs Tiger?' (that entire collection by Ingela Arrhenius)
'Yawn' and 'Shark in the Park' (Nick Sharratt)
Anything Eric Carle e.g. 'Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do you see'
Where's Bear? (Emily Gravett, in fact any of her books)
The babies and kitties book
Oh No George! By Chris Houghton
Whose Bottom?
Anything published by Nosy Crow e.g. the Peekaboo collection

My preschooler also loves 'reading' the toddler's favourite stories to them while the toddler loves choosing a story for me to read for preschooler...both will share a bedtime story together with me or dad (or both!), one picked by each of them 🥰

This is a fabulous website https://www.thereaderteacher.com/nursery

Favourites in my house then were Julia Donaldson and the you choose range.

No Matter What by Deb Gliori and Each Peach Pear Plum.
I had to hide Each Peach sometimes because I couldn't stand another day of it 5,000 times.

Ahhh I've still got mine (on a high shelf so it doesn't get ripped!)

My 3yo loves asking me to read her "that red book....the biggest plaster in the box for Claire's knee book!' 😍

@JumpstartMondays I love My Pet Star from the list, it was given out free at my local library and is such a sweet book. I think when my son asks what was the first book he loved I'd have to say that one, it's a keeper for sure.

The Book With No Pictures (reader needs to be prepared to get really into it!)
The Large Family collection (which I continue to love from my childhood - it has a distinct 1980s parenting style!)
Beware of Boys
Roald Dahl books (currently The Twits features highly, but it used to be Fantastic Mr Fox)
Brambly Hedge books
Poo in the Zoo

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late by Mo Willems - Think I've got the surname right.

My 2 year old currently loves:

• we're going on a bear hunt
• brown bear, brown bear
• poo in the zoo
• goodnight moon
• funnybones
• a random usborne book about castles and jousting that we have to read every word and open every flap (it's a fact book)

My 6 year old at that age loved:

• dinosaur roar, all of them, they're great!
• the dinosaur department store
• if I had a dinosaur
• astro girl

She liked dinosaurs a lot, she now reads Jacqueline Wilson books independently, I miss bedtime stories with her!

At those ages:

Richard Scarry books
Down in the Big Construction Site (age 2)

He quite liked Meg & Mog. Although we read all the Julia Donaldson, he tended to memorise them really, really quickly and then didn’t want to know.

Oh, and my favourites were the Babies First Bank Heist books! They are super funny

Teddy bears go shopping!
I can still say all the words now, after forty years!