English books for bilingual English-French 2.6 year old

[Anna8888]

We read all books to our daughter in their original language only.

She currently loves Olivia, Beatrix Potter, Angelina (in English) and Babar (in French).

What can I move her onto next in English?

I love the Snail and the Whale, and the Gruffalo and Goodnight Moon and Paddington Bear for our 2.8 ds

Also read him the Madeline stories in English - were they originally French or just set in Paris?

Oh and ds also loves Winnie the Pooh

Sorry ds is actually only 2.4 - you'd think I'd know

Thank you. I've got Goodnight Moon, but she doesn't go for it. Madeline is a very good idea - they are American.

She loves Winnie the Pooh on DVD (the first one only). I never liked it as a child but, hey, I might have grown into it...

It's not quite what you asked for, but you could take a look at The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary in French - Simple phrases in both languages with standard cat-in-the-hat pictures.

Mine loved Shirley Hughes (still do, in fact!), particularly Dogger and all the Alfie books, as well as her poetry, which is lovely for little ones.

I second the vote for The Gruffalo and their other books too.

I love reading Winnie the Pooh it now, it's much funnier for grown ups.

french kids mags are very good - pomme d'api being a good choice.

opps thought you meant french!! - sorry!!

My little one loves the pants book.

DD is a similar age and she is going through a Topsy and Tim phase although I don't know if they are still available. She also likes the Julia Donaldson ones, Charlie and Lola and stories about Mog the cat.

Yes, I'm looking for ideas for English books (we live in France so lots of those easily available).

I have some Cat in the Hat. At the moment my daughter is into real stories. Shirley Hughes is a good idea too. I'll take a look at everything suggested. Thanks a lot.

Ruth Galloway? Looks a bit trashy but Fidgety Fish is an absolute top winner in our house (unfortunately as it encourages Rude Burping).

Spot is vile but ds loves him and I'll put up with a lot for something he likes so much.

The story Animal Train (can't remember author, sorry) is a complete charmer.

And the Runaway Train ones (Benedict Blaythwayt i think) the pictures are so beautiful.

Anna....here's an idea, why don't you just take your daughter to a bookshop and let her choose ? I know you are well served in Paris withenglish bookshops so shouldn't be a problem...

All my children love Topsy and Tim - but I hate, hate, hate them and I know them all off by heart now having read them so many times. So be warned!
Classics that your child should have include:
Anything by Helen Cooper - Baby who wouldn't go to bed, Pumpkin Soup etc.
Judith Kerr - The Tiger who came to Tea.
Jill Murphy - The Large Family books, Whatever Next etc.
And Shirley Hughes obviously as mentioned before.

A new favourite of ours is Cressida Cowell's That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown

We also love Emma Chichester Clark's Blue Kangaroo books.

mozhe - problem is the price. Quite happy to do that in FNAC and when in England but WHSmith on rue de Rivoli is not feasible on a regular basis.

RosaLuxembourg - thank you.

She's left The Tiger Who Came To Tea behind - she needs more of a story (Babar is great right now).

Sorry Anna - not quite sure how old your DD is. My almost 5-year-old DD loves That Rabbit belongs to Emily Brown and Blue Kangaroo. Like your DD she loves Olivia (so do I) and also Eloise (I do recommend Eloise if you don't know her!)Also Winnie the Witch are very good - brilliant illustrations.

She's 2.7 and seems to have very good concentration because I can read Olivia/Babar/Angelina books to her back-to-back for two-hour plus stretches and she doesn't get bored.

I like Babar because the storyline and language are quite complex and the illustrations are full of interesting detail that we can discuss. And I love Olivia because of all the expressions in the illustrations, and because of how the story is incomplete unless you pay full attention to the illustration. Angelina I am less gone on because the stories and language are much weaker, though the pictures are quite sweet and have lots of detail. Beatrix Potter is OK, but she is less keen than on the others.

So basically I am looking for interesting, complex stories/language with great illustrations. Generally I prefer writer-illustrators as they seem to blend use of language and illustration much more effectively.

Eloise

Also Allan Ahlberg's Happy Families series for example Mrs Lather's Laundry

Thank you very much.

And maybe Frances by Russell Hoban?

anna how was the weekend?

I want to buy this , but our dc are a bit older

Franca - it was great - and very, very exhausting. Paris seems very green and peaceful in comparison and normally I whinge about how grey and urban it is here. We stayed in a lovely 5* hotel, The Gray, just by the Duomo - funky. It was very hot and humid, so thank goodness we had air-conditioning - we didn't do as much sightseeing as I had hoped because I kept wanting to take my daughter back to the hotel to cool down and rest. The Duomo was looking beautiful, the restoration has really improved it. Ate some great food and did a bit of shopping.

I told you so, the traffic is appalling ...

Franca - you have certainly swapped one lifestyle in Milan for a very, very different one in Exeter (it is Exeter?). No wonder you feel somewhat ill-adjusted... probably nothing much to do with being a SAHM, just a huge difference in environment...