I need great books to read to my 4 year old

[Emowoman90]

So I started to read last night to my 4 year old before he goes off to sleep, he needs a come down before he sleeps and i thought reading would help and it's helped massively, he slept well and he has woken up in a great mood!, normally my partner would let him watch these cooking videos that he's into but I said I think having a bright light in his face before going to bed is not helping as he often wakes up all times of the night so it had to stop.

I bought the new julia Donaldson gruffalo's granny yesterday and he loved it so I've bought a few more of her stories, are there any other child authors that I could read to him? I feel like if I explore more he'll come to like reading hopefully, its how I got into reading I love a book before sleep!. Any help is appreciated 😊

I was going to suggest taking him to the library too. If we don't use them, we will lose them. Wonder if he's a budding chef?

Expose him to a wide range of books by different authors. As well as your local library (surely open on Saturday?), look for book bundles on eBay for that age group and try FB marketplace or free sites. Or check out the books in your local charity shops where they will be a fraction of the new price and you can see before you buy.

Stephen Fry reading Paddington is so lovely. I used to put in on during longer car journeys and they would listen as we went along.

Charity shops can be great for picture books, let your son see what appeals to him ☺️

My 4 year old loves all the Julia Donaldson books and also the 10 Minutes to Bed Little Dinosaur/Dragon/Wolf etc are a lovely series. The Elmer books are a hit too. Oliver Jeffers Here We Are is lovely too.

Anything that rhymes seems to keep them entertained well! Anything Julia Donaldson is fab.
Also books with humour such as Oi Frog or Daisy eat your peas.
Both my girls LOVE "You choose" and Where's wally has also been popular.

Meg, Mog and Owl
Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam
Magic Beach
Nick Sharratt books
Tremendous Tractor series
Topsy and Tim books
The Lighthouse Keeper books
Whatever Next
Peace at Last
The Giant Jam Sandwich
Poo Bum
Rosie's Walk
The Jolly Postman
Postman Pat books

My 4yo loves the Highway Rat, it’s far and away his favourite. We’ve had 2 world book days where he’s dressed as the Highway Rat. He also like Holey Moley, Poo at the Zoo (or something like that) and he has a couple of books like 10 little race cars where he can count the cars himself.

10 little....by Mike Brownlow. full series.
There's a xxx in my book. full series.
anything by Julia Donaldson, there's bloody loads.
10 minutes to bed little.... Full series.
Oi frog / dog / cat / dinosaur etc.

but also just go down the charity shop and have a root around. We've picked up random books the kids adored. like Bumble Bear by Nadia Shireen, I wish I was a Unicorn, Runaway Pea

Brilliant! Our 4 year olds recent favourites are;

The Tiger who came to Tea,
Starting School (Janet x Alan Ahlberg)
Poo in the Zoo (she knows it off by heart 😂)
My Big Shouting Day (Rebecca Patterson) -I love this one-
Ready, Steady, Mo! (Mo Farah)
Mrs. Lathers Laundry

Mr Men and Little Miss
The Day the Crayons Quit
All Julia Donaldson
Topsy & Tim
Charlie & Lola

Just get any "floppy" book (that's what we called them anyway 🤣) and don't overthink it.

Aw I remember My Big Shouting Day! Youngest is 14 so it's been a while:)

Just re the library: even if he can't get there (and I'm aware some have really weird opening times!) but if you can go without him, just grab a load of books that you think look fun. It's good to try loads of different things and if he doesn't like something, meh, it was free, take it back. If he loves it, then you can always look at buying it for him.
Also, our library card lets you go to all the libraries in the county (Hertfordshire) and they all have different opening times, so it's worth seeing if that's the same for you.
My DD is in year two and growing out of "floppy books". I'm going to miss them!

Is the library never open after school or on a Saturday? The local libraries around here usually have at least one session when they're open outside school hours.

Anyway, even if he's at school, you could still go to the library without him and choose some books for him to read. See which ones he enjoys and then if he has favourites you can buy those.

You can't go wrong with Julia Donaldson though, they're lots of fun to read!
Also Dr Seuss (the Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, etc) and Hairy McClary. "The Diddle that Dummed" is a firm favourite in our house too, we have read and re read it a lot!

Do you have a branch of The Works near you? They have really good value books.