The last post I did on our favourite books was such a success I decided to follow up with a post on what the big lady is currently enjoying. We’ve joined the local library which is quite possibly one of the best value things you can do with children. Our local library is pretty new and the kids section is nicely removed from where the students who are studying tend to sit. Online if you want to buy books Amazon is great of course as is the Book Depository and the Book People. 

Rosie Revere, Engineer – I’m going to be biased and start with my favourite book for obvious reasons – it combines the idea of being an engineer with being a girl which is a brilliant concept (without sounding pushy about it) the embed into a small girls head from a young age. I should also admit that I didn’t get this for the small lady, a very kind and similarly minded friend (who has run off to Australia!) got it for her birthday ( and actually three of the books listed here are from the same lady!!). There’s another book by this author called Iggy Peck, Architect which is about a boy and architecture (obviously!). 

Another beautiful book from my Australian based friend and this book is like music when you read it. Ruby Red Shoes and her Grandmother Babushka Galina Galushka head to Paris and the artwork and the descriptions are literally mesmerizing. Quite a long book but it has my big lady hanging on every single word. Beautiful.

The last of the books from Australia this book is so much fun. No! by Marta Altes is a funny book told through the eyes of a very ‘helpful’ dog. It has a really cute ending and is simple enough for a child even younger than 3 years old. And I dare you not to have a bit of fun teasing your toddler when they ask for ‘that book’ and you say no! 

The girsl love pretty much every single book ever written by Julia Donaldson. A few favourites that spring to mind include The Gruffalo (although that gets tedious I have to admit), Tiddler, Stickman, The Paper Dolls (my personal favourite, this book has a really lovely ending!), Room on the broom and The Scarecrows Wedding. I’ve included The Scarecrows Wedding here because it’s one of the longer ones so our three and a half year old is just ready for this length of book. Some of the others mentioned above are a little shorter so suitable from about three.  

Our first foray into this author Oliver Jeffers was this book How to catch a star and was a gift from my cousin and his wife as it was their kids favourite book at the time. And thus started a serious love affair with this author and his books. They are quirky and simple and just fabulous and less rhimey than Julia Donaldson’s books. The only one I’d say avoid is The Heart and The Bottle especially if your family has experienced a loss that your child is aware of because the book’s message is somewhat hidden but not so much that a child doesn’t instantly turn and start asking questions once you’ve finished reading it. Other than that there is not a single book I wouldn’t recommend – Up and Down, Stuck, Lost and found, The way back home which are all about ‘the boy’ and The Huey’s in the new jumper and The great paper caper are from different series. This lovely book was a gift from my sister (I swear we actually buy books the girls love too!!) and I do believe we read this book every single night for about 4 months and it’s still high on the favourites list well over a year and a half since we got it. It tells the lovely story of a bear and his grandad and all the tactics employed by the little bear to avoid bed. Tin by Chris Judge is an Irish book and it’s a little bit unusual – the characters are named after metal alloys and the illustrations are really unsual. The girls love this book, it’s a little bit quirky in that poor old Tin just doesn’t learn his lesson. The complex colourful pictures though really capture the girls attention and even to this day, despite having read it about a million times, they are still picking out new background characters to chat about.