Favourite children's book?

[lizzyttc2017]

I want to buy my baby some more books for Christmas, what are your favourites? We have quite a collection already but you can never have too many books!

Some of our favourites are Nancy Tillman books, such beautiful words! 😍

Hippos Go Berserk by Sandra Boynton
Peepo & Each Peach Pear Plum both by Allan Ahlberg
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems

Giraffes can’t dance, our absolute favourite! We also love Llama Llama Red Pyjama and What the Ladybird Heard. My LO is 10m if that makes a difference!

"This moose belongs to me" oliver jeffers

Peepo was my fave when the kids were babies.

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.

Actually anything by Martin Waddell - Farmer Duck, Can't you sleep little bear...

The tiger who came to tea.
Anything by Shirley Hughes

What do you do with a Kangaroo?
In the Night Kitchen
Freight Train
Ox Cart Man

So Much by Trish Cooke. Going to order this for my granddaughter after Christmas.

How old?
My favourite for 1-3 (though 5 year old still enjoys it tbh) is Zoom Zoom Zoom by katherina manolessou absolutely beautiful illustration and really different, and been a firm favourite from my children.

Countablock/Cityblock etc by Franceschelli/peskimo I can't explain how amazing these are, check out YouTube videos to see for yourself.

There is a series of books with sound buttons and real photographs rather than drawings that mine have loved (I find babies and toddlers much prefer photographs) they don't have publishers name on them but I have for them from Whsmiths and TKMaxx and I've seen some on Amazon. We have Roar at the Zoo/Noisy Farm/Splash in the Ocean

Andrew Zuckerman is an animal photographer who has published a series of baby board books called Creature which I like, there is Baby Animals/colours/numbers

My toddler likes the Busy books series. We have swimming/park/railway/cafe, they have wheels to spin and tabs to pull.

Classics wise mine have likes Where's Spot, Dear Zoo, Hairy Mclairy the best. Eric Carle wise, I don't understand why everyone always suggests the Hungry Caterpillar when he has so many better books. For babies my favourite is 5 little rubber ducks.

@Longleggedlovely I'm interested to hear what you love about Giraffes can't dance? I always found it mediocre at best and charity shopped it years ago, but it is mentioned in book suggestion posts without fail, and it baffles me!

Anything, and everything, by Julian Donaldson!

The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child, Room on the Broom, etc...

*Julia

@slappinthebass I just think it’s a really lovely story with a nice message about always being your own person and ‘dancing to your own song’ everyone should be a bit more like Gerald

Other than the Julia Donaldson ones which are always a favourite in our house, and the classics (tiger who came for tea, Mog etc)

My 2 year old loves:

Wow said the Owl- brilliant for learning colours
Whatever Next (my favourite)
Elmer (he's getting the whole set for Christmas)

Has anyone mentioned Martin Waddell? Specifically, The Big Big Sea and the one called something like “There Were Giants In Our House”.

It’s good for babies to see their parents cry, isn’t it?

And, Oi Dog, Oi Cat And Oi Frog!
Very funny to do voices to!

I think you have to be selective about Julia Donaldson, some of them feel like she churned them out in 5 minutes

DS (nearly 2) adores The Tiger Who Came To Tea, reading it with him before bed is one of my favourite things. He also loves The Flying Bath and The Great Dog Bottom Swap, which is weird and hilarious.

Whatever Next and Peace at Last.

This has hardly any words in - it’s all to do with how you read it but my kids both loved Goodnight Gorilla. Anything by Shirley Hughes but I love the Alfie ones.

Bear on a bike by Stella Blackstone is really lovely, and we read it over and over again. Beautiful enough that I didn't mind!

Any of the Oliver Jeffers ones. Personal preference whether they prefer 'Lost and Found' or 'How to catch a star'.

Brown bear, brown bear what do you see - amazing illustrations by Eric Carle, and quite hypnotic.

Actaully, in the hypnotic vein, Goodnight Moon' is strangely lovely, and a big favourite here for many years.

And for pure toddler appeal (ie you may come to hate them, but your toddler will adore them and demand them again and again) 'Toddle Waddle' and 'Dig, Dig, Digging' ... Both of which I can still recite... you have been warned!

Dogger!

Oh I loved Dogger! It makes me cry and when I read it to my kids now. We loved Hairy Mclary from Donaldson’s Dairy and all others by Lynley Dodd. Julia Donaldson also fab. Percy the Park keeper books were also very popular.

The Snail and the Whale, Goodnight Moon.

I can’t get past the line “and then Bella did something very kind” without getting something in my eye.

Croc and Bird by Alexis Deacon.
Blue Kangaroo books were loved by mine from around age 2. And a sweet set of lift the flap books about a little girl called Lulu.