World Book Day

Hoorah, one of my favourite school events is upon us.
This week is world book day. A great event that 100s of schools over the UK join in with and celebrate. Schools come up with different ideas – normally the children go in fancy dress – dressed as a character from their favourite book. I heard of one school with a fab idea, all the children go to school in their pjs and take their favourite bedtime story with them!
So, in honour of World Book Day, I am going to provide you with a list of great books for preschoolers. Some are individual books, some are part of a series, but they will all be worth a read.
Here goes (as a general guide, the top of the list is for the youngest of children, and they will get progressively more grown up down the list!).
The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See – Eric Carle
Guess How Much I Love You – Sam McBratney
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen
Whatever Next – Jill Murphy
You Choose – Pippa Goodhart
The Tiger who came to Tea – Judith Kerr
Five Minutes Peace – Jill Murphy (along with the others in the same ‘Elephant’ series)
Kipper – Mick Inkpen – a delightful series about Kipper (the dog), Tiger and a whole host of loveable friends.
Hairy Maclary (all the series) – Lynley Dodd
Aliens Love Underpants (as do dinosaurs) – Claire Freedman
Alfie and Annie Rose stories – lots of them, all great – Shirley Hughes
Max – Bob Graham
The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson
Winnie the Witch (each and every one of the picture books) – Valerie Thomas
Oliver Who Would not Sleep (and the others in the series) Mara Bergman
Rhinos Don’t Eat Pancakes – Anna Kemp
Tyrannosaurus Drip – Julia Donaldson
What the Ladybird Heard – Julia Donaldson
The Lighthouse Keeper series – Ronda & David Armitage
Mister Magnolia – Quentin Blake
So, not a complete list, I could go on for hours. You may notice a lack of Julia Donaldson books – 3 have made it on to my list, many of them I find tedious, but you may love them. There are many authors with many different series worth a try. Mick Inkpen books are always worth a read, as are Nick Butterworths. Some Dr Seuss books are fantastic, others not so great.
And, my 2 awards go to……….. (da da daaaaa)
Best series ever…. Winnie the Witch
Best Individual Book – Max (son of legendary superheroes)
Now, off you go and get reading.