Every three-year-old I know loves books, and my daughter is no exception. If she’s not been particularly well behaved at pre-school (and um, that does seem to be happening more and more, at the moment – apologies to the key worker who she headbutted recently) then we sometimes say to her “No bedtime stories”. This is guaranteed to send her off into a mini meltdown. The thought of no stories before bed is enough to push her over the edge.
But most days, our post-pre-school routine is lovely. We walk home together, and sit in the kitchen with a few snacks (usually raisins, rice cakes and milk) while watching Peppa Pig on the iPad. Then it’s upstairs for a quick bath before getting into her PJs (OK, I sometimes get into mine too) and we lie on her little toddler bed together, reading a couple of stories.
At the moment, every second page of reading is halted by the three-year-old asking questions (“Mum! Mum! What’s his name?”… “Mummy? Why is he sitting there?”) or asking if she can spell out certain words in the book. All diversion tactics, of course. Anything to delay the moment she has to go to sleep.
Three books that we’re enjoying reading right now are Yeti And The Bird by Nadia Shireen, Mr Tilly And The Halloween Mystery by Noreen Leighton and The Story Of Prince George by… (who does write the Peppa Pig books?).
The Yeti And The Bird is the third book from children’s illustrator and author Nadia Shireen. My daughter LOVES The Good Little Wolf (we’ve yet to buy Hey Presto!) so this book was bound to go down well. It tells the story of a lonely yeti who had no friends, until a little bird loses his way and ends up meeting the yeti and showing him how important friendship is. Nadia’s books are beautifully illustrated, and she adds in gags for the grown ups – fantastic when we are the ones who have to read the story again (and again. and again.)
Noreen Leighton has written two children’s books – Mr Tilly And The Halloween Mystery and Mr Tilly And The Christmas Lights. We love both of them. Mr Tilly is a little dog who lives in a tea room in a Scottish village. He gets up to all sorts of mischief as he tries to help solve mysteries. The books are illustrated by Lorna Wilson, who met Noreen in a tea room, and they cooked up their plan to publish children’s books. Such a fantastic story behind the books! You can even follow Mr Tilly on Twitter: @talesofmrtilly
The Story Of Prince George is a special Peppa Pig book published to mark the birth of Prince George (see what they’ve done, there?). As a mum of a daughter who is becoming increasingly interested in princesses (DON’T worry, she is also into cars, trains and building towers), this book is a firm favourite. Prince George lives in a castle with Princess Peppa and all is well until a big dragon comes along. Can George save the day? Any Peppa Pig fan will love this book.
Which children’s books are your kids loving right now?
Psst! We were sent these books to review. You can read all about my review posts, if you’re that way inclined on my Work With Me page.
Oh yes… Books, books, books! We can’t get enough of them in our house. Our little bear always asks for one more story at bedtime (another diversion tactic of course!) but she genuinely loves her books. I love that she loves her books! She frequently picks a book up off her own back and follows the sentences with her finger. As my friend so aptly said “You can’t spoil a child with books”.
Author
I agree Carol! A child can never have too many.
I love storytime. It’s the time of day I can give all my attention to my elder child as my husband is home and can take the little one while we read and chat upstairs.
Current favourites are Milly’s Marvellous Hat by Satoshi Kitamura (great book about using your imagination), Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake (my son loves nonsense rhymes) and Tatty Ratty by Helen Cooper (the story of what happens to a lost cuddly toy).
Books are SUPER popular in the Richmond household with both the almost 3 year old and the almost 1 year old – we love ’em! My eldest also delays the proceedings like your’s by asking everyones name and other questions every page… most annoying! But amongst the favourites we’re reading right now are: The Night Before Christmas (yes, still!), Dogs Don’t Do Ballet, and Ernest & Celestine (another Christmassy one!). And my littlest one is enjoying discovering The Gruffalo 🙂 xx
The hours we’ve spent with Peppa Pig! 😉 We’re now reading Jacqueline Wilson books…how life moves on. Had a funny moment the other night when asked ‘Mommy what’s a copious evacuation?’ as my daughter was reading it to herself – I explained but when I read it in context it meant something very different!
We love books in our house. I think they’re great for sparking children’s imaginations and helping them with picture and word recognition. I’ve written about our ‘reading list’ for this year – lots of Mr Men books (for Dexter), Oliver Jeffers (for Sophia) and Roald Dahl (for the kids, but mainly for me!)
Author
You should check out my most recent post, Laura!
Delighted to see Noreen Leighton’s Mr Tilly books are going down so well with the new generation of parents and kids. They are indeed an utter joy, written with great affection and endless amounts of fun. Noreen is one of the most gifted actors to have graced the stage in recent years and now she brings the same degree of skill, commitment and vitality to her storytelling. Here’s to many more adventures for both character and author.
Hi Alison,
I would love to talk further with you about the Mr Tilly series and how to promote the books through reviewers.
Can you spare a few minutes to discuss this?
Warm wishes
Noreen Leighton
Hey, great share…..
These are some actually great books for children. I am passionate about helping children to develop a love for reading. I believe that a love of reading is a stepping stone to becoming an enthusiastic learner and a confident reader, writer and speaker.
Thanks for sharing this post. Keep sharing more….
Cheers!!