Wacky and funny, I don’t think George was too sure about the Cat at first, but he was obviously won over as he refused to leave a shop in Brighton until we bought him a little Cat in the Hat doll. We’re big Dr Seuss fans here so I’ll be back with other titles, but this one is always a winner.

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We had an old charity shop version of this that George quite liked, but it was when he received a new version with an accompanying Spot toy that he really loved it. I think he probably thought that his Spot was the actual Spot in the book, which of course he is in a way. He was then delighted to receive the Spot Easter book from his Grandma and greeted it with a big “Spot!” They are all simple but engaging for little ones. Easy to identify illustrations and lots of great flaps.

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Thanks to his Grandma Lala, George probably has the biggest collection of Hungry Caterpillar toys. They’re brilliant and were amongst his first toys so this had to be one of the first books we read to him. This is probably the best early book for introducing colours and numbers, fruit and even salami and also teaching a bit of biology. George’s favourite part though is probably poking his holes through the caterpillar’s various meals! He is a huge Eric Carle fan so I’ll be posting about a few of his other favourite titles.

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I think this was one of those books we originally got from the library and half the flaps were missing. This is a great way to introduce animals and their characteristics. There’s also a great simplified buggy book version with die-cut animals. This isn’t George’s favourite Rod Campbell, but he does pull it off the bookshelves quite a bit. His favourite is definitely It’s Mine so I’ll definitely blog about that soon.

This is a jet plane
with people inside.

Here is a seaplane
landing on water.

“Slinky Malinki
and Stickybeak Sid
were a troublesome pair;
do you know what they did?
Alone in the house
one mischievous day,
they opened a door
and they started
to play.”

The rhyming rhythm is lots of fun in this book and every other page repeats the same phrase as Slinky Malinki opens another door which makes it really familiar after just a couple of readings. The illustrations are great and George seems to spot something new each time we read it. Last time he noticed that Slinky Malinki had a pillow on his head in one of the pictures so George then needed a pillow on his head. Then Daddy did! Then Mummy too! I’m just hoping he doesn’t notice Slinky rolled up in a carpet rolling down the stairs…

There are other books in the Hairy Maclary and Slinky Malinki series and if the two we’ve read are anything to go by, then they’re all worth a read.

I don’t need an alarm clock
I’ve got Dickey Donkey
Every morning at the same time
He wakes me

Eee-orrh! eee-orrh!

Our neighbours don’t need an alarm clock either

And that’s from memory! It’s the illustrations and the Eee-orrh! eee-orrh! that grabs the children’s attention first, but there is a lovely little story going on as well. It touches on nasty people and being sad, but it all works out in the end and the meanies learn to be nice. I have to say, I was very happy to read this four or five times a day and I’m still really pleased when it comes out again.

First, I want to add that Goodnight Moon, which was an earlier post, is still a firm favourite. It was one of two bedtime books (the other Goodnight Gorilla, see below) that we pretty much alternated  every night up until about three months ago when George started asking for other books instead. But over the past couple of weeks they’ve made a comeback and it is really interesting to see how much he remembers them but also how much more he now understands. It’s amazing to think back to when we first read the books to him and he just started to recognise the characters, animals and things in the pictures and now he not only recognises them he can say most of the words too. At the moment he gets a little too distracted by the fire in Goodnight Moon – “hot hot ouch ouch” – so we reintroduced Goodnight Gorilla.

Goodnight Gorilla: Peggy Rathmann

I can’t include a quote from this one as aside from a few Goodnights there aren’t any words. The lovely illustrations follow Joe the zookeeper through the zoo as he says goodnight to all the animals. Little does he know, but the cheeky gorilla has stolen his keys and is following along behind letting all the animals out. The trail of animals follows Joe out of the zoo, into his house and up to bed. He’s so tired he doesn’t even notice them curled up in his room. It isn’t until his wife says goodnight and all the animals answer that the game is up. So off she goes to take all the animals back to the zoo, but the gorilla and his little mouse friend have different ideas.

The lack of words allows for a much more flexible story once your child starts speaking even a little bit. George inserts words here and there that change the story a bit each time. I can’t imagine he, or we, will ever tire of this book.

We have been alternating Goodnight Moon and Goodnight Gorilla since we started reading George bedtime stories, but he seems to have grown more attached to Goodnight Moon. He loves it. There are some nights we have to read it twice. He gets very very excited by the bowl of mush and likes to have a bit of time on each page to touch everything with one finger. Particularly the red balloon and the mouse when it appears on its own. You won’t have a clue what I’m talking about unless you’ve read this book. There’s not really a story. It’s simply a description of the ‘great green room’ and what’s inside and then you say goodnight to everything you’ve just described. For ages we have been saying goodnight to everything outside before we close the curtains so that might be part of the reason why George likes it. I think it’s more the lurid green, yellow and red illustrations alternating with monochrome pages that do it though. And the repetition.

The illustrations are not brilliant, but they obviously work. The text is a bit odd, but that obviously works too. I don’t think I would have ever picked this book up in a store, but we were given two copies and I have a feeling we’ll give both a good run. I would definitely recommend getting this book if you have a young baby. We have been reading it to George since he was a couple of months old and now at 8 months he definitely enjoys it, actually he loves it. There is something calming about reading a list of things and then saying goodnight to them one by one. I can imagine that in a year or two we will be doing this to George’s room as well before he goes to sleep.

“Goodnight light
and the red balloon

Goodnight bears
Goodnight chairs”

The first book we got was The Cow That Laid an Egg with Andy Cutbill which is the story of well, a cow that lays an egg or at least she thinks she has. The story is funny and the illustrations are perfect. Not too childish, not too simple, but a great balance of line drawing and texture.

A few weeks later I picked up Love Bugs which is another funny story, this time by Simon Puttock, about a valentine mishap with a happy ending.

” “DEAREST ‘Red’!
You have made me the
happiest bug in the world!
Let me say I LOVE you?
Longingly,
‘Blue’”
Ladybird blushed as red as the
rose. “He LOVES me,” she cried
and she wrote a reply. “

We’ve had this one for a while. Jeff really enjoys reading this one and doing different voices for ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’. The illustrations in this one are richer and more layered than in the Cow books. Alot of the background textures look like distorted or blurred botanical imagery which is very fitting as the story takes place among trees and plants.

Another book that’s become a firm favourite over the last few weeks is One More Sheep and it wasn’t until today that I realised Russell Ayto had also illustrated this one. It is a simpler style but with more toned down colours. The textures are all handcreated, there are no scanned patterns or fills. They are really lovely and fit the quirky story about a farmer who almost endangers his sheep because he can’t count them without falling asleep. Such a brilliant idea!

” Sam said:
“It’s a well-known fact
that counting sheep
tires people out
and sends them to sleep.

You’re not at all interesting.
You’re not at all odd.
You’re a first-class ticket
to the Land of Nod.” “

We’ve got a few more to explore so I’ll be back with more from Russell Ayto…

“And on that granny
there is a child,
a dreaming child
on a snoring granny
on a cozy bed
in a napping house,
where everyone is sleeping.”

This book has already become a firm favourite with George. It is the first book that he really properly recognises both by its large size and by its repetition. He has always fought daytime naps even when he has been exhausted, but he’s very good at going to bed at night. I think because we’ve had a solid bedtime routine since he was about two months old. So I have started making The Napping House part of our daytime napping routine. When we’re home he sits on my lap with his special blanket and Bob the monkey and we read the book together and when we’re out I recite the story from memory. Even if he’s crying he’ll stop when he sees the big blue book and he starts to grin when I begin reading because he knows I’ll whisper “where everyone is sleeping” everytime and that makes him giggle. Who knows how long this will last, but for now it definitely helps him settle and decide it’s okay to have a sleep.

I really love how this book is so big. There should be more huge boardbooks around. The illustrations pan over the scene as it builds and falls apart in an ingenious way that I haven’t seen in a picture book before. Showing the same room from a slightly different angle on each page encourages you to look for the changes and how the characters have moved and to find that little flea on each spread. I am sure this is going to remain a firm family favourite for years to come.

So a big thank you to Daniette and will for giving us this wonderful book.

(all illustrations and quotes are from The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood, 1996 First REd Wagon Books)

“When Nate woke up one morning,
The Opposite was standing on his ceiling
staring down at him.

“You can’t stand on the ceiling”
said Nate. “Get down!”

But the Opposite happened, and it
stayed where it was.”

I wasn’t too sure about this story the first time we read it. I didn’t really follow it, but I think George must have been fussing, we must have stopped and started, or (and most likely) I was tired and not really listening. Because when we read it again I really liked it. It’s a very clever story which plays with language and lets the little boy hero triumph once he realises how to play words to his advantage.

Jeff chose this one based on the Edward Gorey-esque cover and the strategically placed recommendation from Stephen Fry. The slightly odd illustrative style works really well with the slightly odd story. Both create a world very similar to our own but just a bit more interesting, just a bit more strange.

I’m not good at knowing what age books are aimed at, but I’m pretty sure this book would be better for either strong readers or listeners with a strong grasp of the playfulness of language. Younger readers or listeners would probably enjoy it as a good story without really understanding the intricacies.

(all illustrations and quotes are from The Opposite text by Tom MacRae and illustrations by Elena Odriozola, 2007 Andersen Press, London)

“Ben tried to feed Penguin to a passing lion.
Penguin said nothing.
Lion didn’t want to eat Penguin.”

The first time we read this book I laughed out loud. It’s a lovely story about a little boy called Ben who receives a penguin as a present and nothing he does (even sending the penguin into outer space) will make the penguin speak.

This is one of the books I picked out at the library. Jeff tends to pick books based on recommendations and authors we’ve read and enjoyed before. I pick based on the pictures, I can’t help it. I’ve always loved children’s picture books. As much as I love grown-up books, I’d love them even more with pictures and I’m always always swayed by a cover. The simple, bold cover of Penguin caught my eye. I’m always impressed by illustrators who convey so much, bring so much to life, with a few pen strokes and a bit of colour and Penguin shows Polly Dunbar as one such illustrator.

This funny little story is brought to life by simple narrative and wonderfully expressive, little illustrations. I think this book could easily be read over and over resulting in giggles every time.

(all illustrations and quotes are from Penguin by Polly Dunbar, 2007 Walker Books Ltd, London)