Kids' Books
New Zealand Kids' Books
Reading picture and story books with your child is a great way to teach your child a love of language, as well as share some quality time with your little - or not so little - one. Read on for reviews of some of the best
Reading to your child is the best way to encourage the development of language skills that will help your child both socially and educationally. Passing on a love of books is a great gift for a child’s future. Here are some suggestions for where to start in building your children’s book library once your child turns one.
1. Peepo by Janet & Allan Ahlberg
With cut-out holes for little fingers to poke through, a repetitive chant ‘Peepo’, and illustrations filled with domestic scenes to explore – a breakfast table set with tea and porridge, a clothes-horse covered in wet washing, grandma putting out the washing – the hard-working, loving disposition of the family depicted is comforting for child and parent alike. For quite an old-fashioned book, this is a surprising hit with modern children who love the language and illustrations – just be careful those little fingers don’t pull the cut-out holes and rip the pages!
2. Winnie the Witch by Valerie Thomas & Korky Paul
The clumsy witch and her world-weary cat Wilbur delight small children. This is the original children's story book in a series of Winnie the Witch titles (including Winnie’s New Computer and Winnie at the Seaside) and shows Winnie trying out solutions to make black cat Wilbur visible in an all-black house. In the end, the house, rather than the cat, needs changing. Children who are prone to falling down themselves when they are beginning to walk love to see Winnie falling over – just watch that your imaginative child doesn’t imitate Winnie falling down the stairs!
3. Each Peach, Pear Plum by Janet & Alan Ahlberg
Follow familiar storybook characters such as Cinderella, Baby Bunting and Tom Thumb as they move through the house and woods to the eventual picnic scene eating plum pie in the sun. This is a good book for getting a “mummy, just one more book” child off to sleep. You can ask them to find something in the picture and then go quiet as they search sleepily for the image. Eventually they should nod off to sleep after trying to find a few things for you on each page – a nice wind-down!
4. M is for Metal by Paul McNeill & Barry Divola
For the young and young at heart, here’s a children’s book with a difference. It’s an alphabet kids' book based around heavy metal music. So, ‘A is for Angus’ (as in Angus Young, ACDC front man) and T is of course for ‘TV sets thrown in the pool’. M is for Metal proclaims to be the loudest alphabet book on earth: for those about to learn, we salute you!
5. Nursery Rhyme Books
There are many nursery rhyme books for children to choose from – from This Little Piggie Went to Prada to the more traditional – and it’s worth investing in a few so you can swap them over from time to time. Your child is probably your biggest fan when it comes to your singing, so don’t be afraid to sing them to sleep with ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ or ‘Hush-a-Bye Baby’. Play nursery rhyme music from a very young age so your child can become familiar, and you can remember, the tune when singing from the books at bedtime.
6. Nickle Nackle Tree by Lynley Dodd
The Kiwi classic Nickle Nackle Tree is a counting picture book that shows some rather unusual birds perched on a tree that eventually gets so overloaded that the birds all fall off. With lovely language such as ‘in the manglemunching forest’ and ‘5 bashful blush birds’, children delight in the words and the images while learning to count. Remember to point out that these birds exist only in the imagination so your child doesn’t ask where the ‘fussy fissock birds’ are when out at the pet store!
7. My DK First Book of Tractors
Not a favourite for the mums, but your boy toddler will love naming the parts of the tractor – ‘engine’, ‘exhaust pipe’, ‘tyre’ – the mums might even learn something as well. Remember to extend or ‘book stretch’ your toddlers learning by following their interests. If they love this book, take them to a farm to see a real tractor in action. Likewise, if they like building with Lego, take them to a building site and show them a real building being made.
8. Mr Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley
Joy Cowley is an iconic children’s book writer in this country and all her books are worth buying. Mr Wishy Washy is a favourite with young children who delight in the clumsiness of Mr Wishy Washy and repetition of language. My Wishy Washy washes dishes, and the cat! Be prepared for some vocalising when the “Oh My” page is opened.
9. Old Favourites…
Some of the best books for children are the old favourites: Dr Seuss, Beatrix Potter, Where The Wild Things Are, The Giant Jam Sandwich, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and even classics like The Gingerbread Man and The Enormous Turnip continue to delight small minds and their parents. While there are great new children’s books published every month, there’s also a wealth of old favourites to choose from and often you can pick these up cheaply at secondhand bookstores. Why not ask bookshop or library staff what their personal favourites are – often a great book lies in an out-of-date looking cover.
10. Angelina Ballerina by Katherine Holabird & Helen Craig
Surprisingly, for all the pink overtones, Angelina and her sidekick cousin Henry, work just as well for very young boys as well as girls. Now available as a board book and Angelina Ballerina: Let’s Dance even comes with music, a dance mat and a tiara!
Reading with your child not only gives them a head start educationally, it’s also a lovely way to snuggle up and have some quality down-time in your own busy day, while providing a warm lap or shoulder to lean on for a tired toddler keen on learning all the new things in the world around them.
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Family images from Flickr: Baby Boots, Kids Classroom and Hands.
