We love a good bedtime story here. And one of the best ways to calm my toddler down and focus his attention is to bring out a book I know he loves. Here is a list of his top picks.
Number 1 on the reading list is a classic story first published in 1968. Corduroy by Don Freeman is the story of a toy store teddy bear waiting to be bought. My son adores the simple illustrations and sweet storyline. It’s a great book for begining discussions on friendship.
Number 2 on his list is Dinosaurs in the Supermarket by Timothy Knapman and Sarah Warburton. This book appeals to my son’s silly sense of humour and what kid doesn’t love dinosaurs. We search each page for hidden dinosaurs and talk about tidying up after ourselves when we read this book about sneaky, messy dinosaurs. The illustrations are bright and colourful, whilst the story takes on a rhyming narrative of a boys trip to the supermarket with his mum. It’s good fun and can be quick to read if your on that “1 last story please”.
Our third favourite story at the moment is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. At 2.5 I think a lot of days must feel like this. I think my son loves this book so much because he can relate to the little boy in the story and feels like he’s not the only one who has bad days. It’s okay to have bad days, “some days are just like that” the story explains.
Fourth on our list is But No Elephants by Jerry Smath. This story follows a predictable formula, Granny agrees to buy lots of animals from the pet man with the stipulation of “No Elephants!” My son loves the repetitive pattern that threads through the story and of course at the end (spoiler alert) we love counting the elephants she is welcoming to her home.
There are lots of books we love and of course being a toddler he frequently changes his mind and demands a new favourite over and over again weekly so having a good foundation of classic I don’t mind reading for the 1,000 time helps! I hope it helps you too, which are your favourites?