A 2.5yo's favourite books
Sean has become a bit of a bookworm lately.
It has been very heartening watching him grow on his reading journey, slowly transitioning from cloth books to touch-and feel-books to lift-up flap books to picture books and now, proper story books :)
Now, he loves nothing more than listening to loooong, rambling stories. Reading to him is one thing I don't say no to no matter how tired I am. He has listened to the stories over and over again he would race ahead to point out the highlights of the story before I even get there. Which is a bit irritating sometimes ;)
It is a very common sight to see him lugging a thick book everywhere around the house - to bed, when he is on the potty, during meal times. Reminds me of myself when I was a kid!
I thought it'd be fun to document some of his favourite books at 2.5yo:
♥ Sandra Boynton's Greatest Hits Volume I, II, III - We always have a lot of fun reading Sandra Boynton's silly, irreverent and unconventional stories. She truly has an extraordinary knack for knowing what appeals to small children: simple rhymes, goofy animals and sweet, comforting stories. In particular, Sean likes The Going to Bed book, Pajama Time, Blue Hat Green Hat. Seriously laugh-out-loud funny books!
♥ Usborne's The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales - A friend gave this to Sean recently and it is his favourite book right now. He enjoys the simple, charming stories of farm life told through the eyes of the main characters, Poppy and Sam. It is quite tiring to read this book though coz he does not want to stop (I read about 10 stories (or half the book) to him each time)!
♥ Curious George - Sean enjoys reading about the many predicaments the curious monkey gets into. This was the first long-ish book he really got into and I think he will be enjoying it for years to come. I am planning to get a few more Curious George books for him.
♥ Eric Carle's The Hungry Caterpillar, Papa, Please Get the Moon for me, Pancakes, Pancakes - I am a big fan of Eric Carle's beautiful illustrations and stories that centre largely around Mother Nature. We have many of his books at home and these three are among Sean's favourites.
♥ Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are - We recently introduced this classic to Sean and he loved it. He is very fascinated by Max's bad behavious, outright defiance and imaginative role-playing and maybe also a wee bit intimidated by the 'wild things' :)
♥ Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo, Gruffalo's Child - I have been reading The Gruffalo books to Sean since he was very young but I think he is only slowly beginning to appreciate the stories now ;) He also enjoys Tiddler and What the Ladybird Heard by the same author.
♥ Usborne's The Complete Book of First Experiences - This is a great book to introduce little ones to the many 'firsts' in their lives, like going to the doctor/dentist or moving house. It's proven to be a very handy book to have around, especially with the recent house move and Ryan's arrival into our lives. As with all Usborne books, the illustrations are superb. Sean loves poring over the pictures in the book and asking questions about what the characters are doing.
♥ Power Rangers Annuals - I will have to include this if I want to keep things real around here. He has a thing for action figures and weapons (*roll eyes*) and loves flipping through the pages to look at the pictures. The stories are crap so I draw my line at reading them to him. He can read them himself next time ;)
It will be very interesting to see how his reading choices will evolve over time. I just ordered a new stash of books (from Book Depository) and can't wait to dig into them together!
Do you read with your little ones? Any favourites? Any recommendations for Chinese books preferably with hanyu pinyin (I have no idea where to start)? Do share, I'd love to hear!
PS. You may want to read about the beginnings of our library here.