“So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books.”
― Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
My son's biggest passion at the moment is reading. He likes both fiction and non-fiction and read both type of books quite equally. Fortunately for him, we have great libraries here and we are lucky to have so many books to choose from. I enjoy doing my twice a week library trip to search books for him. Often, I do my homework before the library visit by researching in the internet the recommended books, either classic books or Caldecott Medal and Honor Books.
There are many great Children's Books author and here are some of our favourites who we always remember (my 6 years old, myself, and probably my husband :-))
Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Peepo was one of the first few books I read to my son, when he was only 1 month old (yes, that early!). It was a present from his Grandparents who came to visit C from Australia and saw him for the first time when he was about 4 weeks old. Peepo is a story about a baby boy's daily routine since he wakes up in the morning until he goes to bed in the evening. But it is a bit sad at the end, when the father had to go away (in uniform - so I assume it's for the war). C enjoyed this book very much, as much as I did. I loved the illustrations with all the details and I liked the peephole in every page.
The Happy Families series are nice and interesting, each book emphasizes on the words start with certain alphabet. For example in Mrs Plug the Plumber, many words start with letter P are used in the book. Mrs Wobble the Waitress for words start with letter W, Master Bun the Bakers' Boy for letter B, Mr Tick the Teacher for letter T, Mrs Lather's Laundry for letter L, etc. Many repetitive words being used in the book help the kids to learn to read those words and learn phonics.
Funny Bones is another series by Janet and Allan. I read him Dinosaur Dream and Give the Dog a Bone but my son was not a big fan of these because the story is about skeleton and he felt a bit scared.
Mem Fox
Where is the Green Sheep? was C's first Mem Fox' book, a present from his Aunty. I still can remember he had a good smile when I read him this book, when he was about 1 year old. Koala Lou was C's second Mem Fox' book, a present from his Grandparents. It is a beautiful story about a first-born Koala who wanted to win a competition to get her Mum's love back. She thought her Mum doesn't love her anymore because she's been busy with her sibling. The Magic Hat was a 3rd birthday present from C's Grandma's sister and was signed by Mem Fox! It is about a magic hat that tumbles into town, making a scene wherever it lands.
Julia Donaldson
Room on The Broom was C's first Julia Donaldson book read to him. It was given by his grandparents during their first visit to Singapore after C was born. I read it to him since he was only 1 month old and since then, I became addicted and bought Monkey Puzzle then borrowed many others from the public library. We enjoyed Donaldson's storylines and clever rhymes. I cover her books in a separate post.
Shirley Hughes
Alfie Gets In First was the first of Shirley Hughes book I borrowed and read to C when he was about 2 years old. It is about a boy named Alfie who gets locked inside the house accidentally and doesn't know how to open the door from inside. His mum and neighbours come to help him from the other side of the door. C really loved it and it became one of his favourites. Alfie series (Alfie's Feet, Alfie and the Big Boys, Alfie and the Birthday Surprise, Alfie Gives a Hand, An Evening at Alfie's, Alfie's Christmas, Alfie and Annie Rose, Dogger, All About Alfie, etc) is about day-to-day real life stories of a boy named Alfie, who lives with his Mum, Dad, and his sister, Annie Rose. Nothing imaginative or out of the box. All is simple life stories but I liked them all as they are so easy to relate and give good learning.
Judith Kerr
The Tiger Who Came To Tea was recommended to me by a friend whose son is a few months younger than C. She lent us her book and we loved it so much! It is about a tiger who came to Sophie's house one evening and ate so much of their food supplies. We borrowed many of Kerr's other books such as The Crocodile Under the Bed and Mog series.
Margret & H.A. Rey's
C started to like the Curious George series when he was around 2 yeard old and still likes it now (he is 6 years old). The series are about George's adventures with his friend, The Man with the Yellow Hat. George is a very curious monkey and his curiosity often get him into trouble but at the end he always bring joy to others.
Valerie Thomas
Winnie The Witch series is about a fun witch called Winnie and her cat Wilbur. The storylines are quite simple and the illustrations are very detail. C really enjoyed reading them and looking at the pictures on every pages.
Oliver Jeffers
Some of Oliver Jeffers books we have read are The Moose Belongs to Me, Stuck, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, Up and Down, Lost and Found. C quite enjoyed them but not crazy about them. I personally don't like the storyline and the illustrations. I am not sure why he is so popular. However, the two books he illustrated: The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home, both written by Drew Daywalt, are amazing! We read them when C was about 3 years old and he absolutely loved them!
Robert Munsch
Love You Forever is a very heartwarming and lovely book. It is about a boy's different stage of life and his relationship with his mother started from when he is a baby all the way until he is a father. It is an excellent book to be read in the class on Mother's Day. We read C this book when he was about 3 years old. Interestingly, all other Robert Munsch books have totally diferent style. Smelly Socks, Stephanie's Ponytail, Pigs, The Paper Bag Princess, The Boy in the Drawer, Angela's Airplane, The Fire Station, are all witty and comical.
Alison Lester
She is an Australian author and illustrator. C has always been wanting to know more about Australia and when he was about 3 years old, he was so keen about farm life. My husband bought these two books for him: Are We There Yet? and My Farm and until now he is still fond of these two.
Corrine Fenton
She is an Australian author and her books we have read were all about social history and have an animal character. Her first book we read was Bob The Railway Dog: The True Story of An Adventurous Dog. It is about the adventures of a dog named Bob in the Australian railroad in the late nineteenth century. It is a heartwarming story especially since C has always been fond of Australia and loves dog. I also love the illustrations by Andrew McLean. This wonderful Bob The Railway Dog made me searching for more books by Corrine Fenton. When C was almost 6 years old in December 2017, I borrowed Little Dog and The Christmas Wish. It is about a little dog who got lost and tried to find its way back home. The third book we read and probably her best was My Friend Tertius. It is based on a true story about a friendship between a man who worked in British Intelligence Service and a gibbon he rescued in Hong Kong just before World War II. The fourth book we read was Queenie: One Elephant's Story. It is about a baby elephant who was brought from India to Australia and put in the Melbourne Zoo, giving rides to children until one day she crushed her keeper.
Allen Say
The first book of Allen Say we read was Grandfather's Journey, a Caldecott Medal winner in 1994. The story is about a Japanese man who moved to America and started a new life there but continously missed his home country, Japan. We really love this book and we started to read many of his other books. Most of them are stories related to Japan such as The Bicycle Man, Kamishibai Man, Erika-San, The Boy in the Garden, and Tree of Canes. Another book by him is The Sign Painter.
Monica Kulling
We started with The Tweedles Go Online and found it interesting. It's about a family who just started using a telephone. We then borrowed The Tweedles Go Electric, about the same family who just had their first electric car. Monica's writing style in both books are very entertaining. We really enjoyed them. I did more research about her books and found Elisha Otis's Trip to The Top, a non-fiction book about how the first lift was invented. I really like it especially because it is based on a real story but the way it was written is interesting and make me want to read more.
Elisabetta Dami
She is the author of the very famous Geronimo Stilton series. Thea Stilton and the Mystery on the Orient Express : A Geronimo Stilton Adventure was the first Geronimo Stilton that C read. It was when he was a few months before turned 6 and he absolutely loved it and very quickly became very addicted to Geronimo Stilton. The texts are with some colour instead of just normal black and white. Some words are coloured and sized differently. There are illustrations every few pages.
He always asked me to get Geronimo books from the libraries and I bought him some 2nd hand too for around $4-$6 each. Just within a few months, C has read probably around 50 books of Geronimo. He can spend a few hours after school to read 4 books straight. He would read Geronimo first thing in the morning after waking up, while waiting for the school bus, and in the school bus.
David Walliams
David Walliams is hilarious! When C was still around 3 years old, we read him The Slightly Annoying Elephant, The Bear Who Went Boo!, and The First Hippo on The Moon. On C's 4th birthday, his grandparents bought him Grandpa's Great Escape, not knowing that this is not a picture book, but a chapter book of 461 pages! But we (or to be precise my husband as I didn't have enough patience) read him anyway, a chapter each weekend and he always listened attentively, very eager to hear the story about a boy who is trying to help rescuing his Grandpa from an old-people home. We are looking forward to get him another David Walliams chapter books.
Roald Dahl
On C's 5th birthday, his Aunty gave him a book by Roald Dahl, BFG. C's dad read the book to him and he really likes it. We were planning to get him another Road Dahl books but before we did it, his Aunty sent him a Christmas present and inside was George's Marvellous Medicine, The Witches, Marvellous Joke Book, and Revolting Rhymes. In the same month, on C's 6th birthday, a friend gave him Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. With the exception of The Witches - which he found too scary and he didn't manage to read it till the end - he absolutely enjoyed all the books he got. We are definitely going to get him another Roald Dahl books.
C really loves to read books and he is very easy to please. It is extremely rare for him not liking the books I borrowed for him or bought him. I will write more about books he read in different posts.
Happy Reading!