This is a list of my personal favourite books for children under five. I have no idea if they would appear on a government list of highly educational books or not. All I can say is that my children had great fun listening to these books and I had great fun reading them too. If they learnt one thing from these books it was how to say the word "again"!
| Dear Zoo - Michael Campbell
This is a great book for children who are showing the first signs of becoming interested in books. It is about a child that has written to their local zoo asking them to send them an animal as a pet. The zoo keep sending unsuitable animals such as lions and a very cheeky monkey. Each page focuses on a single animal and there are plenty of flaps for children to lift to keep them interested. Great fun!
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| Whatever Next! - Jill Murphy
It's a tough choice to select which one of Jill Murphy's books to include here. In fact you can't really go wrong whichever one you go for. My reason for selecting this one is that it can really fire a child's imagination. It is about a bear whose mother tells him he can't go to the moon, but he goes any way. He utilises a lot of stuff he finds around the house, makes a rocket and off he goes. It's a lot of fun, although it may appeal a bit more to boys than girls.
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| Lullabyhullaballoo by Mick Inkpen
This was a big favourite with my daughter. It is about a princess who has trouble getting to sleep. The subject means that the book can be used as a starting point for talking about settling down and going to sleep. There are some great characters in the book and it is very well illustrated. Mick Inkpen is another author you can't really go wrong with. The Kipper and Wibbly Pig series are well worth checking out.
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| Percy the Park Keeper: A Classic Treasury by Nick Butterworth
In my opinion this is one of the best series of books for children. You could select one of the many individual books about the exploits of Percy, but this treasury offers excellent value for money as you get so many books in one edition. All the characters are brilliantly drawn and guaranteed to put a smile on your child's face.
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| The Little Bear Stories by Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth
The Little Bear stories are all about making children feel secure. These are very quiet, gentle books and are ideal for bedtime reading. In each of the books an adventure is used to show Big Bear taking care of Little Bear and explaining away Little Bear's fears. My favourite of the four stories included here is Can't You Sleep Little Bear.
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| The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr
This is one of the all time classic children's books. The number of times this book has been read to children over the years must be colossal. This is another book to fire the imagination. It tells the story or a tiger who arrives just as a mother and daughter are sitting down to tea. Luckily he is a friendly tiger. He is also very hungry and eats all the food they have in the house!
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| Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection by W. Awdry
This book easily wins the prize as the most used children's book in our house. For about 18 months every bedtime story I read was from this book. Each time we reached the end we would start again! At one point I felt like I could answer questions about Thomas and his Friends on Mastermind. With so many stories in one volume this book is excellent value.
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| The Fish Who Could Wish by John Bush and Korky Paul
This is the story about a fish who could wish for anything he wanted to. The story is told in rhyming couplets. This makes it easy for children to remember the story and join in when they can. The fish wishes for all kinds of crazy things such as a castle and a car. The book is brought to life by some great illustrations from Korky Paul.
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| Winnie the Witch: 6 in 1 Collection by by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
There's no doubt about it. Winnie the Witch inhabits a mad world. This collection includes six stories about her and her black cat, Wilbur. Again the colourful illustrations add so much to the stories and there is so much to look at and talk about on each page. My favourite story is the one that first introduces us to Winnie the Witch as she creates a beautiful sunny day in the middle of winter.
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| The Large Family Collection by Jill Murphy
Well I didn't quite manage to get to the bottom of the list without including a second book by Jill Murphy. In case you have yet to meet them the Large family are a family of elephants. Mrs Large is forever struggling to keep control. This collection contains four masterpieces. My favourite is Five Minutes Peace as Mrs Large is desperately trying to find five minutes of peace and quiet. This is a scenario every parent can relate to.
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