30 books sound a lot, right? But to be honest I have struggled to limit myself to this number. In our household we love books and I look forward to a bedtime storytime when we pick up few books and lose ourselves in words and beautiful pictures.
I have split this blog into two parts as I thought it would be easier for you to scroll, especially if you are reading this on mobile! Make sure you read part two here 😊 The order of the books is in alphabetical except for the first book which is “Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
1. “Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
This book is important to me as it is the first book I’ve read to both Sophie and Hanna when they were babies. I remember both of them used to spend a lot of time in my baby swaddle and I enjoyed sitting on the sofa with them close to me and reading this book to them. The Little Prince is a book about growing up to faithful love, to true friendship and responsibility for others. It raises questions about the hierarchy of values or the sense of bonds between people. It has beautiful images and quotes from the book are wonderful to remember. I’ve read this book to my girls in Polish and I am looking forward to the time when they will read this book again once they are a little bit older.
2. “Fox in Socks” by Dr.Seuss
I love Dr Seuss and I will be recommending a couple of his other books later on as well. Fox in Socks is a fabulous tongue-twister book that will make anyone giggle! I still try and perfect the phases and it is not easy. The story follows Fox who is rhyming lots of phases and Knox who tries to follow these tongue-twisters until the end.
3. “Goodnight Moon” by Margaret Wise Brown
“Goodnight Moon” is a wonderful bedtime story describing a little rabbit bedtime routine. The little rabbit is saying goodnight to all things around his room. It’s a great last story to read before switching off the lights. After reading this book you can also say goodnight to the things around your kids’ room which is a great way to appreciate all the toys they play with and that they also go to sleep with when kids are.
4. “Goose goes to the zoo” by Laura Wall
“Goose goes to the zoo” is a story about Sophie and her new friend Goose. They are going together on little adventures and do everything together. We have a few more Goose books from Laura and my girls enjoy listening to them and looking at the beautiful pictures drawn by Laura. Laura is an artist and illustrator and we have visited her studio and gallery in Teignmouth a couple of years ago. Each of her illustrations has Sophie and Goose on them too!
5. “Here we are” by Oliver Jeffers
“Here we are” is a lovely book about our world and life on Earth. It focuses on the kindness and care we have for each other. It has beautiful pictures and it reminds us that we are not alone on the planet Earth. I love this phrase “We may all look different, act different and sound different…but don’t be fooled, we are all people”. Beautiful book!
6. “I’ll wait, Mr Panda” by Steve Antony
Are your children impatient like mine!? Then read this lovely book to them. Panda is making a surprise but only one animal is willing to wait. It simply teaches patience and that after you wait the reward is sweet and worth waiting for. My Hanna loves this book.
7. “Kicia Kocia na pikniku” by Anita Glowinska
This is a series of Polish books that my mum got my girls when she visited us last time before Covid-19. These books are lovely to read and they follow a little cat called Kicia Kocia on her daily adventures. It teaches important life lessons and talks about friendship. If you are Polish and haven’t read them yet to your kids I would highly recommend these little books.
8. “Let’s investigate plastic pollution on land and in the oceans” by Ruth Owen
We got this book in a gift shop at Eden Project in Cornwall. Sophie loves this book and we learned a lot from it about plastic pollution and how bad some plastic is for our environment and animals. It’s an educational book with good questions and I am sure after reading it you and your children would make changes in your buying behaviour and how you are helping the Earth by reducing plastic usage.
9. “Monkey Puzzle” by Julia Donaldson
My Hanna loves cuddles and she often refers to herself as a little monkey. This story follows a monkey who lost her mum and with the help of a butterfly they try to find the monkey’s mum but they don’t seem to be having much luck. Very clever and funny book and for sure you will be having cuddles at the end of the book 😊
10. “Mr Brown can Moo! Can you?” by Dr Seuss
It’s a great book that teaches sounds in a very funny way. The story follows a man called Mr Brown who can make lots of different sounds. He can “moo”, “blurp”, “slurp”, he can even “sizzle”. The kids will love copying the sounds. You can even encourage kids to think of other sounds that they know and keep going with the game of sounds.
11. “Odd dog out” by Rob Biddulph
“Odd dog out” by it’s a great story about a dog who feels it doesn’t fit in as she is different to other dogs. She sets off to find the right place to live only to realise that it is OK to be different and be herself. It’s a great story that teaches kids diversity and that each of us is a superstar. I love the final phase which is “So blaze a trail. Be who you are”.
12. “Oh, the places you’ll go! By Dr Seuss
We got this book from Mike’s work colleague when Sophie was still in my tummy. It was the first time I’ve read Dr Seuss books and was intrigued by the language he uses. This book follows an unnamed protagonist (who represents the reader) and follows him as he left the town for adventures. It talks about challenges and also gets the reader to “The waiting place” where everyone just waits there for something to happen. But the reader continues to explore the world to see what’s out there. Great book and lovely open ending.
13. “Peace at last” by Jill Murphy
We got this book from Mike’s parents and he remembers when his parents read this book to him which is lovely. The book talks about the bear family and their bedtime. Mummy bear fall asleep and start snoring and daddy bear couldn’t stand the noise so he tries to find a quiet place where he can sleep. He moves to the baby bear room, kitchen, garden and even a car! Will he be able to fall asleep?
14. “Press Here” by Herve Tullet
“Press Here” is a lovely interactive book, where kids follow the instruction within the book and see how it magically changes after completing the instructions. It encourages imagination and I am sure your kids giggle a lot and will not want to put this book down!
15. “Room on the Broom” by Julia Donaldson
“Room on the Broom” is another must-read classic by Julia and Axel. It follows a which who flies on her broomstick but because of the wind, she keeps dropping her things ( a hat, a bow and a wand). Animals help her fining her items, but they also want to hop and fly with her on her broomstick. Broomstick is snapping and the hungry dragon is ready to eat a witch. Will she survive and her new friends help her? Great story and I love reading this together with mike making different noises of animals, witch and dragon talking!
So here they are, our 15 books we read 🙂 To find out remaining 15 books head over to Part 2 of the blog 🙂
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