Childrens Book Meme

Not sure if this will work, but I thought of it the other day when offmessage was apparently asking for book recommendations in the office; maybe this will provide a few suggestions (or simply reinforce parental smugness at having got their book choices just right).

Anyway, here are my selection (in no particular order):-

Mr Magnolia by Quentin Blake


We were given this by Bookstart through Jacob's day nursery in London. Its actually a counting book, although not obviously so, but I like it for its v eccentric main character; Mister Magnolia has only one boot, don't you know. We've also got a slew of other Quentin Blake books (Cockatoos is ace), but this is my favourite.

Lullabyhullaballoo by Mick Inkpen


I think we possibly have every Mick Inkpen book for the pre-school age group, and while I like most of them, some of the Kipper books are rather variable and have a definite sense of being written to cash in on the brand. This one, however, is a hardy perennial with both Jacob and Sam still enjoying it as a bedtime story. In a nutshell, its a rhyme about a princess who can't get to sleep because of all the giants, ghosts, goblins and brave knights making a racket outside the castle. Like most Inkpen stories, it has fold-out pages and is beautifully illustrated.

Sharing a Shell by Julia Donaldson



Julia Donaldson has got to be the queen of children's rhyming stories; I've yet to read a duff one by her. Whilst the Gruffalo is an old favourite (and actually the first book we ever bought for Jacob), I prefer this one purely because it isn't illustrated by Axel Schaeffer (I really really don't like his pictures). For some strange reason, when I read it I have to read the Anenome's lines in a Brummie accent.

Hairy Maclarey and Zachary Quack by Lynley Dodd

We bought lots of Hairy Maclarey and Slinkey Malinki board books for Jacob when he was little, and too be honest, they were a little too wordy for him at the time and had been relegated to a shelf in the playroom thats full of "That's Not My...." and Maisy books for the past two years. However, I started reading them to Sam a few days ago and he is entranced by them; last night Jacob heard me reading them and decided that he wanted to listen to them too. I like this story the best of all her books because the use of language, cadence and rhyme are all spot on and marvellous for reading out loud.


Mr Wolf's Pancakes by Jan Fearnley



There are a few in the series, but this is the best one; basically, Mr Wolf is trying to make pancakes and asks help from all his neighbours (the Three Little Pigs, the Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hood etc) but in a nice turnaround, they are all uniformly nasty and refuse to come to his aid. What both Jacob and Sam like about this book (and the other Mr Wolf stories) is that at the end, nice Mr Wolf eats everyone who has been nasty to him. It makes me laugh every time I read it to them.


Well, that's my five; I'm sure it will be different in six months, but it'll do for now. Honourable mentions have to go to Aliens Love Underpants, Lost and Found, Wolves, Scaredy Squirrel and (my particular favourite, but only because it strikes a chord with me) Tickly Christmas Wibbly Pig.

So, I'd like to tag Andy, Solveig and Antonia to come up with their five favourite children's books. I have a feeling that Antonia's list won't include the one about the mouse that she was grousing about on her blog last week :)