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My kids and I are big book readers!! So for birthdays and Christmas I will often give them books as gifts and encourage family and friends to do the same. To clarify though, most of my fiction reading is the books I read aloud to my kids at bedtime. So yes I have reading aloud rules for myself, not for my children!
Ha, ha I am really picky about the books I read aloud to my kids. Gosh I want to enjoy the story too!! I also believe great reading books will get read again and again. Rule 1; I don’t read books about mythical monsters because I might have trouble sleeping. Or fairies!! For the same reason. Rule 2; the print has to be big enough for me to comfortably read. Rule 3; I prefer books that have less words to read. So my kids will reassure me now with “Look Mum, there’s not a lot of words in the book even though it has 50 pages!”
Another one of my reading rules is that it has to have a story line and one that I find interesting to read. So Pokemon, Minecraft, Ninjago and an Encylopedia of dinosaurs, do not count! If you have younger kids than mine, Peppa Pig might fall into this category too. Do Peppa Pig books have a storyline or not? (Update: recently I have been reading Angry Bird stories, the boys have borrowed from the library. Note, I don’t always follow my own rules!)
1. Where Is The Green Sheep?
One of our all time favourites, this classic book by Mem Fox, Where is the Green Sheep? has lasted several years in our household and still gets requested again. My youngest was even able to impress visiting family members with his early reading skills, simply because he had memorised the words from hearing it so often.
2. The Snail and the Whale
This book is about a snail that gets bored with living life on a small rock and joins a whale to travel the oceans. I bought this book for one of my kids’ birthdays or one Christmas. It has now ended up being on our regular family reading list. I enjoy reading it because it has great rhyming and an interesting storyline which sometimes my youngest two will chime in with.
3. My First 100 Words
Ok this book is not really a read aloud book. But My First 100 Words is a great one for the toddler to pre-schooler age and for nights when you just don’t feel like reading anything. All you have to do is ask the questions, “So which picture is the apple?” Or it’s opposite, “What’s that picture of?” See easy!! And if you are really tired or your child is, you can move through it as quickly as you need to. Just skip a whole lot of letters!! I highly recommend My First 100 Words.
4. Giraffes Can’t Dance
We don’t have a copy of this but we recently borrowed it from our local library. I enjoyed it, probably more than my boys did! Though they still liked it a lot. A fun readable story with a great teaching point to the story line.
5. Hairy Maclary
How could I forget, Hairy Maclary by Lynley Dodd!! I managed to buy a copy of five of the Hairy Maclary stories through the discards pile of my local library. I love reading these- short, funny, great illustrations and memorable characters. Can’t believe my 5 year old could point out to me which dogs were included in which story and which dog is missing!! I know I have been reading Hairy Maclary a lot when I can identify the neighbourhood dogs as there goes a Bottomly Potts, or he looks like Hercules Morse. Am I the only one that does that?? 🙂
6. Two Frogs
Two Frogs by Chris Wormell is not a well known book but this is one story we have read again and again. Quoting the Evening Standard’s review on the back cover, “The combination of frog illustrations and witty text works beautifully, so as soon as you finish it you’ll find yourself flicking back to enjoy this cautionary tale all over again.” Well anyway I like it because it’s an easy, interesting read with large illustrations. Makes the kids think they have just been read a long book, lots of pages to turn. Definitely recommended!
7. Paddington Bear
Often not the first book to be chosen, but might be picked when one of the “no, it doesn’t have a storyline” books is selected first. It’s like when your favourite coffee is not available at the local cafe, so well you have your next favourite choice of coffee. Or Paddington Bear. Gives the kids a giggle reading about Paddington’s misadventures.
8. Walter the Farting Dog
A bonus read aloud. This one would be requested by my boys. Now I’ve just discovered writing this post that there are a WHOLE series of Walter the Farting Dog Adventure books. One of these will have to be on our Christmas list!! My 7 year old got this book for his birthday recently from a friend and yes I read it to them, occasionally. It is a funny story with colourful illustrations, and just really suits my boys’ sense of humour. I’m sure some of us know of dogs (or people) that fart like Walter does and laughing is a great way to end the day!
A few more great read aloud books for 3 to 7 year olds!!
- Give Please A Chance
- The Wonderful Things You Will Be
- The Day the Crayons Quit
- If Animals Kissed Goodnight
- Is that an elephant in my fridge?
- Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp
I would love to know what books are favourites for reading aloud to your children at bedtime? Or with your grandkids, nieces, nephews, the next door neighbors kids etc. ?
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