This is a really lovely ‘lift the flap’ book from Sophy Henn.
Join Ted as plays dress up with things he finds around the house. With a colander and a bin lid he becomes a knight. With a headscarf and a banana he becomes a jolly pirate.
Where else will his imagination take him?
The illustrations in this one are bold and gorgeous – and Ivy gets very excited lifting the flaps to see what Ted’s costume will be.
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2Af0Y5Q
I imagine that this book wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste but we think it’s hilarious! It’s a simple book with a dry sense of humour and Ivy yells ‘Turtle! Hat! Turtle! Hat! all the way through it!
Two turtles find a hat in the desert. They try it on and it suits them both. They each very much want the hat but there are two of them and only one hat. Can they find a way to each get what they want whilst remaining friends?
A very funny tale about friendship, sharing and a hat.
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2Ag0SZ7
It’s early evening and Baby Bear asks his Mummy if he can go to the moon. The answer is a resounding NO as it’s bath time and, as she points out, he’d need a rocket anyway.
Not to be deterred, Baby Bear finds himself a box under the stairs which becomes a rocket, puts a colander on his head as a space helmet, packs his teddy and zooms off to space.
Who will he meet on his travels? And will he make it back in time for his bath?
This is a really cute little story that shows children there are no limits to their imagination.
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2k1bDul
Anyone who has been following us for a while will know that Ivy and I are big fans of Rebecca Cobb and this beautiful book is no exception.
A little boy finds a hole underneath the cherry tree in his garden and begins to wonder what could be down there. He shows the hole to his parents, his sister, his friends and his grandparents and ask them what they think.
Could there be a family of frogs down there? Or bunnies? Or even a troll or a dragon? Only time will tell!
This is a delightful little book about the power of a child’s imagination and the illustrations are gorgeous. We particularly like the little blue troll.
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2i30Zmn
A few weeks ago we reviewed ‘Each Peach Pear Plum’ and we were inundated with messages telling us we had to read PEEPO! if we hadn’t already. I promptly bought us a copy and we can definitely see why you all love it so much! If you haven’t read this to your toddler yet then I would definitely recommend it.
A baby is standing in his cot pointing. What can he see? The cut out circle on the next page lets you see a small portion of the baby’s view. PEEPO!
Turn the page for a beautifully detailed picture and a rhyme which encourages you to find lots of different things within the illustration. This set up repeats throughout the book, encouraging lots of conversation around the contents of the pictures.
It’s a real delight which can either be a quick read at bedtime or something you can easily spend an hour looking at with your child. We love it!
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2B6F1Cv
George is a scruffy giant who is fed up of always wearing the same old patched-up clothes.
When he spots a new shop he treats himself to a brand new outfit. He even buys a tie! He loves his new look but it soon becomes apparent that not only is he the smartest giant in town, he is also the kindest.
He donates his new tie to a giraffe with a cold neck, his new shirt becomes a sail for a goat who is stranded in his boat, and a shiny new shoe becomes a house for a family of mice. Soon poor George has hardly any clothes on at all.
What on earth is he going to do? This is a lovely story about kindness, friendship and good karma.
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2jfvD8m
This funny little book gives some pretty solid advice on animals and public transport.
Want to take an elephant on a bus? Nope.
Put a camel in a sailboat? Nope.
Get a whale to ride a bike? Nope.
Leave a bear in charge of an ice cream van? Nope, nope, nope!
Great illustrations and guaranteed to make a toddler giggle.
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2hIeOX3
We’ve developed a bit of a thing for Oliver Jeffers in recent weeks and Ivy particularly likes this one as it makes her giggle.
A little boy called Floyd gets his kite stuck up a tree so he throws his shoe up to knock it down. The shoe gets stuck so he throws up a cat. The cat gets stuck so he throws up a ladder. I think you get the idea!
Eventually the tree is full of random things including an orang-utan, a sink and the fire brigade. How will he get them all down?
Every time we read this Ivy runs around yelling ‘Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!’ and laughing to herself!
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2jyuVqF
There is something hauntingly beautiful about The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield – and this is another one where Ivy feels compelled to stroke the pages when I’m reading it to her.
The story is about a little bear cub who finds an old piano in the woods. Fascinated by the sounds it makes, he visits every day until he is an accomplished pianist, but he still doesn’t really understand what the piano is.
His playing begins to draw a crowd and eventually Broadway comes calling. He would really, really like to play his piano for audiences around the world but he’s scared of leaving his home and family behind.
What will happen if he takes a leap of faith? And will his friends forget all about him once he’s gone?
This is a really powerful book about how following your dreams doesn’t have to mean losing your roots.
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2ip1J1O
This beautifully illustrated book by Lizzy Stewart is one of Ivy’s current favourites. She loves the pictures so much that she strokes the pages.
The story is about a little girl called Nora who is staying with her Grandma and announces that she is bored. Grandma sends her off in to the garden promising that if she looks hard enough she’ll see the tiger that lives there, along with dragonflies the size of birds, plants that will eat you up and a polar bear!
Nora is utterly unconvinced but then she sees a dragonfly and chases it deep in to the garden. Could there really be a tiger down there too? And what will happen if she finds him?
This won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize this year and I can totally see why. It’s fab!
Buy it now: http://amzn.to/2jrOlxq