Good books as presents eg recommended but unlikely to have already

[Yellowflowers]

I like buying books as presents - for the newborn baby and for birthdays and Christmas. Obviously lots of children already have The Gruffalo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar etc, so just wondered which books you recommend as presents that are good but not so popular so they are unlikely to have it already. Thanks

For 5 plus I would say A neclace of raindrops by joan aitkin. The jan pienkowski pictures are so lovely.

And for 8 plus The wind on the moon by eric linklater

and peepo definitely for babies. It's so perfect

'Goodnight Moon' for under fives, lovely pictures, with cleverly changing light.
'Going on a Bear Hunt' good repetition.
My 5 year old son loves 'Mr Men' & 'Little Miss' Books at the moment. When my daughter was 5 she loved the 'Rainbow Fairies'.

Some good suggestions coming forward.

Waldo the Worm can't recommend this one enough

The Elephant and the Bad Baby

www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/raymond+briggs/raymond+briggs/elfrida+vipont/the+elephant+and+the+bad+baby/4045930/

It is brilliant. I loved when I was little and my kids still love it now, even though they are not so little!

And Garth Pig and the Ice Cream Lady is a favourite

www.amazon.co.uk/Garth-Pig-Ice-Cream-Lady/dp/068970495X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1287004130&sr=1-1

as are all Ladybird books, particularly The Magic Porridge Pot, Red Riding Hood, The Magic Stone, Billy Goats Gruff and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

For older kids (I'd say 5 yrs plus) - anything by Astrid Lindgren, esp Pippi Longstocking (not just for girls, this one!), Karlson, Emil (naughty boy stories - but I'm a girl and loved them!), oh, just about ANYTHING by Astrid Lindgren www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-alias=books-uk&field-author=Astrid%20Lindgren

Moomintroll stories by Tove Jansson www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Atove+jansson&keywords=tove+jansson&ie=UTF8&qid=1287009598

Winnie the Pooh and Just So Stories are quite obvious, yet I can't but mention them again they are pure magic

Don't put your finger in the jelly, Nelly and Choclate Mousse for Greedy Goose both popular with DCs when toddlers, along with Peepo and Each Peach Pear Plum.

One I bought after a MN recommendation was the King of the Copper Mountains by Paul Beigel which is a lovely story for 6-8 age group.

For maybe 4 year olds, The Kiss that Missed. Can't remember the author, any bookshop would know it.

For 3 year olds, My Cat Likes To Hide In Boxes by Lynley Davidson. famous author (hairy maclary) but lesser known book i think.

for 2 - 3 year olds, One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre. A stone-cold classic counting book, possibly recent? i've always had to order it as it flies off the shelf everywhere, it's so funny.

for maybe 5 year olds, Anatole by Eve Titus - my favourite as a child - may be only second hand now. A mouse who makes his own dream job as a cheese taster - i also love his six children called Claude and Claudette, Paul and Paulette and George and Georgette.

Also No Roses for Harry - Dirty Harry and harry by the sea seem to be reasonably common now (very very good though) but No Roses for Harry not so much, and it's hilarious!

Anything by Jez Alborough goes down well in our house - we have several of the Duck books.
Also anything by Nick Sharratt - DD (now 4.5) loves the Daisy books.

I also agree for a "big" present it is really lovely to get a hardback anthology, just because they last longer and can become family heirlooms - I have a Grimms Fairy Tales from my godmother for my christening, and a Peter Pan illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell which will be handed on to my DCs when they are older.

For babies, we've just bought a fabric book made by Galt which has 7 pockets to put photos in. I thought this was a lovely idea.

I like to put the name of the child in an advanced amazon search as the title. It's a bit of a gamble if there are no reviews but I have a lovely book for my daughter Beth about a little girl called Beth who will not get in the bath and one for my son Matthew about a little mouse called Matthew who dreams of becoming an artist. Lovely keepsakes.

oooh sequin love that idea!

Sequin that is a lovely idea.

We like Shoe Baby a lot here, also Giles Andreas (sp) Dinosaurs Galore and Tiddler and Sharing a Shell by Julia Donaldson.

Nick Sharratt's Elephant Welliphant, You Choose and Chocolate Mousse for Greedy Goose are also great (at least I think they are all Nick Sharratt, am too lazy to go and check right now!)