Ok, I’m not a literary expert, editor, journalist or publisher, but I love books and I encourage my daughter to love books too. However, it is amazing how a 3 year old can really engage with, or conversely, refuse to entertain certain books. It is difficult to know exactly why she loves some and hates others and she hasn’t quite got the vocab to explain her reasoning to me. I do know that ones with a physical involvement such as ‘lift the flap’ are intriguing to her, but there are only a few that she returns to time and time again.
If you’re anything like me, you don’t have time to trawl through pages and pages of book recommendations and reviews. I end up deliberating over which ones to get and then just choose the safe bet and buy yet another one from Julia Donaldson. So, here are my top 5 books for pre-schoolers that both my daughter and I love to read together.
- The Jolly Postman – the sheer delight of opening envelopes with postcards and letters in to famous fairytale characters is just wonderful.
- You Choose – a great book to encourage your child to think about what they would like to be, wear, travel by etc. A good conversation generator.
- Peter Rabbit – a traditional tale and slightly non-pc in some areas, but my daughter loves it and I love the traditional language used.
- My Daddy – a story by a not too well-known author that is fun and colourful and finishes by saying that the reader’s Daddy is the best and he thinks you’re great too.
- The Dictionary – as annoying as it was, my daughter became obsessed by just looking at the dictionary pictures and learning the words and meanings. It is a really useful book for increasing a child’s vocabulary.
What books do you like to read to your little ones? Note I’ve deliberately left off The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child, Stick Man etc. 😉 Let me know your favs at sayhello@paranoidworkingparent.co.uk or tweet me at @pwparent
