Green Eggs and Ham

author: Dr Seuss

Great for: 1 year and up

Time it takes to read: approx 10 minutes

Favourite line: "Would you, could you, with a goat?"

Story line: "Sam-I-Am tirelessly tries to convince his friend to try Green Eggs and Ham, in every manner of presentation."

We say: A timeless classic for children and adults alike that doesn't stop being funny. An absolute joy to read with wonderful rhymes and hilarious situations. The illustrations are fantastic and practically tell the story themselves. Many say this is the best Dr Seuss book - which is certainly a discussion starter - but it should definitely be your first!

Big Red Bath

author: Julia Jarman Illustrator: Adrian Reynolds

Great for: 1 year and up

Time it takes to read: approx 5 minutes

Favourite line: "Bubbles in the bath... water on the floor.... but who's this scratching at the door...?"

Story line: "Ben and Bella are having such a lovely, splashy time in the big red bath that soon everyone wants to join in the fun! But will there be room for all the animals ...even Hippopotamus? A riotous story"

We say: A fantastic book with wonderful illustrations that come alive! Great rhymes and animals that children are familiar with. For the younger children, it's a wonderful way to get them interested in their bath time... for the older children, they can appreciate the rhymes and the fantasy style story telling. For the adults - a fun book to read!

Happy Dog, Sad Dog

author: Sam Lloyd

Great for: Birth  - 2 years

Time it takes to read: approx 1 minute

Favourite line: "Hot dog... cold dog!"

Story line: "Hot dog, hairy dog, wet dog - find out the opposites of these and more in this board book of doggy opposites."

We say: A great book for the youngest of children. Big bright pictures with easy to understand concepts! The final page has all of the story's pictures on it, so it also acts as a good 'find the dog' game.

The Gruffalo

author: Julia Donaldson illustrator: Axel Scheffler 

Great for: 1 year +

Time it takes to read: approx 5 minutes

Favourite line: "But now my tummy's beginning to rumble. My favorite food is – gruffalo crumble!"

Story line: "A mouse took a stroll in the deep, dark wood...To scare off his enemies he invents tales of a fantastical creature called the Gruffalo."

We say: You'll thank yourself for buying the board book version of this story as you'll be reading this one over and over. Such a fun book to read - especially creeping your fingers up the listeners back when you describe the purple prickles! 

Lovely illustrations, but a lot of text on each page for the under 1's. 

A great book that's worth the hype!

roo-joey.minti.com

Dear Zoo

author: Rod Campbell

Great for 0 years and up.

Time it takes to read: approx 2 minutes

Favourite line: So they sent me a (monkey). He was too naughty.

Story line: "A letter to the zoo asking for a pet results in a succession being dispatched - all of them containing highly unsuitable pets. All, of course, except the last one.".

We say: This is a classic book that really should be compulsory for all children to own. It's a cute story, the book has great hard-wearing flaps for the reader to uncover, and a wide range of animals that can be shouted out as they are uncovered... or we suggested making the noises!

CHOO CHOO Clickety-clack!

author: Margaret Mayo    illustrator: Alex Ayliffe

Great for: Birth and up!

Time it takes to read: approx 1 minute

Favourite line: Noisy motorbikes roar, roar, roaring, Flinging up mud, swooping and swerving.

Story line: "A lively board book packed with busy vehicles".

We say: A very short book (just 5 double pages) that can take anything from one to 10 minutes to read as each page has different textures to feel with shiny colourings. There's other objects on each page to also talk about with your child.

A great book for when your child begins to become interested in transport. 

roo-joey.minti.com

I like it when...

author: Mary Murphy

Great for 1 year and up.

Time it takes to read: approx 1 minute

Favourite line: I like it when you hold my hand. (my daughter presses her hand into mine... heart melting!)

Story line: "A little penguin with a big personality... it cleverly captures all that is exciting and comforting about a toddler's perfect day".

We say: It's a quick book with short one-liners about what toddlers do each day, from reading to 'helping' to going to sleep.

It's a cute book, nice for bedtime.

More Pants

author: Giles Andreae & Nick Sharratt

Great for 1 year and up. Also comes in a hard back version - good for little uns.

Time it takes to read: approx 4 minutes

Favourite line: Yummy pants, mummy pants, Sucking on your thumby pants, Tickling your tummy pants and matching bra!

Story line: "You can never have enough pants, can you?"

We say: It is really hard to express just how great this book is. It's SO much fun to read (try out some crazy accents or tunes - it's got a great beat), and so much fun to listen to. The illustrations are superb too, but it's gotta be the rhyming that makes this book what it is.

Oh - and the subject... a book all about Pants! It's hard to go wrong, and they've done it SO right!

Hippo has a hat

author: Julia Donaldson & Nick Sharratt

Great for 1 year and up. It has extra thick paper - perfect for toddlers.

Time it takes to read: approx 2 minutes

Favourite line: 'Toad's tracksuit is too big, these jeans are tight on pig'

Story line: "There's chaos in the clothes shop when the animals gon on a glorious shopping spree"

We say: Great pictures, memorable lines, and lots of animals to shout out names / noises when the pages are turned.

It always ends with my daughter calling for 'more' or 'again'. We've read it near on fifty times, and the pictures of a pig trying to squeeze into jeans too small still gets a snigger.