Reading time with kids (part 1)

by The Flamingo

This article is dedicated to my son and his literature preferences. Most of us, wherever we are in this world, are secluded at home with our kids for a long period of time, due to this “which shall not be named” tragedy. Staying mostly indoors with a young child, whose energy is limitless, is really tough. Also the amount of activities at home is numbered and boring after 10 days in a row. But you know what my kid doesn’t find boring at all and amazes me to say it? Books. We can read together for hours and he’s fine with it. I might as well admit it, my son is definitely a bookworm.

We taught him to love books since he was a baby and his school also played a great role in this. At school they have reading time, library time and they are also encouraged to borrow books. As a teacher, I can advise you to read at least 10 minutes a day to your child from birth onward. It helps them develop better, learn more, be easily focused at school and also creates a special bond with the parents. Also, reading helps a lot in adulthood with staying mentally balanced . It’s a nice hobby to have. 

My son is almost 5 and a half now. Here is a list of his favorite children’s authors and illustrators:

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

For sure you might have heard of her, especially those of you who are native English speakers. She is the famous author of the “Gruffalo”. Her writing style is very witty and unexpected, in catchy rhymes. Her two books about the Gruffalo aren’t the only ones that are a huge success. My son also loves “The Highway Rat”, “Tales from Acorn Wood” and “Room on the broom”. We bought some more this week, which are waiting neatly in his reading lineup. For Julia Donaldson’s books see here.

David McKee

This English author is mainly known for the “Elmer the patchwork elephant” series. I think my son owns at least 10 “Elmers” from this series. He likes them because they are easy to understand, the plots are not complicated and Elmer is a very warm character, who teaches children “it’s ok to be different”. The stories he favours in this series are “Elmer and Wilbur”, “Elmer and the monster”, “Elmer and Rose” and “Elmer and the whales”. For David McKee’s books see here.

John Skewes and Michael Mullin

When he was born, my son received his first book “Larry gets lost in Portland” as a gift from an American friend of ours. The city of Portland has a special meaning to us, so this was also a very special book, for a very special boy. It was the first actual book he had the patience to listen to from the beginning until the end. And so he requested more. We have lots of them from the series “Larry gets lost in” (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Under the sea, In Prehistoric Times). It’s a great way for kids to learn new things about cities, before visiting them, or just for fun. For John Skewes’s books see here.

James Dean and Eric Lutwin

“Pete the Cat” has been translated in lots of languages, it has a nice catchy song and it’s perfect from a very young age on. This is also a series, with the funny, “unimpressed”, black tomcat as the main character. It’s great for learning new words, numbers and concepts easily, having lots of fun at it. It’s a long list from “Pete the Cat”, all of them are great, I can only recommend buying whatever is available in your native language. For James Dean’s books see here.

Tony Mitton and various illustrators like Guy Parker-Rees or Alison Brown

We love Tony Mitton mostly because he writes in funny rhymes full of onomatopoeia and made up words. His books illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees are hilarious: “Bumpus Jumpus Dinosaurumpus” and “Down by the cool of the pool”. Also Mitton’s stories illustrated by Alison Brown are very cute, also in rhymes, very touchy and warm, about friendships between unlikely friends: “Snow Bear” and “Snow Penguin”. For Tony Mitton’s books see here.

Beatrix Potter

I bet most of you have heard of the famous English author of “Peter Rabbit”, who was also a beautiful illustrator. I was personally in love with her stories way before my son came into my life. So, because I was such a big fan, the first stories I ever read to my baby were hers. She has a lovely, proper, British writing style. Her stories are old, written at the beginning of the last century and you can feel this fact throughout her works, that’s why I have such a fondness for her. And yes, my son likes “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” as well, not just I. Some of his favorite stories include: “The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin”, “The Tale of Tom Kitten” and “The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck”. For Beatrix Potter’s books see here.

Helen Cooper

In my opinion she is one of the best illustrators I have ever had the pleasure of admiring. She is a true artist, not only with words, but also with her drawings and her use of colours. She has a series with three friends: a cat, a squirrel and a duck and some nice soups: “Pumpkin soup”, “A pipkin of pepper” and “Delicious”. This series helped me to get my son eating some new stuff, like pumpkin soup. For Helen Copper’s books see here.

Benji Davies

This author is also an illustrator and an animation film director. He has lots of beautiful stories written, but my son’s favorites are the ones with whales. “The storm whale” and “The storm whale in winter” are really unique stories, full of compassion, with very special art that can be recognised among a thousand other books. For Benji Davis’s books see here.

Adam & Charlotte Guillain and Lee Wildish

We found out about this amazing family of writers from my son, who had met them at school, at a book reading. He was so excited he got to listen to the book they were on the tour with back then “Jellybeans for Giants”. And so, we found out about the whole “George’s amazing adventures” series. My kid is very besotted with the whole series, which isn’t short by the way. Over the period of a year he succeeded almost completing it (he’s still missing one book). He asked for this series with each opportunity he had: from Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny, his Nana, our friends from the UK, on his birthday…and so on. The series is full of imagination and excitement, very funny and beautifully drawn. My son’s favorites: “Pizza for Pirates”, “Spaghetti for Yeti”, “Muffins for Mummies” and “Jellybeans for Giants”. For The Guillain’s books see here.

M Christina Butler and Tina Macnaughton

The last on this list is actually the last series my son got acquainted with. It is a very cosy and warm series with animals, perfectly suited for winter. The illustrations are a dream, very soothing and mellow. My son has lots of this author’s books on his wishlist, just waiting in line to be bought at the right time. The books we read the whole winter long are “One noisy night” and “One cosy Christmas”. For Christina Butler’s books see here.

This list is just the tip of the iceberg of books from my son’s personal library. There are lots of other amazing authors and illustrators and I feel bad not writing a few words about each and every one of them. You can find these authors on my favorite book selling site The Book Depository which delivers for free anywhere in the world or on Amazon. Of course many of them have been translated in lots of other languages, so maybe you can find them at your local library. For any other book recommendations feel free to reach out. Reading is one of the best indoor pastimes a child could have. So, stay healthy and safe wherever you are and read your time away.  

Photos from Flamingo‘s archive.

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