We found some great books at the library this month.
Ruby, my four-and-a-half year old has nominated these as her favourites.
She and her sister both love the Ballet Sisters series by Jan Ormerod. Whenever I read these books, I feel as if I’m reading a story about my own children. If your girls love to dress up, dance the ballet and pretend to be anything but a child, then these books are for you.
I have written more about In The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak on my website and this book is also a favourite of both girls.
A Small Brown Dog with a Wet Pink Nose is a great story about a girl who wants a dog so badly she cleverly tricks her parents into letting her have one. Devious, but in a good way!
Two Peas in a Pod by Chris McKimmie is about two best friends who have to learn to face life without each other when one moves away. This is great for kids who have vivid imaginations as the pictures don’t necessarily link directly to the story but they embellish the words in vivid and unexpected ways. If you’re after something unusual by an Australian kids’ author, give this one a go.
Katie and the British Artists is part of a series of stories by James Mayhew that introduce kids to classic paintings in a fun and not at all didactic way. In fact, the stories show just how accessible art can be to people of all ages.
And Babar was a favourite of mine when I was little and my girls love him too; in this one, he helps his daughter solve the problem of what to give her mum for mother’s day.
Audrey, my two-and-a-half-year old picked these ones, my favourite of which is Can You See a Little Bear. Such intricate illustrations, which are full of the kinds of surprises that
little kids love; a polar bear dancing with a fairy, a peacock in a hot air balloon and a mermaid riding on a dolphin.
I write more about Oliver Who Was Small but Mighty on my website – this is a great book for fans of Where the Wild Things Are.
Lullabyhullaballoo by Mike Inkpen is lots of fun; a princess needs to go to sleep but the ghosts and the goblins and the giants are making too much noise so they all band together to sing her a lullaby. But then she becomes the noisy one with her snoring!
Zoe and the Fairy Medicine by Jane Andrews is part of a series and as Audrey is obsessed with fairies, this book has received a good workout.
I’m struggling to grasp the message in The Apple Tree by Lynley Dodd of Hairy McClary fame; two children work hard to look after their apple tree and then on the night before they are to pick their apples, a mean old possum eats them all. My kids don’t care about messages though, they love it!
Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley is a lovely story about how wonderful friends can be. And if you like books that you can sing along to, Whoosh Around the Mulberry Bush will have you all singing together.
So, till next month, happy reading!
While the kids are sleeping 
Thanks for the overview of kids books – it’s great to see the book covers in your photograph as it makes it so much easier to remember the recommendations when we see them out & about.
I recently bought a couple of new books for the kids and I love them also!
The first was “WOW! said the Owl”, by Tim Hopgood – a book about colours with beautiful illustrations.
The second was “Where on Earth is the Moon?” by Ruth Martin and beautifully illustrated by Olivier Latyk.
And my dad bought the kids, “Jinormous Jack” by Josephine Barrymore about the Whale Sharks off Ningaloo Reef, north WA.
I look forward to next month’s inspirations!
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