Your book ideas and comments
Send us your comments on the books on the website that you have enjoyed, send in your comments, ideas and photos about activities linked to the books.
Jemma writes about reading with more than one child
Jemma has three children, Elodie (7), Finlay (4) and Orla (2)
‘We do struggle with this. Orla is at the stage where she just wants to turn the pages constantly, annoying the other two. We find we need to have more time for bedtime reading as they all want to pick a story each! Having a slot of reading time with each child individually helps, so they know they get some ‘one-on-one’ time.
Reading a story with vivid pictures, but perhaps more suited to older children often works, the younger children will ‘listen’ for the pictures, they may tail off and go and do something else but then the older one stays for the story.
It generally seems to be about the book as well, so the best ones that keep them all engaged,
and our age group favourites are Dear Zoo, Each Peach Pear Plum, Peace at Last, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and So Much. Interestingly all our children have loved these stories equally and all had ‘a time’ for them. This is without us promoting them also.
For example, each of them have had us read Dear Zoo 10 times a day between the ages of 9 months and a year! A firm favourite for all of them is so much and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, all 3 of them will happily listen to that, even Elodie. Max at Night is also popular. Finlay (4) absolutely loves Alfie books, we read these a lot. I didn’t realise there was a video with Alfie Gets in First . I’ll show him that.
Jemma is interested in the new lovemubooks novels section.
Elodie (7) is an avid reader and reads books so quickly. I’m always on the lookout for new ones at the library or to buy but sometimes books that are suitable for her reading level are not always suitable in content. (They often have lots about boyfriends!)
Elodie has read Charlotte’s Web which she adored; she loved discovering what animal the characters were. She did find it sad though, I think it was the first book that really ‘moved her’, so that was interesting to see. She also became a vegetarian for a couple of days!
She read Mango and Bambang the not a pig in one sitting in an afternoon, I was a bit worried that she hadn’t read it properly but she recounted the whole story and loved it.
There are loads of books on your site that we like and some great ideas for new reads that we haven’t read on your new picture books list. [ http://www.lovemybooks.co.uk/our-top-10-new-books. This is such a great list for buying books as gifts for friend’s children!
It’s a lovely and very helpful website. Well done!’
Tamiko wrote this:
‘I have just clicked onto LMB and LOVE it already! I have been reading The Hungry Caterpillar, The Gruffalo, Dear Zoo and other stories for the last 6 months to my son and I adore all your ideas on how to expand and develop the stories. Thank you for creating this website.’
We asked her how she was getting on with sharing books with her little boy Vincent who is now nearly one:
She has told us his favourite books are Dear Zoo and Spot’s First Easter (for pulling the flaps), The Very Hungry Caterpillar (for poking his fingers in the holes), Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy as he enjoys the rhymes, 100 First Animals for the variety and colour of the animals.
Tamiko continues:
‘We share Each Peach Pear Plum, Dear Zoo, Very Hungry Caterpillar, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, Gruffalo, Peace at Last, Room on the Broom (the last is our favourite bedtime story). We often share books straight after breakfast for about 40 minutes on a good day! I have tried the lovemybooks ideas of singing along to the Bear Hunt song, and also saying lines from the book when having a bath for example (splash, splosh, splash splosh!)
I look forward to doing more Hungry Caterpillar games once he is a bit older. And all the other interaction and games of course! ‘
Thanks Tamiko! We look forward to hearing more about your reading together
Recommendations from Rose, a grandmotherI’d like to recommend the Little Red Train series by Benedict Blathwayt. Each page is full of realistic but also whimsical detail, humorous and informative, with townscapes, country scenes and seascapes, exploring universal themes such as the tortoise and hare type of race (between trains), generous acts, cheating, rescue etc. I’ve just bought two: Race to the Finish and To the Rescue. Two others are: Runaway Train and Busy Day. I notice that you include one book by him in the dinosaur section.
These were suggested by the bookshop in Muswell Hill when I mentioned that both my grandsons Leo and Luke love the detail of the Richard Scarry books, but I don’t like having to ‘translate’ from the American, both the language and cultural references. The Scarry books are full of humorous representations of urban busyness and different forms of travel, and have lots of recurring people/animals to find on each page. I’ve given a few to both Leo and Luke (aged 3 and 2 and a half) for example, The Busiest People Ever and Cars and Trucks and Things that Go). But at the bookshop the assistant recommended the Little Red Train books as being similar in having lots of detail and having the theme of people helping, rescuing etc. I’ve used Race to the Finish and both really liked it – I’m saving the Busy Day for later.
Another author I like is Alex T Smith: http://www.alextsmith.com/. He’s a young author and very popular, apparently.
It would be good to include on the site a section on local recommended bookshops. Mine would be: Children’s Bookshop, Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill.
Lovemybooks
Thanks Rose for some great suggestions for books and for the website. Please write again about reading with your grandsons. We’d love to hear from you.
ROLE PLAY IS GREAT! -Emma
My daughter (aged two) engages most with role play activities around the books on the website. She has loved the ideas from the site such as packing a bag to ‘go on a bear hunt’ in the garden and ending up in bed under the covers, and is often now doing this on her own. I overheard her saying” oh no! ‘I’ve got shoes on my mud like going on a bear hunt, squelch squerch!” See all the lovemybooks ideas for We’re Going on a Bearhunt.
She also had lots of fun with Dear Zoo activities, putting toy zoo animals into presents ‘from the zoo’ and sending them back. I recently gave her something to play with while I was tidying up and she promptly gave it back saying “send it back!” so I have decided not to play this one too close to Christmas to avoid awkward present giving situations!
She also gets very excited about having tiger tea parties (The Tiger Who Came to Tea) laying out all the food on a tray, wondering who is at the door and using a tiger puppet to eat all the sandwiches and buns and drink all the tea in the teapot. We then go round the kitchen so the tiger can eat all the food in the cupboards and drink all the water in the taps. We have even put on our coats to go to a pretend cafe, ordering food, paying the bill and then going to the shops to buy an extra large tin of tiger food!
Learning from these ideas in love my books has helped us to come up with our own activities. We read Peace at Last, going into different rooms in the house, listening to sounds like the clock ticking, the refrigerator and a dripping tap, saying “oh no! I can’t stand this!”
Lovemybooks:
Hi Emma – it’s really good that you’re enjoying role play with your daughter.
Role play – playing out the story of a book – helps to develop imagination, play and language, a deeper understanding of stories AND builds interest and enjoyment of books.
LOVE MY BOOKS – Sarah Baker
We started reading to our baby when I was about 7 months pregnant. Partly as a bonding exercise (I’d read a piece on how babies can recognise their mum and dad’s voices) and partly because we’d already been given some lovely books and I wanted to revisit some of my childhood favourites.
Now he’s five months and we’ve been reading to Freddie ever since. It’s his dad’s turn at night for the last story of the day, usually a quiet one as part of his bedtime routine, but once morning comes around, it’s my turn and that’s when the activities start.
One of our favourites is Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s bright, the pictures are wonderful and the little holes are brilliant for tiny fingers to poke through and help turn the pages or pretend to be a caterpillar. At five months, Freddie is more of a listener than a reader, but in time we’ll get a little more interactive and try some of the brilliant suggestions on the Love My Books website.
As a writer for children and a voracious reader, I’m keen to encourage Freddie’s early love of books (whether listening to them or biting them) and the Love My Books website is a brilliant resource of both fun and educational activities to support that. They also have lots of book suggestions, some of which we didn’t know, so we’ve already ordered more. I foresee very happy times ahead (and not just for me!)
I look forward to working through the age group books and activities with Love My Books and our very own hungry caterpillar.
BUSES AND TRAINS! – Toyin
My little boy adores buses and trains. He absolutely loves Naughty Bus and Oi! Get Off My Train. He also loves a push, pull slide book called Busy railway (published by Campbell) and Wave the flag and Blow the Whistle (Ronda Armitage illustrated by Andrew Gordon.
Lovemybooks
Thanks for this feedback Toyin, great to see how much your little boy enjoys this topic!
Freddie’s story
Sarah Baker, a parent, tells the story of her son Freddie as he develops as a reader.
October 2015
Sarah writes:
We started reading to our baby when I was about 7 months pregnant. Partly as a bonding exercise (I’d read a piece on how babies can recognise their mum and dad’s voices) and partly because we’d already been given some lovely books and I wanted to revisit some of my childhood favourites.
Now he’s five months and we’ve been reading to Freddie ever since. It’s his dad’s turn at night for the last story of the day, usually a quiet one as part of his bedtime routine, but once morning comes around, it’s my turn and that’s when the activities start.
One of our favourites is Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It’s bright, the pictures are wonderful and the little holes are brilliant for tiny fingers to poke through and help turn the pages or pretend to be a caterpillar. At five months, Freddie is more of a listener than a reader, but in time we’ll get a little more interactive and try some of the brilliant suggestions on the Love My Books website.
As a writer for children and a voracious reader, I’m keen to encourage Freddie’s early love of books (whether listening to them or biting them) and the Love My Books website is a brilliant resource of both fun and educational activities to support that. They also have lots of book suggestions, some of which we didn’t know, so we’ve already ordered more. I foresee very happy times ahead (and not just for me!)
I look forward to working through the age group books and activities with Love My Books and our very own hungry caterpillar.
December 2015
Sarah writes:
Freddie’s already developing a real love for his favourites.
A few weeks ago, Freddie began crawling. He went from one side of the living room to the other, and right up to the bookshelves. There he began to pull out a few books before turning to me with a smile. I could not have been more proud. Now this has become part of our daily routine, and storytime by the bookshelves is as much fun for him as it is for his mum and dad.
Now he’s a little older, we’ve started including some of the activities Love My Books suggest on their website. We’ll often read one book a second time or point out little picture details as we go. We talk about the book and, when it comes to one of his new favourites, Orange, Pear, Apple, Bear by Emily Gravett, we’ve used real pieces of fruit to tell the story (which he found delicious).
We continue to find that the Love My Books website is a brilliant resource of both fun and educational activities. They also have lots of book suggestions, which would make brilliant Christmas presents!
March 2016
Freddie age 1 Year
Sarah writes:
Freddie turned one this month and his love of books is still going strong. He got quite a lot of book presents (the best kind of presents) and we read one or two, sometimes more each day. He’s now learned to turn the pages, though not necessarily at the right time, which often makes for interesting storytelling.
Freddie definitely has his favourites. These are the rhyming stories, the ones we can do actions to, the ones where I voice the characters, the ones where he can really join in. Reading books has become an interactive activity for us and it’s a source of endless giggles when I do the singing bits or we fly around the house, making room on our very own broom. (Room on the Broom LINK)
Two books we’ve really enjoyed lately are:
Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars! Here Come the Dinosaurs! by Kaye Umansky and Nick Sharratt
We’re big dinosaur fans in this house and the stomping and chomping is always fun. Freddie’s also recently learned to roar so I’m encouraging that at every opportunity.
This is a very funny book, which makes Freddie (and me) laugh every time we shout ‘Train!’ whether we’re reading or playing with our own little train set (carriages currently filled with toy animals, a car and what looks like a very hipster farmer). We’re planning a train trip of our own soon to see a friend in Edinburgh and I’m expecting a few shouts of ‘Train!’ as we travel. Sorry about that everyone…
March 2017
Freddie age 2 years
Sarah writes:
Freddie is 2 years old and his love of books grows with him. We have story time every day, usually after breakfast, and always before bed. Reading is something we do together. Freddie’s clear about which stories he likes and now refers to them by their title. He’s also started reciting bits of his favourites back to me during the day, so we both seem to be learning them off by heart.
Two of his current favourites are Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
Freddie turns the pages so he’s in charge of how fast or slow we read. We’ve begun to pause a little, taking time to talk about ‘what’s going to happen next,’ using the space to discuss the fox following Rosie. We count the items The Very Hungry Caterpillar eats and Freddie names them. As these are favourite books, we read them over and over, and I often suggest to Freddie that he read them to me and he really enjoys telling me his version of what’s going on. He’s also become very interested in the words themselves, asking me what a particular word ‘says’ and then repeating it. It’s astonishing and magical to watch.
September 2018
Freddie’s dinosaur adventures
Author and parent Sarah Baker continues her son Freddie’s reading journey. Freddie is now 3 and Dinosaur stories are a big hit. This is what Sarah has to say:
‘We love dinosaurs and we love dinosaur books. We currently have four favourites, which we read again and again, and they inspire a lot of play too.’
Dinosaur Roar! by Paul Stickland & Henrietta Stickland
Published in association with the Natural History Museum (one of our favourite places to hang out), dinosaurs of every shape, size and colour feature in this fantastic picture book. We take it in turns to do our very own dinosaur squeak or roar and usually end up with a good stomp around the house…
…which leads me to Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars! Here Come the Dinosaurs! By Kaye Umanksy & Nick Sharratt. With its bright illustrations and fantastic rhyming story, it’s perfect for stomping, chomping toddlers. We name the dinosaurs, talk about their different shapes, sizes and colours, and make our very own T-Rex stomp and roar about (when he’s not busy reading).
Dinosaurs and all that rubbish by Michael Foreman is a classic tale that introduces the concept of the environment, what we do with our rubbish and saving the planet. We talk a lot about where water comes from, where rubbish goes, for example. Freddie enjoys sorting the recycling (along with T-Rex), switches off lights whenever they’re on “to save energy, Mummy,” and loves helping to plant seeds in the garden and water the plants we’re growing.
If I Had a Dinosaur by Alex Barrow & Gabby Dawnay is a recent addition to our collection and we love it. Imagine having a dinosaur?! It’s such a fun story that inspires us to talk about what we’d do with a dinosaur in our house. Would he fit into the kitchen? Where would he sleep? What would he eat? The dinosaur poo page always gets a big laugh and imagining what our dinosaur would look like has inspired Freddie to draw her (it’s a her, she’s called ‘Marie’)
Here are some other Dinosaur books we love:
T-Veg (the story of a carrot crunching dinosaur) by Smriti Prasadam-Halls & Katherina Manolessou, Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland, Dinosaur Beach by Frann Preston-Gannon, Dino Diggers Digger Disaster by Rose Impey & Chris Chatterton and Toot Goes to Dinosaurland by Catherine and Laurence Anholt. Happy Reading!
Sarah Baker is a children’s author. Her novel for 8-12 year olds, Through the Mirror Door, is available now.
Twitter: @bysarahbaker
Instagram: @bysarahbaker
Pinterest: pinterest.com/bysarahbaker
Our top 10 counting books
Counting books offer lots of fun opportunities for learning about numbers and counting.
Elmer’s First Counting Book David McKee
Andersen Press
Age 0-3
In this bright and attractive elephant shaped counting book children will meet Elmer and some of his friends. Count the animals on each page and talk about what they are all doing.
See lovemybooks ideas for sharing the first story about Elmer.
Alphaprints 123 Roger Priddy
Priddy Books
Age 0-5
A board book with lovely textured animal pictures made from finger prints. It would be fun to make your own using finger paint. Includes numbers up to ten and a counting rhyme on every page.
Count to 100 Felicity Brooks, Sophia Touliatou (Illus)
Usborne
Age 3-7
This is a very attractive book with gorgeous illustrations to count on every page including flowers, animals, and the night sky: from one full moon to 100 twinkling stars. Young readers are encouraged to count in ones up to twenty and then introduced to whole tens (30, 40, 50 etc) to 100.
In addition to the counting on every page other concepts are introduced (eg first and last, lowest and highest) and there is plenty to spot, ‘I’m the biggest [animal]’ says the whale which is the smallest? Every double page provides lots to talk about together. Readers are encouraged to voice preferences – which flower do you prefer?
Watch the publisher’s introduction to the book:
Count with little fish Lucy Cousins
Walker
Age 0-3
This is a perfect first counting book for the very young. The illustrations of the different fish (thin fish, fat fish, shy fish and scary fish) are beautiful, brightly coloured and patterned and might inspire some ‘fishy’ painting. Numbers are included as words and numerals. There is a pleasing rhyme to the text making it tuneful to read aloud and return to.
Gorilla Anthony Browne
Walker Books
Age 0-5
Anthony Browne is one of our most successful picture book makers. Most of his books are for over sevens and if you know his work you will recognise that gorillas often feature. In this beautiful counting book with detailed illustrations a broad family of primates are the focus.
A Million Dots, Sven Völker
Cicada Books
Age 7-11
This book takes its readers from one to a million in twenty dramatic double page spreads.
Each spread includes numbers represented in digits and words, and sums which take you to the next page where the first challenge is to read the next number. The focus is on doubling and the speed with which you reach over a million is mind boggling. Parents and children will find themselves competing to see who can calculate the next number.
The illustrations highlight all that could (potentially!) be counted in the world around us from the number of apples on a tree, to the numbers of freckles on a face moving on to all that probably could not be counted such as the number of blades of grass on a sports field or stars in the sky. Children can be encouraged to look out for other examples in the world around them.
The design is bold and attractive and the final spread is an extra delight, a gatefold page emphasising the magnitude of the final number (1,048,576!)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle
Penguin
Age 0-5
A picture book classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar tells the story of a rather greedy little caterpillar searching for food. Children can count the foods the caterpillar nibbles through as well as learning about the life cycle of a butterfly, the days of the week and healthy eating.
See lovemybooks ideas for sharing The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer Dan Crisp (illus)
Child’s Play
Age 0-3
This is an illustrated version of the well-known rhyming song with holes for little fingers to explore. Great for joining in and counting the illustrations build a story alongside the rhyme.
See lovemybooks ideas for sharing Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer.Hippos go Berserk age 3-5 Sandra Boynton Simon and Schuster
One Moose Twenty Mice Stella Blackstone and Clare Beaton
Barefoot Books
Age 3-5
A counting book with numbers up to 20. The lovely images are created from felt applique. As well as counting the animals there is fun to be had in spotting the cat hiding on every page.
Countablock Christopher Franceschelli
Abrams Appleseed
Age 3-7
Beautifully designed, the thick pages of this book are cut into number shapes. Peep through to see what’s coming next. As well as a counting book there are transformations to discover with one egg becoming one chicken and two snowmen become two puddles. Numbers up to 100.
Hippos go Berserk Sandra Boynton
Simon and Schuster
Age 3-5
First published in 1977, this tale of a hippo preparing for a party with groups of friends, helpers and an unexpected monster guest arriving is great fun. The groups of hippos can be counted as they arrive; with older children you might attempt a running total of the hippo arrivals. There is a climax midway through the book as the party gets going and the hippos go… berserk! This appears an all-night party and the next morning they gradually leave, so you can count down until one hippo is left all alone again.
Ten Fat Sausages Michelle Robinson, Tor Freeman (illus)
Andersen Press
Age 3-7
The ten fat sausages in this version include some rebels who refuse to comply with expectations. Disrupting the traditional rhyme, they try to escape before going ‘pop’ or ‘bang’. However their plans are thwarted when they each meet an equally awful fate within the kitchen. Definitely a case of out of the frying pan into the fire. Magnificently macabre with humour which will delight many children, this is not a book for the faint hearted! The illustrations are very striking with very expressive sausages and a rhyming text which skips along. As well as introducing the idea of subtracting twos this book would be great fun to read together – with one of you as narrator and the other as one of the would be escapees. You could have fun with dramatic sound effects. It may inspire more sausage storytelling with other bids for freedom.
Watch a trailer
Watch an animation of the original rhyme from the BBC website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNNBHQTfb8k
Our top 10 apps
There are an increasing number of apps with interactive stories based on children’s’ books available. These provide another way for you to share books with your children and lead to lots of opportunity to talk about the stories and activities together.
For more discussion and ideas about reading on screen see here.
Several of the apps listed here link with books included on the lovemybooks site.
Me Books
Age 0-7
Me Books is a library of stories with an increasing number from new picture books as well as older books and traditional stories. The range includes books suitable for children from 0-7.
Listen to the stories read aloud, tap a character to hear what they say or create hotspots with your child and record their own voices helping to tell the stories. Look out for some lovemybooks stories including Aaaarrgghh Spider by Lydia Monks, The Gigantic Turnip and Not Now Bernard or discover new favourites for example Banana! by Ed Vere for 0-3s or Hugless Douglas by David Melling for 3-5s.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/me-books-books-comics-bedtime/id534499518?mt=8
Hat Monkey [Fox and Sheep GmbH] created by Chris Haughton
Age 0-5
This is a stand-alone app which encourages children to interact with hat monkey in a series of scenes, an appealing character, sending him texts, feeding him bananas or dancing with him. Children will enjoy this interactive book much more if they know the story Oh No, George! where the monkey is seen reading in one scene. See our ideas for sharing Oh No George! in the animals section. This will also lead you and your children to discover more Chris Haughton books including A Bit Lost, Shh! we have a plan.
Don’t let the pigeon run this app! [Disney] designed by Mo Willems
Age 3-7
Children will love this app much more if they have met Mo Willems character Pigeon in the hilarious story ‘Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus!’
In this interactive app using shake and play technology children can learn to draw a pigeon like Mo’s and create and record their own stories about the pigeon.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/dont-let-pigeon-run-this-app!/id459749670?mt=8
The Heart and the Bottle for ipad [Harper Collins] designed by Oliver Jeffers
Age 5-7
An interactive app version of Oliver Jeffers poignant story about a little girl whose life changes after her grandfather dies and how she gradually learns to cope with this. Children can listen to the story read aloud and follow the hints to bring the beautiful illustrations to life; creating a snow flurry or turning day into night.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/heart-bottle-for-ipad/id407795360?mt=8
Nursery Rhymes with StoryTime [ustwo Ltd and Atomic Antelope]
Age 0-5
A beautifully designed interactive app with a number of well-known rhymes. Listen to the rhymes read aloud or tell them your selves as you enjoy the images and touch the screen to make the three blind mice squeak or the Grand old duke of York’s men tumble down the hill.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/nursery-rhymes-storytime/id423322533?mt=8
The Three Little Pigs a 3D fairy tale [Nosy Crow]
Age 3-7
An award winning animated version of the well-known story narrated by children. Lots of surprises and touch points in every scene. Children can join in with the wolf blowing down the 3 little pigs’ houses and read or tell the story themselves.
http://nosycrow.com/apps/the-three-little-pigs
Goldilocks and Little Bear
Age 3-7
This prize winnning story app includes two versions of the familiar classic story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. While Goldilocks is in the bears’ cottage, eating porridge, sitting in their chairs, and sleeping in their beds, Little Bear is in Goldilocks’s house eating their pancakes,trying on their clothes and reading their books.
Children can learn to navigate, select scenes, scroll, tap, and swipe and shake to animate the characters. They will enjoy helping Goldilocks taste porridge, collect berries and jump on the beds and break baby bear’s chair.
A highly enjoyable well designed and interactive story app.
Gruffalo Games [Magic light Pictures Ltd based on The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler]
Age 3-7
Gruffalo Games is for children who know and love the story of the Gruffalo. See lovemybooks ideas on sharing The Gruffalo. The app contains 6 games interactive games based on characters and scenes in the story.
http://www.magiclightpictures.com/family_brands/
the_gruffalo/apps/gruffalo_games/
The Very Hungry Caterpillar and friends [Story Toys Entertainment Ltd with Eric Carle’s original artwork]
Age 3-5
This app will be more fun for children who are very familiar with The Very Hungry Caterpillar story. See lovemybooks ideas for sharing The Very Hungry Caterpillar with your child.
Using Eric Carle’s original artwork this app includes animation and a number of games and activities linked to his stories and characters.
http://storytoys.com/apps/the-very-hungry-caterpillar/
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site [Oceanhouse Media book by Sherry Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld]
Age 3-5
Listen to the beautifully illustrated animation of Rinker and Lichtenheld’s rhyming picture book about construction vehicles at night time read aloud. Children can then record themselves telling the story.
https://itunes.apple.com/app/goodnight-goodnight-construction/id926597014?mt=8
Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion
Alex T Smith
Scholastic
Age 5-7 years
In a delightful twist on the Red Riding Hood story, a very hungry lion is no match for Little Red. Set in a vibrant African landscape with gazelles and elephants, Little Red lives with her daddy and sets off to visit her auntie to take her medicine when she is ill. On her journey she travels over sleepy crocodiles, catches a lift on an elephant and meets a lion on the way who plans to eat her. But he has underestimated Little Red who decides to teach the lion a thing or two.
This is a very funny story with an assertive heroine. You and your child will have great fun sharing the story and looking closely at the details in the fabulous colourful illustrations; the double page picture of the lion with his hair braided is hilarious.
Children may make their own connections to the traditional story as you begin the book, but they can enjoy Little Red without knowing it. You could tell them the Little Red Riding story afterwards or show them the version in our find out more section below.
Before starting to read the story aloud
Look at the cover together. Have a chat about what this story might be about and the clues in the pictures. Children might notice the connection to the Little Red Riding Hood story.
Read the story aloud
Pause when your child wants to look more closely at illustrations or talk about what’s happening.
Join in
Encourage your child to follow the arrows showing Little Red’s journey with a finger over the page. Children could join in with some of the phrases eg ‘under the giraffes’, ‘over the sleepy crocodiles’ and they could use their finger again to follow the numbered steps in the lion’s cunning plan.
Talk about the story
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Talk about your favourite or funniest parts of the story.
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Look back at some of the illustrations – there are lots of details to spot for example did you both notice the lion hiding behind a tree watching Little Red as she moves through the forest?
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Talk about what might happen next if there was another story about Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion?
A mother writes...
Little Red and the very hungry lion
We acted out the story with puppets one evening
We were very excited by the cover of this book; we loved the illustrations with the expressions on their faces and the lion’s huge hair and Little Reds tiny arms. We talked about the name ‘Little red’ and Lizzie was sure it was nothing to do with red riding hood as it wasn’t a wolf, she did become convinced of a link when things were packed into a basket. Lizzie loves books where she you are meant to touch the pages so she enjoyed following the journey through the jungle with her finger and naming the different animals.
The colours used on the pages were just so vibrant and fun that it is a treat to read and you want to turn the book to see the pictures as much as see the story develop. She really enjoyed the hand written plan as this is not something, she has seen in picture books before and enjoys the arrows which she used to retell the plan.
We spent a lot of time looking and marvelling at the lion’s hair and loved the huge page with the dirty teeth (teeth definitely got brushed well on days we read this book). Lizzie has really started to add expression to her reading so books like this that use larger or different fonts really help her when she joins in. Her favourite part is the very last line which she enjoys joining in with. We have just got a kitten who is a delight but jumps up onto tables etc and is very interested in our food so Lizzie absolutely loves the last line of the books and loves giggling at the kitten saying ‘No, Bad kitty!’
It is a really engaging book with loads of opportunities for discussion and engagement and we have enjoyed reading and re-reading it.
We had a look at the activities and decided we would make our own jungle to tell the story. We managed to find most of the animals or some excellent substitutes and use them to retell the story. We did it a few times, adding details and enjoying the different ways of moving around and adding animal noises. We then left the physical story map on the rug and little brother played with the animals and the termite mounds making up his own stories and roleplay.
We decided to do the painting activity next. We had some charcoal and inspired by the book we coloured in some animal silhouettes and used them to add to some paintings. Lizzie really enjoyed using a small range of colours and blending the colours together and it was a really lovely activity that we enjoyed doing together. It also produced some really effective and distinctive art work which we are both proudly displaying in the kitchen.
We wanted to play a game next so had a lovely time sneaking up on each other pretending to be little red and the lion. Next time they wanted a lion costume and to play it outside hiding behind trees.
We finished off with a little think about what red should have packed in her basket.
We thought the lions hair was very funny and enjoyed the opporutinty to have a go at doing a lions hair. Lizzie cut some hair out and then deicded lots of bows and clops would make the lion cross.
The whole family really enjoyed this fabulous book and had a lot of fun with the great range of activities. Great book and great fun exploring the book more through role play, art, games, writing and drawing.
Things to make and do
Make the story world
Use a large space inside or out to create Little Red’s journey using construction kits and small figures to represent the different animals and people or make small figures from recycled card with the base folded so they stand up. Look back at the book together and talk about what to include.
Tell the story
Use your story world to tell the story together. With one small figure as Little Red take her on her journey from home to Auntie’s house past the pool, the trees and animals on the way narrating the story .. Don’t forget to pause for a rest so the lion can approach her!
Play a game
With one of you as the lion and the other as Little Red ‘asleep.’ See if the lion can creep up on Little Red without her hearing him.
Design a hairstyle and an outfit for the lion
Your child might enjoy designing their own hairstyle and outfit for the lion – plaits or ponytail or piled on top? Ribbons or bows? What else might Little Red give him to wear?
Little Red’s emergency kit and instructions
Write Little Red’s instructions for how to deal with a hungry lion and list of essential kit (eg this might include a hairbrush or toothpaste). Your child might like to pin their instructions on a door, fence or tree.
Make a mini information book
Make little Red’s mini zig zag book about African wild animals. See the link below for information. Your child could choose a few animals from the story and write a page for each.
Paint a colourful picture
This picture book is full of ‘hot colours’ reds, oranges, pinks. Your child might like to paint their own picture of a hot place like Little Red’s world using these colours.
Find out more
Watch an animation of Little Red Riding Hood from Oxbridge Baby
Another version
For another take on the story of Red Riding Hood see The Last Wolf by Mini Grey
Find out about animals
There are lots of African animals mentioned in the story including meerkats and gazelles as well as elephants and giraffes. See here
Read more books by Alex T Smith. Titles include
Claude series inc Claude and the City
Mr Penguin series inc Mr Penguin and the Lost Treasure
How Winston Delivered Christmas
Foxy and Egg
NEW Complete list of books and activity pages
Here’s a complete list of all our book activity pages – click on the link and it will take you to the activity page
Aaaarrgghh Spider Lydia Monks V
The Acorn Edward Gibbs
Alfie Gets in first Shirley Hughes V
Almost Anything Sophy Henn
The Animal Boogie Debbie Harter V
The Astounding Broccoli Boy Frank Cottrell Boyce, illus. Steve Lenton AB
Avocado Baby John Burningham
The Bad Bunnies Magic Show Mini Grey
Bear Shaped Dawn Coulter-Cruttenden V
Beatle Boy MG Leonard V AB
Beegu Alexis Deacon
Betty goes Bananas Steve Antony V
The BFG Roald Dahl
Billy and the Beast Nadia Shireen V
Billy’s Bucket Kes Gray, llus Garry Parsons V
Biscuit Bear Mini Grey V
A Bit Lost Chris Haughton V
Black Cat White Cat Silvia Borando
Blue Chameleon Emily Gravett
Boot: Small Robot Big Adventure Shane Hegarty AB
The Boy who Climbed into the Moon David Almond
Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? Bill Martin Jnr, illus Eric Carle
Buckle and Squash and the Monstrous Moat Dragon Sarah Courtauld
Burglar Bill Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg V
Charlotte’s Web EB White AB
The Chinese Emperor New Clothes Ying Yang Competine, illus David Roberts V
Chocolate cake Michael Rosen, illus Kevin Waldron V
The Christmas Eve Tree Delia Huddy, illus Emily Sutton
Cinderella of the Nile Beverley Naidoo V
Clean up! Nathan Bryon, illus. Dapo Adeola
Clever Polly & the Stupid Wolf Catherine Storr
The Crocodile who didn’t like water Gemma Merino V
The Darkest Dark Chris Hadfield, illus The Fan Brothers V
The Dawn Chorus Suzanne Barton
Dear Dinosaur Chae Strathie, Nicola O’Byrne
Dear Zoo Rod Campbell
Dig dig digging Margaret Mayo, illus Alex Ayliffe V
Diggersaurs Michael Whaite V
Dinosaur chase Benedict Blathwayt
Dinosaur roar Paul Strickland, illus Henrietta Strickland
Dinosaurs and all that rubbish Michael Foreman V
Do not enter the monster zoo Amy Sparkes, illus Sara Ogilvie
A Dog So Small Philippa Pearce V
Dogger Shirley Hughes
Down by the station Jess Stockham
The Drum Ken Wilson Max, illus Catell Ronca
Dylan’s amazing dinosaurs EJ Harper, illus Dan Taylor
Each Peach Pear Plum Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg
The Elephants umbrella Laleh Jaffari, illus Ali Khodai
Eliot Midnight Superhero Anne Cottringer, illus Alex T Smith
Elmer David McKee
Eloise Undercover Sarah Baker
The Everywhere Bear Julia Donaldson, illus Rebecca Cobb
The Explorer Katherine Rundell
Everybody’s Welcome Patricia Hegarty, illus Greg Abbott
Farmer Duck Martin Waddell, illus Helen Oxenbury
Five little men in a flying saucer Dan Crisp
Five Minutes Peace Jill Murphy
Flora and Ulysses, the illuminated adventures Kate Camillo
Fortunately the Milk Neil Gaiman, illus Chris Riddell
Gerald the lion Jessica Souhami
The Ghost train Allan Ahlberg, illus Andre Amstutz
The Gigantic Turnip Alexsei Tolstoy, illus Naimh Sharkey
The Girl and the dinosaur Hollie Hughes, illus Sarah Massini
Goodbye Grandma Melanie Walsh
Goodnight Spaceman Michelle Robinson, illus Nick East
Grace and Family Mary Hoffman, illus Caroline Binch
Granpa John Burningham
A Great Big Cuddle Michael Rosen, illus Chris Riddell
Grobblechops Elizabeth Laird, illlus Jenny Lucander
The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler
Grumpy Frog Ed Vere
The Hairy toe Daniel Postgate
Handas surprise Eileen Browne
Harry and the bucket of dinosaurs Ian WhyBrow, illus Adrian Reynolds
Here come the aliens Colin McNaughton
The Highwayman Alfred Noyes
The Highway Rat Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler
Honey biscuits Meredith Hooper, illus Alison Bartlett
Hooray for Fish Lucy Cousins
Hooray for Bread Allan Ahlberg, illus Brice Ingman
Hortense and the Shadows O’Hara Sisters
How to hide a lion Helen Stephens
I am Absolutely TOO Small for school Lauren Child
I am Henry Finch Alexis Deacon
I Love you Blue Kangaroo Emily Gravett
I want to be in a scary story Sean Taylor
I was made for you David Lucas
If I had a dinosaur Gabby Dawnay, illus Alex Barrow
If you meet a dinosaur Paul Bright, illus Hannah George
In the dark dark wood Jessica Souhami
The Iron Man Ted Hughes
Jolly Christmas Postman Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg
The Journey Home Frann Preston Gannon
Julian is a mermaid Jessica Lowe
The Jumblies Edward Lear
Katie & the dinosaurs James Mayhew
The King who Banned the Dark Emily Haworth Booth
Kipper’s Birthday Mick Inkpen
Knuffle Bunny Mo Willem
The Last Wolf Mini Grey
The Lion Inside Rachel Bright
Little Bad Man and the Killer Aunties Humza Arshad and Henry White, Illus Aleksei Bitskoff
Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears Emily Gravett
Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion Alex T Smith
LIttle Rabbit Foo Foo Michael Rosen, Arthur Robins (illus)
Look Up! Nathan Bryon, illus Dapo Adeola
Lost and Found Oliver Jeffers
Lullabyhullababboo Mick Inkpen
Lulu gets a cat Anna McQuinn, illus Rosalind Beardshaw
The Lumberjack’s beard Duncan Beedie
Luna Loves library day Joseph Coelho, illus Fiona Lumbers
Lunchtime Rebecca Cobb
Macavity T S Eliot
Man on the Moon, a Day in the life of Bob Simon Bartram
Mango and Bambang, The Not-a-Pig Polly Faber, illlus Clara Vulliamy
The Marvellous Moon Map Teresa Heapy, illus David Litchfield
Matisse’s Magical Trail Tim Hopgood, illus Sam Boughton
Max the Brave Ed Vere
Meet the Parents Peter Bently, illus Sara Ogilvie
Meg and Mog Helen Nicholl ,illus Jan Pienkwski
Mister Magnolia Quentin Blake
Mog the Forgetful Cat Judith Kerr
Monkey and Me Emily Gravett
Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory Elys Dolan
Mr Gumpy’s Outing John Burningham
Mrs Noah’s pockets Jackie Morris, illus James Mayhew
My Brother is a Superhero David Solomons
My Dad Anthony Browne
My Green Day Melanie Walsh
My Sister is an alien Rachel Bright
Naughty Bus Jan and Jerry Oke
A New House for Mouse Petr Horacek
The New Neighbours Sarah McIntyre
The New Small Person Lauren Child
The Night Pirates Peter Harris, illus Deborah Allwright
Nimesh the Adventurer Ranjit Singh, illus Mehrdokht Amini
No Dinner Jessica Souhami
Not Now Bernard David McKee
The Odd Egg Emily Gravett
Oh No George! Chris Haughton
Oi! Get off our train John Burningham
Oliver’s Vegetables Vivian French, illus Alison Bartlett
On Sudden Hill Linda Sarah, illus Benji Davies
On the Moon Anna Milbourne, illus Benji Davies
Once upon a star James Carter, illus Mar Hernandez
One dog and his boy Eva Ibbotson
Orange Pear Apple Bear Emily Gravett
Ottoline and the Yellow Cat Chris Riddell
The Outlaw Varjak Paw SF Said
The Owl and the Pussycat Edward Lear
Pandora Victoria Turnbull
The Paper Dolls Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler
Pattan’s pumpkin Chitra Soundar, illus Frane Lessac
Peace at Last Jill Murphy
Peck Peck Peck Lucy Cousins
Phoenix S F Said
Please Mr Magic Fish Jessica Souhami
Please Mr Panda Steve Antony
Pom Pom is Super Sophy Henn
Pugs of the Frozen North Philip Reeve, illus Sarah McIntyre
Pumpkin Soup Helen Cooper
Q Pootle 5 Nick Butterworth
Quill Soup Alan Durant
Rama & the Demon King Jessica Souhami
Red Car Red Bus Susan Stegall
Robin’s Winter Song Suzanne Barton
Rocketmole Matt Carr
Room on the Broom Julia Donaldson, Illus Axel Scheffler
Rosie’s Walk Pat Hutchins
The Secret Sky Garden Linda Sarah
Secret of the Tattered Shoes, Jackie Morris, illus. Ehsan Abdollahi
Shark in the park Nick Sharrat
Shh we have a plan Chris Haughton
Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam Tracey Corderoy, illus Steven Lenton
Silly Suzy Goose Petr Horacek
The Snail and the Whale Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler
Snow Sam Usher
The Snowbear Sean Taylor
So Much Trisha Cooke, illus Helen Oxenbury
The Something Rebecca Cobb
Sophie and the new Baby Catherine & Laurence Anholt
Space Dog Mini Grey
Space Tortoise Ross Montgomery, illlus David Litchfield
Stanley’s Stick John Hegley, illus Neal Layton
Steven Seagull Action Hero Elys Dolan
Stomp Chomp Big Roars! Here come the Dinosaurs Margaret Mayo, illus Alex Ayliffe
Stomp Dinosaur Stomp Kate Umansky, illus Nick Sharratt
The Storm Whale Benji Davies
A Story about Afiya James Berry, illus Anna Cunha
Sunk! Rob Biddulph
Superbat Matt Carr
Tad Benji Davies
The Tale of Angelino Brown David Almond
10 things I can do to help my world Melanie Walsh
Tilly and the Time Machine Ade Edmondson, illustrated by Danny Noble
That rabbit belongs to Emily Brown Cressida Cowell
There’s a rang tan in my bedroom James Sellick, illus Frann Preston-Gannon
This is Our House Michael Rosen, illus Bob Graham
Tidy Emily Gravett
Tiger Walk Dianne Hofmeyr, illus Jesse Hodgson
The Tiger who came to Tea Judith Kerr
The Tin Forest Helen Ward, illus Wayne Anderson
Titch Pat Hutchins
Tomorrow Nadine Kaadan
Tom’s Sausage Lion Michael Morpurgo
Toys in space Mini Grey
Traction man is here! Mini Grey
Train Judi Abott
The Train Ride June Crebbin, illus Stephen Lambert
Tyrranosaurus Drip Julia Donaldson
Uncle Gobb and the Dread shed Michael Rosen, illus Neal Layton
Varjak Paw SF Said
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle
The Way Back Home Oliver Jeffers
The Weed Quentin Blake
We’re going on a Bearhunt Michael Rosen, illus Helen Oxenbury
What the Ladybird Heard Julia Donaldson, illus Lydia Monks
Whatever Next Jill Murphy
The Wheels on the Bus Annie Kubler
Where my feet go Birgitta Sif
Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak
Where’s my Teddy? Jez Alborough
Where’s Spot? Eric Hill
Window Jeannie Baker
The Wooden camel Wanuri Kahiu, illus Manuela Adreani
You’re safe with me Chitra Soundar
NEW Complete list of books and activity pages
Here’s a complete list of all our book activity pages – click on the link and it will take you to the activity page
V = Video
AB = Activity Book
A
Aaaarrgghh Spider Lydia Monks V
The Acorn Edward Gibbs
Albert Talbot Master of Disguise Ben Manley, illus. Aurélie Guillerey V
Alfie Gets in first Shirley Hughes V
Almost Anything Sophy Henn
The Animal Boogie Debbie Harter V
The Astounding Broccoli Boy Frank Cottrell Boyce, illus. Steve Lenton AB
Avocado Baby John Burningham
B
The Bad Bunnies Magic Show Mini Grey
Banana! Ed Vere V
Bear and Bird Jarvis V
The Bear and the Piano David Litchfield V
Bear Shaped Dawn Coulter-Cruttenden V
Beetle Boy MG Leonard V AB
Be Brave Little Penguin Giles Andrae, illus. Guy Parker Rees
Beegu Alexis Deacon
Betty goes Bananas Steve Antony V
Big Green Crocodile Jane Newberry, illus. Carolina Rabei V
A Big Mooncake for Little Star Grace Lin V
The BFG Roald Dahl AB
Billy and the Beast Nadia Shireen V
Billy’s Bucket Kes Gray, llus Garry Parsons V
Biscuit Bear Mini Grey V
A Bit Lost Chris Haughton V
Black Cat White Cat Silvia Borando
Blue Chameleon Emily Gravett
Blue Monster Peter Horacek V
Bog Baby Jeanne Willis, ill. Gwen Millward
Boot: Small Robot Big Adventure Shane Hegarty AB
Boundless Sky Amanda Addison, illus. Manuela Adreani
The Boy at the Back of the Class Onjali Rauf, illus. Pippa Curnick AB
The Boy who Climbed into the Moon David Almond AB
The Boy who Sailed the World Julia Green, illus. Alex Latimer
Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? Bill Martin Jnr, illus Eric Carle
Buckle and Squash and the Monstrous Moat Dragon Sarah Courtauld
Burglar Bill Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg V
C
Car, Car, Truck, Jeep Katrina Charman, illus. Nick Sharratt V
Can I Sit in the Middle Susanne Strasser V
Charlotte’s Web EB White V AB
The Chinese Emperor New Clothes Ying Yang Competine, illus David Roberts V AB
Chocolate cake Michael Rosen, illus Kevin Waldron V
The Christmas Eve Tree Delia Huddy, illus Emily Sutton
Cinderella of the Nile Beverley Naidoo V AB
Clean up! Nathan Bryon, illus. Dapo Adeola
Clever Polly & the Stupid Wolf Catherine Storr
The Comet Joe Todd Stanton
The Cooking Club Detectives Ewa Jozefkowicz
Coyote’s Soundbite – a poem for our planet John Agard, illus. Piet Grobler AB
The Crocodile who didn’t like water Gemma Merino V
D
The Darkest Dark Chris Hadfield, illus The Fan Brothers V
The Dawn Chorus Suzanne Barton
Dear Dinosaur Chae Strathie, Nicola O’Byrne
Dear Zoo Rod Campbell
Dig dig digging Margaret Mayo, illus Alex Ayliffe V
Diggersaurs Michael Whaite V
Dinosaur chase Benedict Blathwayt
Dinosaur roar Paul Strickland, illus Henrietta Strickland
Dinosaurs and all that rubbish Michael Foreman V
Do not enter the monster zoo Amy Sparkes, illus Sara Ogilvie
Don’t worry little crab Chris Haughton
A Dog So Small Philippa Pearce V
Dogger Shirley Hughes V
A Dollop of Ghee and a Drop of Wisdom Chitra Soundar, illus. Uma Krishnaswamy V
Down by the station Jess Stockham
The Dragon in the Library, Louie Stowell
Dragon Mountain Katie and Kevin Tsang V AB
The Drum Ken Wilson Max, illus Catell Ronca V
Dylan’s amazing dinosaurs EJ Harper, illus Dan Taylor
E
Each Peach Pear Plum Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg V
The Elephants umbrella Laleh Jaffari, illus Ali Khodai V
The Emerald Forest Catherine Ward, illus Karen Littlewood V
Eliot Midnight Superhero Anne Cottringer, illus Alex T Smith
Elmer David McKee V
Eloise Undercover Sarah Baker AB
The Everywhere Bear Julia Donaldson, illus Rebecca Cobb
The Explorer Katherine Rundell AB
The Extraordinary Gardener Sam Boughton V
Everybody’s Welcome Patricia Hegarty, illus Greg Abbott
F
Fair Shares Pippa Goodhart, illus Anna Doherty
Farmer Duck Martin Waddell, illus Helen Oxenbury
The Fastest Tortoise in Town Howard Calvert, ill. Karen Obuhanych
Fire Fox Alexandra Page, illus. Stef Murphy V
The Firework Maker’s Daughter Philip Pullman AB
Five little men in a flying saucer Dan Crisp V
Five Minutes Peace Jill Murphy
Flora and Ulysses, the illuminated adventures Kate Camillo V AB
Flooded Mariajo Ilustrajo V
The Forgettery Rachel Ip, ill. Laura Hughes
Fortunately the Milk Neil Gaiman, illus Chris Riddell
Frindleswylde, Natalia and Lauren O’Hara
Gaspard the Fox Zeb Soanes, illus. James Mayhew
G
Gerald the lion Jessica Souhami
The Ghost train Allan Ahlberg, illus Andre Amstutz V
Gigantic Rob Biddulph V
The Gigantic Turnip Alexsei Tolstoy, illus Naimh Sharkey V
Giraffes Can’t Dance Giles Andreae, Guy Parker Rees V
The Girl and the dinosaur Hollie Hughes, illus Sarah Massini
Gloria’s Porridge Elizabeth Laird, illus. Toby Newsome
The Glassmaker’s Daughter Diane Hofmeyr, Illus Jane Reay V
Goodbye Grandma Melanie Walsh
Goodnight Spaceman Michelle Robinson, illus Nick East V
Grace and Family Mary Hoffman, illus Caroline Binch V
Granpa John Burningham V
A Great Big Cuddle Michael Rosen, illus Chris Riddell V
Grobblechops Elizabeth Laird, illlus Jenny Lucander V
The Gruffalo Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler
Grumpy Frog Ed Vere V
H
The Hairy toe Daniel Postgate V
Halima Superhero Princess Emily Joof, illus. Asa Gilland V
Handas surprise Eileen Browne V
Hairy MacLary from Donaldson’s Dairy, Lynley Dodd V
Harry and the bucket of dinosaurs Ian WhyBrow, illus Adrian Reynolds
Have you seen Elephant David Barrow V
Here come the aliens Colin McNaughton
The Highwayman Alfred Noyes V AB
The Highway Rat Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler V
Honey biscuits Meredith Hooper, illus Alison Bartlett
Hooray for Fish Lucy Cousins V
Hooray for Bread Allan Ahlberg, illus Brice Ingman
Hortense and the Shadows O’Hara Sisters
How to hide a lion Helen Stephens V
I
I am Absolutely TOO Small for school Lauren Child V
I am Henry Finch Alexis Deacon
I Love you Blue Kangaroo Emily Gravett V
I want to be in a scary story Sean Taylor
I was made for you David Lucas
If I had a dinosaur Gabby Dawnay, illus Alex Barrow
If I Had a Sleepy Sloth Gabby Dawnay, illus Alex Barrow
If you meet a dinosaur Paul Bright, illus Hannah George
In the dark dark wood Jessica Souhami
Iris and Isaac Catherine Rayner V
The Iron Man Ted Hughes AB
J
The Jasmine Sneeze Nadine Kaadan
Jolly Christmas Postman Allan Ahlberg, illus Janet Ahlberg V
The Journey Home Frann Preston Gannon
Julian is a mermaid Jessica Lowe
The Jumblies Edward Lear V AB
Just like Grandpa Jazz Tarah.L.Gear, illus. Mirna Imamovic
K
Katie & the dinosaurs James Mayhew
The King who Banned the Dark Emily Haworth Booth
The King With Dirty Feet Sally Pomme Clayton, illus. Rhiannon Sanderson
Kipper’s Birthday Mick Inkpen V
Knuffle Bunny Mo Willem V
L
The Last Wolf Mini Grey
Last: The Story of the White Rhino Nicola Davies V
Leon the Extraordinary Jamar Nicholas V
The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch Ronda and David Armitage V
Lima’s Red Hot Chilli David Mills, ill. Derek Brazell V
The Lion Inside Rachel Bright
Little Bad Man and the Killer Aunties Humza Arshad and Henry White, Illus Aleksei Bitskoff V AB
Little Monkey Marta Altés V
Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears Emily Gravett
Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion Alex T Smith
LIttle Rabbit Foo Foo Michael Rosen, Arthur Robins (illus)
The Littlest Yak Lu Fraser, ill. Kate Hindley V
Look Up! Nathan Bryon, illus Dapo Adeola
Lost and Found Oliver Jeffers
Lullabyhullababboo Mick Inkpen
Lulu gets a cat Anna McQuinn, illus Rosalind Beardshaw
The Lumberjack’s beard Duncan Beedie
Luna Loves library day Joseph Coelho, illus Fiona Lumbers
Lunchtime Rebecca Cobb
M
Macavity T S Eliot V AB
Man on the Moon, a Day in the life of Bob Simon Bartram
Mango and Bambang, The Not-a-Pig Polly Faber, illlus Clara Vulliamy
The Marvellous Moon Map Teresa Heapy, illus David Litchfield
Matisse’s Magical Trail Tim Hopgood, illus Sam Boughton
Max the Brave Ed Vere
Maybe… Chris Haughton V
Meg and Mog Helen Nicholl ,illus Jan Pienkwski
Miró’s Magic Animals Antony Penrose V
Mister Magnolia Quentin Blake
Meet the Parents Peter Bently, illus Sara Ogilvie
Mog the Forgetful Cat Judith Kerr
Monkey and Me Emily Gravett
Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory Elys Dolan
Mr Gumpy’s Outing John Burningham
Mrs Noah’s pockets Jackie Morris, illus James Mayhew
My Brother is a Superhero David Solomons AB
My Dad Anthony Browne
My Green Day Melanie Walsh
My Must-Have Mum Maudie Smith, illus. Jen Khatun
My Sister is an alien Rachel Bright
N
Naughty Bus Jan and Jerry Oke
A New House for Mouse Petr Horacek
The New Neighbours Sarah McIntyre
The New Small Person Lauren Child
The Night Pirates Peter Harris, illus Deborah Allwright
Nimesh the Adventurer Ranjit Singh, illus Mehrdokht Amini
Noah’s Gold Frank Cottrell Boyce, illus Steven Lenton AB V
No Dinner Jessica Souhami
Not Now Bernard David McKee
O
The Odd Egg Emily Gravett
Oh No George! Chris Haughton
Oi! Get off our train John Burningham
Oliver’s Vegetables Vivian French, illus Alison Bartlett
On Sudden Hill Linda Sarah, illus Benji Davies
On the Moon Anna Milbourne, illus Benji Davies
Once upon a star James Carter, illus Mar Hernandez
One dog and his boy Eva Ibbotson AB
Orange Pear Apple Bear Emily Gravett
Ottoline and the Yellow Cat Chris Riddell
The Outlaw Varjak Paw SF Said V AB
The Owl and the Pussycat Edward Lear
P
Pandora Victoria Turnbull
The Paper Dolls Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler
Pattan’s pumpkin Chitra Soundar, illus Frane Lessac
Peace at Last Jill Murphy
Peck Peck Peck Lucy Cousins
Penguin Huddle Ross Montgomery and Sarah Warburton (illus) V
Phoenix S F Said V AB
Pirate Stew Neil Gaiman, illus. Chris Riddell V
Please Mr Magic Fish Jessica Souhami
Please Mr Panda Steve Antony
Pom Pom is Super Sophy Henn
The Princess and the Greedy Pea , Leigh Hodgkinson
Pugs of the Frozen North Philip Reeve, illus Sarah McIntyre
Puppet David Almond, illus Lizzie Stewart AB
Pumpkin Soup Helen Cooper
Q
Quiet Tom Percival, ill. Richard Jones V
Quill Soup Alan Durant
Q Pootle 5 Nick Butterworth
R
Rama & the Demon King Jessica Souhami
Red Car Red Bus Susan Stegall
Rigatoni the Pasta Cat Michael Rosen, Illus. Tony Ross
Robin’s Winter Song Suzanne Barton
Rocketmole Matt Carr
Room on the Broom Julia Donaldson, Illus Axel Scheffler
Rosie’s Walk Pat Hutchins
S
The Secret Sky Garden Linda Sarah
Saving Winslow Sharon Creech AB
Secret of the Tattered Shoes Jackie Morris, illus. Ehsan Abdollahi V AB
Shark in the park Nick Sharrat
Shhh! Sally Grindley, illus. Peter Upton
Shh we have a plan Chris Haughton
Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam Tracey Corderoy, illus Steven Lenton
The Skull Jon Klassen V
Silly Suzy Goose Petr Horacek
The Snail and the Whale Julia Donaldson, illus Axel Scheffler
Snow Sam Usher
The Snowbear Sean Taylor
The Snowflake Benji Davies
So Much Trisha Cooke, illus Helen Oxenbury
The Something Rebecca Cobb
Sona Sharma, Looking After Planet Earth Chitra Soundar, illus Jen Khatun AB
Sophie and the new Baby Catherine & Laurence Anholt
Space Dog Mini Grey
Space Tortoise Ross Montgomery, illlus David Litchfield
Stanley’s Stick John Hegley, illus Neal Layton
Steven Seagull Action Hero Elys Dolan
Stomp Chomp Big Roars! Here come the Dinosaurs Margaret Mayo, illus Alex Ayliffe
Stomp Dinosaur Stomp Kate Umansky, illus Nick Sharratt
Stop the Clock Pippa Goodhart, illus. Maria Christiana V
The Storm Whale Benji Davies
A Story about Afiya James Berry, illus Anna Cunha
Sunk! Rob Biddulph
Superbat Matt Carr
SuperJoe does not do cuddles Michael Catchpool, illus. Emma Proctor
Super Milly and the Super School Day Stephanie Clarkson, illus. Gwen Millward V
T
Tad Benji Davies
The Tale of Angelino Brown David Almond AB
10 things I can do to help my world Melanie Walsh
Ten Delicious Teachers Ross Montgomery, illus. Sarah Warburton V
The Three Happy Lions Louise Fatio, illus. Roger Duvoisin
Tilly and the Time Machine Ade Edmondson, illustrated by Danny Noble
That rabbit belongs to Emily Brown Cressida Cowell
There’s a rang tan in my bedroom James Sellick, illus Frann Preston-Gannon
There’s a tiger in the garden Lizzy Stewart V
This is Our House Michael Rosen, illus Bob Graham
The Thunk Michelle Robinson, illus. Deborah Allwright
Tidy Emily Gravett
Tiger Walk Dianne Hofmeyr, illus Jesse Hodgson
The Tiger who came to Tea Judith Kerr
The Tin Forest Helen Ward, illus Wayne Anderson
Titch Pat Hutchins
Tomorrow Nadine Kaadan
Tom’s Sausage Lion Michael Morpurgo AB
Toys in space Mini Grey
Traction man is here! Mini Grey
Train Judi Abott
The Train Ride June Crebbin, illus Stephen Lambert
Tyger SF Said, iIllus Dave McKean V AB
Tyrranosaurus Drip Julia Donaldson
U
Uncle Gobb and the Dread shed Michael Rosen, illus Neal Layton
V
Valentine’s Guest House Sam Sharland V
Varjak Paw SF Said AB
The Velveteen Rabbit Margery Williams, illus William Nicholson V
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle
W
The Way Back Home Oliver Jeffers
The Weed Quentin Blake
We’re going on a Bearhunt Michael Rosen, illus Helen Oxenbury
We’re Going to Find the Monster Malorie Blackman, illus. Dapo Adeola V
What the Ladybird Heard Julia Donaldson, illus Lydia Monks
Whatever Next Jill Murphy
The Wheels on the Bus Annie Kubler
Where my feet go Birgitta Sif
Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak
Where’s my Teddy? Jez Alborough
Where’s Spot? Eric Hill
Window Jeannie Baker
When the Sky Falls Phil Earle V AB
The Wolf Wilder Katherine Rundell V AB
The Wooden camel Wanuri Kahiu, illus Manuela Adreani
Y
You’re snug with me Chitra Soundar
Z
The Zebra’s Great Escape Katherine Rundell, ill. Sara Ogilvie V AB
Zombierella Fairy Tales Gone Bad Joseph Coelho, illus. Freya Hartas V AB
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You can contact us using the form at the bottom of the page, by email at info@lovemybooks.co.uk, on our Facebook page or on Twitter @lovemybooksUK.
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Your comments
Here is a great new website all about reading for pleasure. Lots of recommendations, activities, tips, great advice for parents and children. It’s been created by true experts and enthusiasts, and patrons are Michael Rosen and SF Said. Fantastic for the summer holidays and beyond. Find out how to make an origami book, discover how we learn to read, send feedback, ask questions. It’s bright and brilliant and free!
David Almond, author, via Facebook
It’s absolutely marvellous, many congratulations for getting something so bright, comprehensive, clear, easy to navigate, inspirational – I could go on all day!
Sian Williams, Children’s Bookshow
What a fantastic website- well done- lovely graphics, easy links and great idea.
Kathy Cruise, Supervisor Family Nurse Partnership
It’s a pleasure to see such a beautifully curated reading resource.
SF Said, author via Twitter
Fantastic new website with TONS of great books & creative reading ideas for 0-7s!
SF Said, author via Twitter
Reading for pleasure, reading for fun: howze about this? http://www.lovemybooks.co.uk
Michael Rosen, author and broadcaster via Twitter
Have a look at http://www.lovemybooks.co.uk for great reading ideas for children aged 0-7 @lovemybooksUK
Via Twitter
@lovemybooksUK Loving your website http://www.lovemybooks.co.uk great timing for #summerholidays Thanks @savelibservices top tweet!
Via Twitter
Very impressed by new website from @lovemybooksUK http://www.lovemybooks.co.uk/ Wonderful, FREE #reading resources for parents
Via Twitter
“I have just clicked onto LMB and LOVE it already! I have been reading The Hungry Caterpillar, The Gruffalo, Dear Zoo and other stories for the last 6 months to my son and I adore all your ideas on how to expand and develop the stories. Thank you for creating this website!”
Tamiko, parent
My daughter (aged 2) loves the activities on your website. She can now often be seen walking round the flat, bag packed ‘going on a bear hunt’ and is turning into a real bookworm, looking at the pictures telling us the stories from her favourite books – thanks for all the creative ideas Lovemybooks!
Emma (Naomi’s mum)
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Big Green Crocodile
Jane Newberry, illus. Carolina Rabei
Otter Barry Books
Age 0-3
This is a delightful book full of rhymes which are perfect for babies and toddlers. Each rhyme is beautifully illustrated. The writer has included useful ideas for engaging your child playfully with each of the rhymes so as well as our selection of these and additional suggestions do try out the other ideas in the book too. You will soon be adding new ideas of your own to have fun with the rhymes.
Share the story
Read Aloud
This is a book to dip into you will develop your own favourite rhymes and as you and your child become familiar with them find yourselves saying them at different times and joining in the actions together.Have fun marching and roaring like a monster as you say the first verse of ‘Monster March!’
Bounce your child on your knee as you read ‘My Camel’ and ‘Hungry Horse.’
Let older children climb on your back for an exciting ‘Brontosaurus Ride.’
Wobble together as you say the ‘Wibble-Wobble Clown.’
Pick your child up and get ready for take off in ‘Moon Rocket.’
‘Fish Tales’ is lovely for bathtime and ‘Big Green Crocodile’, which ends with ‘I lay down beside him and slept until dawn’ is perfect for bedtime.
As well as enjoying the rhymes spend time looking at the lovely illustrations together and talking about them.
Watch Jane Newberry perform the title poem
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