I chanced upon some books the other day and it brought back A LOT of memories for me. Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, ok and I will admit I read those as well as the Sweet Valley series, Bookworm Club…and ermm.. Archie comics..

OK but that’s not the point here…the point is I love reading!! And I’m pretty sure it all started because 1) my mum encouraged it and 2) my school reinforced it.  I remember going to the bookstore and not being able to decide which Enid Blyton title to get and being allowed to get the 3 titles I wanted. I remember reading my Nancy Drew book in the school hall because there was a designated reading time for the entire school and totally loving that period. Tust me there were very few of us who were tempted to chit chat, I think the only type of conversations/ whispering that took place during that period was to ensure that your friend lends you her book after she finishes.

So I’m glad that as a family we agree on the importance of there being no budget when it comes to books. Yes Joel actually declared this rule so if mummy suddenly has an urge to shop, buying books for the kids will allow her to escape papa’s wrath. :p

For now I’m very happy that Jah is quite the bookworm..I’m not too sure about Bella though, she seems to prefer eating them.

While I hope to one day start a collection of Enid Blyton n Roald Dahl books again for the kids (feeling quite sad I didn’t keep my old books). I really love the little library that Jah now has..here are some of our top picks from our little library.

Top 5 books for a toddler/ young child

1) Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson – Jah loves the story and role plays different characters at different times. We love how the story rhymes and we have even memorized certain parts of the story. “Where are you going little brown mouse? Would you like to come to my treetop house?”

2) The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle – We noticed that Jah’s child care was reading this to them and they were also doing artwork based on the story. So we decided to buy him the book to reinforce what was being taught in school. He was ecstatic!! In fact he made me read it so many times over that I have memorized the entire book.

3) Any Step into reading / World of reading books – the wonderful part is that there are tons of stories to choose from and they range from regular stories that teach good behavior to Disney and Marvel stories (Cars, Frozen, Avengers and Sesame St) that most kids would be able to identify and get excited over.

4) Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson – A follow up to the Gruffalo and while I still prefer the Gruffalo (we all know sequels are usually not as good as the original), this lends some continuity to the characters which surprises the kids.

5) Superhero Potty Time by Sue Dicicco – this might seem like a strange book for Top 5, given that it doesn’t really have much of a storyline. But it has been very helpful in reinforcing what needs to be done at potty time if you want to be a superhero haha..perfect for a little boy crazy about superheroes and going through potty training.

I can’t wait for this list to grow longer and I’m sure it will, with time (in fact we just finished Three Little Pigs two nights ago and Jah has a renewed interest and love for How to Catch a Star now)…Would definitely love to hear any recommendations too! 🙂

Happy reading!

JahBella’s Mummy