300 Picture Books Challenge #12

So close! We just missed reaching the halfway point of the 300 Picture Books Challenge this week – by one book! But we’ll be off to a flying start next week, as Little Miss received a nice haul of new books for her birthday on Friday! But with eight new books added to the list for this week, our current total number of different books read so far this year is now 149.

Little Miss got her second free Bookstart pack this week and we were both thrilled to find a copy of the classic lift-the-flap book Dear Zoo included. It’s one she’s read and loved before in the library. Also included was If You’re Happy and You Know It by Anna McQuinn and Sophie Fatus ([published by Barefoot Books). As you might expect, it’s based on the classic nursery rhyme but it’s the wonderfully detailed, bright and colourful illustrations of children from all over the world that make this book. There is so much to look at and talk about within the pages. All in all, we were very pleased with our pack and I think Bookstart does a fab job in encouraging parents to read with their children.

Although Dear Zoo has been a big hit, the out and out favourite this week – read repeatedly at bedtimes – was an Emily Gravett title, Monkey and Me. Monkeys generally go down very well in this house and there are a few other animals to discover as you turn the pages, some of which are a little bit different for a change. Like the other Emily Gravett books we’ve read – all of which have been hugely popular with Little Miss – it’s very simple, based on repetition and accompanied by great illustrations. I suspect it’ll be a good few weeks before I can smuggle this one back to the library!

You can follow our daily reading progress on Pinterest and I’d love to hear any recommendations.

Find out more and join in with the 300 Picture Book Challenge over on the Child Led Chaos blog.

300 Picture Books Challenge #8

We had a quick library visit on Saturday so have had a nice new crop of books to read this week. To be honest, it was more of a dash and grab before our parking ran out so I was pleasantly surprised to still bring home a decent selection!

The stand-out favourites have been Roar!, great for going on an armchair safari and learning all the animals’ names, Mr Davies and the Baby, the new bedtime book of choice about a little dog, and Huff & Puff, a simple modern take on the classic Three Little Pigs fairy tale. This last book is proving very practical as well – it encourages young readers to try and blow each house down, which is useful for us as we’re currently trying to teach Little Miss how to blow properly so she can do the candles on her birthday cake next month!

So with eight new books now added to the list, our number of different books read so far this year is now 121.

This week also saw Little Miss bring home her World Book Day £1 book token from nursery, so there will definitely be something new in the house for next week. At the moment I can’t decide which title to get. The two-year-old’s options are Hello, Hugless Douglas! (and we love that cuddly bear!) or Emily Gravett’s Little Book Day Parade. We’ll have to have a flick through to see which we like best.

Talking about World Book Day, if you missed last week’s post on supporting Book Aid International please do have a read. This special charity will be trying to raise as much as possible on World Book Day so that they can send more books to children in Africa who really need them. There are lots of fun ways you can get involved, including some fantastic fancy dress ideas, so please do take a look – we’re hoping to make the Little Miss Sunshine outfit!

You can follow our daily reading progress on Pinterest and I’d love to hear any recommendations.

Find out more and join in with the 300 Picture Book Challenge over on the Child Led Chaos blog.