Books For 2yr Old

[Tinkerisdead]

My DD is nearly two and we're beyond the "thats not my" texture/lift the flap books really now.

She is seemingly more interested in picture books with stories, pointing out objects and memorising favourite books and phrases.

i need to have a huge clear out of the baby books and considering asking for books for her birthday/xmas but i'm stuck in a rut..

She gets thrown if there is too much text per page or rather that we are lingering too long per page. I need quick punchy short stories but so far she seems to like Maisy/Wibbly Pig/Kipper/Spot but I cant face reading through series after series of the same characters. I love books so I need more variation! She has picked up the hungry caterpillar and where the wild things are so I think she's getting more interested in the actual story now rather than just turning pages

What else should I be looking out for?

We love the Hairy Maclary books. We got a couple of Julia McDonald books for his birthday but they seem a bit too long at the moment.

DS (2) also loves the Peppa Pig and In The Night Garden storybooks. But every now and then they've "gone on holiday" (in the back of my cupboard) until I can bear to read them again with enthusiasm.

The Gruffalo!!! Our 2 year old loves it, as well as some of the other books by the same author (sorry - can't remember her name).

He also loves Charlie & Lola books and Shark in the Park is a firm fav!!

Oh god yes we have the peppa and night garden ones too but I cant stomach them after watching the episodes repeadely too. I wanted reading to be a breaking from Upsy daist and her farking megaphone!

i agree julai donalson seem a bit long cant get her to sit through the gruffalo yet.

My 3rd is 2 and I do think there's a gap between the baby picture books/flap books and the Julia Donaldson type picture books.

My 2 year old largely listens to her big sister's stories but there are a bit beyond her and she does get bored, wee lamb!

We like Dear Zoo, Hungry caterpillar, Peepo and Each, Peach, Pear Plum. Monkey Puzzle is one of JD's with least text I think so worth a try.

ds at this stage liked the Duck in a Truck books, I must try dd with these.

apologies for my typos by the way DD is pretending to cut my toenails with clippers but she is hooking underneath each nail trying to flick it off...you try typing coherently with your toenails prised off.

Off to scour amazon for these suggestions..thank you

Can't remember the author but mine loved all the Dear Zoo, Oh Dear! etc books until they were much older - they can be used on so many different levels! Second Each, Peach, Pear, Plum - great for spotting things. A strong favourite in our house was The Tiger Who Came to Tea (still read now at 6 and 9!!) and other Judith Kerr books (Mog etc)

Mine likes the Daisy and Pip books (by Jane Simmons - lovely colours), Mick Inkpen books like Wibbly Pig, Sandra Boynton ones (Hippos do Berserk etc) and Mr Small. Only Mr Small and his limited diet. I guess she identifies with eating one crumb and half a pea.

My dc's loved most of the above, especially Hairy Maclairy and Tiger who came to tea.
Mine also loved Shirley Hughes, some of the stories were too long, but they loved to look at and chat about the illustrations.
Also Dr Suess (Green Eggs and Ham, ABC, etc)

My DC love Giles Andreae - Giraffes Can't Dance, etc or anything by Julia Donaldson.

At that age my dd loved
But where is the Green Parrot? (T & W Zacharias) - lovely pictures, a little text but not too much, you look for the green parrot on each page
Rosie's Walk
My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes (probably funniest if you have a cat so your toddler knows their habits)
The Elephant and the Bad Baby

Probably her all time favourite was We're Going on a Bear Hunt - I have happy memories of laying in bed hearing her chanting the story to herself in her cot :)

She also liked the Duck in a Truck books and always used to shout out the ends of the rhymes.

Actually, I think anything with a rhythmic text hit the spot for her - also This is the Bear, Where's My Teddy? ("Eddie's off to find his Teddy, Eddie's Teddy's name is Freddy . . .")

In fact, I still know loads of them off by heart, and she's 8 now!

Oh yes - Bear Hunt is amazing!

The Wombat books by Charles Fuge are adored by my DD. They do not have a lot of text on each page and are beautifully illustrated.

ahhhh yes the elephant and the bad baby off to dig that out for her rumpata rumpata rumpata

Have you tried the first fairytale collections - they are like older childrens books but simplified for little people. My daughter is a little younger than yours but she is just starting to show interest in them. She has also grown out of Thats not my..

www.usborneonline.org/catalogue/browse.asp?org=RYC32192&css=1&cat=1&seriesid=486

My 2.5yo is currently obsessed with Where The Wild Things Are and likes to pretend he is Max and say all his lines as we are reading it...

e.g. "I'll eat you up!" and "let the wild rumpus start!"

He also loves Mog The Forgetful Cat and Mog & Bunny as well as The Tiger Who Came To Tea, Gruffalo and Gruffalo's Child, Monkey Puzzle, the Hairy Maclary/Slinky Malinki series, Vincent The Vain, The Dog Who Could Dig and Madeline amongst others.

Dr Seuss: Cat In The Hat; Green Eggs And Ham; Daisy-Head Maisy. My 2.4 year old DD has been enjoying these since she was 2 and has now memorised many of the verses. They've been great for her talking/vocabulary.

My DD has also Paddington Bear books and many of the books mentioned above. Also Nick Sharrat's Goldilocks/Cinderella/Three Billy Goats Gruff/Jack and the Beanstalk etc colourful lift-the-flap books (since she was 6 months!!!).

• the Hairy Maclary books
• what the ladybird heard
• each peach pear plum and peepo
• bear hunt
• who's driving?
• ABC zoo, Dear Zoo
• counting books
• the wonky donkey
• Opposites, hungry caterpillar and anything else by Eric Carle.

one word to a page books, or books with words on the flaps and pictures underneath are good for learning to read (should declare a vested interest here - the sooner DS starts reading, the sooner I can get back to reading adult nooks )

DS (2.3) loves the Gruffalo and various Julia Donaldson, but also really likes the Oliver Jeffries books (Lost and found, Catch a star etc).

He's got a fairytale storybook too which he likes.

Over the last couple of months he's just sort of 'clicked' with books like the Gruffalo etc - for a good while he wouldn't sit through them. Now he knows the story so well he shouts out the end of sentences.

have you tried your local library? Ours has oodles of books from baby onwards. we do buy DD books too, but she loves the library & picking things out for herself. We've been taking her since just before she was 2 from memory & you can buy the fav's if you want.

how about Dr Seuss? - esp HOP ON POP & Green Eggs & Ham - not too long & captivates the little ones.

Second the Hairy Maclary and Slinki malinki books. Likewise the Gruffalo.
Peppa Pig is big in our house and another favourits is Rainbow Rob and a Nursery Rhyme book