The stories, songs and rhymes you share together are likely to include favourites from your own childhood, children’s classics and new books by contemporary writers and illustrators. Some will be board-books, cloth or sturdy pop-up books that your baby can handle themselves. Here are some books to bring back happy memories and introduce you to some new family favourites. You can build your collection of favourite books through exploring other titles by these exceptional authors and illustrators. For more ideas also see Our top 10 classic picture books  and our Books for 0-3 years .

Honey for you, Honey for me                                                          
Michael Rosen, illus. Chris Riddell
Walker Books

This is a collection of playground songs and nursery rhymes collated by Michael Rosen and beautifully illustrated by Chris Riddell. Adult readers may recognize a few here eg ‘Jelly on the plate’ and ‘The North Wind Shall Blow’ but there will be lots of new discoveries too.

Great to share with children. You will soon identify your own favourites to read or sing and maybe act out together.
Listen to Michael Rosen reading some of the rhymes here: 

This book would make a perfect companion to A Great Big Cuddle by the same team which contains Michael Rosen’s original rhymes. See our activity page here for A Great Big Cuddle here 

Victoria Turnbull
Frances Lincoln
Age 3-7

Pandora is the story of a lonely young fox who lives by herself on a rubbish dump. She spends her days mending broken things and creating a cosy home for herself from them. One day she sees an injured bird fall to the ground. She cares for it carefully until it is well enough to fly away. In gratitude the bird returns regularly bringing small gifts of seedlings which grow and gradually transform Pandora’s world into a land of living things.

This is a truly beautiful picture book about loneliness, companionship, hope and regeneration. Its creator Victoria Turnbull talks about the book:

Share the story

Read aloud
Pause at the first double page with the image of Pandora. Talk about what you can both see and what you wonder about the character in the centre and where she is.

Read the story aloud making sure to allow time to linger over the beautiful pictures as you do.

Join in
When you share a book more than once you are both likely to notice more in the words and the pictures. Children may like to join in with the reading once they become familiar with the story.

Tell the story
Children could use the illustrations to guide them and tell you the story, in their own words.

Talk about the story

How does Pandora feel at different points in the story? Look back to see what the pictures and the words suggest.

If you tell someone else about this story what would you say it is about?

What would children like to happen after the story ends?

Things to make and do

Role play
You could help your child make a simple stick puppet to represent the little bird. Children could pretend to be Pandora and have imaginary conversations with the bird, as it is getting better, when they are playing and after the bird returns with gifts. This is more fun if you join in too.

Make Pandora’s diary
Children could imagine they are Pandora and write her diary, perhaps for the day she finds the bird, when it flies away and when it returns. A few sheets of A4 paper folded and stapled would make a simple diary which children could then decorate.

Create a cosy nest for the wounded bird
Find a box and fill with twigs, scraps of material. You could go for a walk in a park or wooded area to look out for leaves, seeds, cones or feathers to decorate the nest in the box. Perhaps you could find a ‘wounded’ toy could nestle in the box. Add a ‘do not disturb’ sign.

Make or mend
Collect some broken toys or other broken things together. Are there any you can mend or make into something new? Alternatively you could create something useful, maybe for Pandora’s home out of junk (packaging).

Find out more

Find out more about author illustrator Victoria Turnbull
Her other books are: The Sea Tiger and Kings of the Castle

The author, Victoria Turnbull, was thinking about the story of Pandora’s box and the theme of hope when she wrote this book. See here for a summary of the story of Pandora’s box:

It is often hard to know how to choose new picture books from the thousands published every year.
Here is a selection of some of our current favourites from 2017. You and your child will meet a range of appealing characters in these beautifully illustrated picture books and discover amusing, intriguing and thought provoking stories. We hope you enjoy them.

Jackie Morris, illus. Ehsan Abdollahi
Tiny Owl
Age 7-9 years

Based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimm this version is part of publisher Tiny Owl’s ‘One story, Many Voices’ series. It is an exquisite book, beautifully written and with magical illustrations. It provides an optimistic, alternative ending to the story, with the soldier who solves the mystery of the princesses’ tattered shoes rejecting the harshness of the King and his court in favour of love and wisdom elsewhere.

Watch a trailer

Listen to the story read aloud 

Share the story

Talk about the story

• There are some beautiful descriptions in the story, share your favourite lines

• What would you do if you had a cloak which made you invisible?

• Listen to the original version read aloud 

• What differences are there in this modern version? Why did the author decide to make these changes?

• Think about the decisions the princesses and the king made. Talk about whether you think the princesses were right or wrong to trick the young men and why they did this. What might have made the king kill the young men who tried to find out what was happening?

Things to make and do

Imagine you are invisible
Find a piece of dark material to wrap around you to be a cloak and imagine you are invisible can you walk really quietly so no one hears you?

Write a poem
Look through the book and choose some favourite descriptive lines eg ‘the green light of sunlight’, ‘an orchestra of birdsong’,  ‘mysterious as twilight’, and write them on strips of paper. When you have about five or six choose an order to put them in, stick them on paper and decorate your poem.

Make a picture
Make a line drawing and collage picture of a scene from the story like the illustrator Ehsan Abdollahi. you will need paper, a fine felt tip pen and different papers eg tissue or shiny paper and glue. You could use colouring pencils to colour your drawings too.

Write an advert for extra strong dancing slippers
Create your own design for dancing slippers which won’t wear out so quickly. Draw a sketch of your design and think about what they might be made from. Write your own advert to persuade the king to buy them for his daughters.

See our print-off activity book with some of these ideas and other activities

Find out more

Read more books written by Jackie Morris Mrs Noah’s Pockets  illustrated by James Mayhew

Find out more about author and award winning illustrator Jackie Morris 

Follow Ehsan Abdollahi on Instagram 

Read the story on which this is based here

Teresa Heapy, illus. David Litchfield
Red Fox
Age 3-7

Mouse wants to go on an adventure to find the moon. He draws a map and enthusiastically sets off refusing Bear’s offers of help. All is well until the sky turns dark, mouse can’t see his map and the forest becomes quite scary. Then suddenly Bear is there to help and reassure him. But why does Bear decide to make a paper boat? And will they ever find the moon? Maybe not, but Mouse will find other wonders during his journey and discover he has a true friend in Bear. This is a beautifully written story about friendship and adventure with magical illustrations. The refrain makes it easy and fun for children to join in with repeated readings.

Share the story

Read aloud

Look at the cover, read the first page then ponder together about what might happen in this story, how might mouse get to the moon?

Read the next few pages, pausing at the cliff hanger in the forest, what might be hidden there?  Then continue to read the book aloud to the end, talking about what is happening in the story and pictures when your child wants to. There are words in bold and large print to read loudly and emphasise.

Join in
When you reread the story your child might like to join in  with some parts, for example the chorus ‘I’ve got you and you’ve got me’ and the sounds in the forest.

Watch the Story read aloud by Teresa Heapy the book’s writer and watcha draw along by illustrator David Litchfield.

Talk about the story

• Talk about how mouse and bear feel at different parts of the story.

• Talk about anything that puzzles children for example, any new words such as ‘marvellous’.

• Talk about the moon, anything your child knows or would like to find out.

• Share favourite illustrations and parts of the story and look at these again.

• Look at all the space books and objects in Mouse’s house.

Things to make and do

Make a paper boat
There are instructions in the back of the book and the author and illustrator have made a short video showing you how here 

Children might like to try some experiments with the boat, see suggestions below.

Draw a map
Your child might enjoy drawing a magnificent, mighty, most marvellous moon map of their own, if possible on a large sheet of paper. Talk about it together when it is finished.

Pack a bag and go on an adventure
Talk together about what might be needed to go on an adventure. Find a bag eg a rucksack and pack it with some of these things. Perhaps you could go on a real adventure with your supplies in a garden, park or forest. (Making sure you have a map of course!) Children might like to make a mini book about their adventure with drawings and writing – children beginning to write could do this themselves, for younger children you could write down their ideas for them.

Make a soundscape
What did mouse hear in the forest at night? Can you make some night time noises together?  You could use your body or voices or objects such as screwed up paper and twigs. You could make these noises when you reread and get to this point in the story or record your sounds, make the room really dark and play the recording, making sure you are close enough together so children feel safe.

Find out more

• About author Teresa Heapy  and the background to the story here 

• Find out about author/illustrator David Litchfield here 

Find out some facts about the moon and the sun.

• For an information book about space exploration see On the Moon by Anna Milbourne and Benji Davies see here for our activity ideas on this book

• Watch a video about the moon together

• Here are some facts about the moon for older children

Try a science experiment

Do some experiments with floating and sinking by making boats with different types of paper, which floats longest? What happens if you don’t cover the paper with crayon? See here for more floating and sinking experiments.

Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler (illus)
Macmillan    
Age 3-7

A brave mouse risks his life in the deep dark wood and gets the better of  creatures who  want to eat him for their tea by telling them he is off to visit his friend, the very scary Gruffalo. When this invented creature actually appears our hero has to find a way to avoid becoming a tasty mouse snack.The Gruffalo is an award winning picture book by former children’s laureate Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler. The story reads like a song making it a delight to read and re read. The bold and beautiful illustrations provide lots to talk about.

Share the story

Read aloud
Before reading the story talk about the cover illustration and then look closely at the first double page with the illustration of the wood. What can children see? Have they been anywhere like this? Read the book aloud, continuing to pause to talk about the illustrations as you do and encourage children to predict what might happen next.

Join in
As you re read the story children will become familiar with the words and enjoy joining in with the repeated phrases such as ‘A Gruffalo? What’s a Gruffalo?’ ‘Why didn’t you know?’ etc. They will enjoy pretending to be a Gruffalo showing their ‘terrible teeth’ and ‘terrible claws’ as you read.

Talk about the story
After children have heard the whole story share the bits you both liked, children’s favourite picture and how they think the mouse tricked so many animals and even the Gruffalo.

Tell the story
Using the pictures in the book or puppets encourage children to tell the story of the Gruffalo.  You may find they start to use phrases from the story as they tell it.

Watch the story
Watch a reading of the Gruffalo story here from Daniel Bekele.

Things to make and do

Make finger puppets
Make finger puppets for the animal characters in the story, either using the templates on the Gruffalo website or by making simpler puppets out of felt or paper stuck or sewn together and decorated with felt pens, wool. Use the puppets to tell the story together.

Make a mask
Make a gruffalo mask. There is a template on the Gruffalo website here.
Or you could make a simpler mask using a paper plate and a stick, using crayons and coloured paper to add detail. Children can wear the mask to be scary with their terrible teeth, tusks and claws.

Make a story world

Use construction materials, small toys and found objects like this created by @Mat_at Brookes* to make a Gruffalo themed storyworld. Children can help create the storyworld and can enjoy replaying part of the story using small figures to represent the characters.

* Matt was inspired by ideas he found on Pinterest. 

Draw a story map
Print the template sheet with the path through the forest; children can draw trees, the mouse and all the animals the mouse meets on his way.

Make a picture
Give children paints, felt pens or crayons and a large sheet of paper to make their own picture of a Gruffalo. Look back at the description in the story together to help children remember some of the details.

Go for a walk in the woods
If you live near a wood, forest or park with wooded areas go for a tramp through it like the mouse and the Gruffalo. Talk about what you hear and see. Take some photos and print and stick them into a scrap book when you are back home. Talk about your photos together.

Find out more

Visit the Gruffalo website here
This website includes an interactive exploration of the deep dark wood, things to make and do (including templates for masks and puppets), songs and recipes.

Find and enjoy other picture books by Julia Donaldson working with illustrator Alex Scheffler

Titles include:

Titles include:

The Gruffalo’s Child

A Squash and a Squeeze

* Room on the Broo

* Tyrannosaurus Drip

* The Snail and the Whale

Monkey Puzzle

Tiddler

The Stickman

Zog

*  See more lovemybooks ideas

Pat Hutchins
Red Fox (Random House)    
Age 3-5

Titch is the youngest in his family; his brother and sister are bigger and have bigger and better toys. It is easy to see from Pat Hutchins’ illustrations how Titch feels about this. However one day Titch finds that something that starts off as tiny as a seed can grow and grow and GROW! Maybe Titch will grow as big as his brother and sister one day! This is a story about the frustrations of being little which many children will relate to. The predictable story pattern makes it easy for children to join in with the reading.

Share the story

Read aloud
Read the book aloud and allow time to talk about the story and the illustrations.

Join in
When you re read it encourage children to join in with the parts they remember, perhaps finishing some of the lines eg Pete had… Mary had… If your child is beginning to read for themselves you could point to the words when you re read the story.

Tell the story
Using the illustrations children can tell the story in their own words.

Talk about the story
Talk about Titch and how he feels you could start with a question, for example:

Why does Titch ride a little tricycle while his brother and sister have big bikes?

How does he feel about this?

Is it fair that Titch only has a pin wheel while they have big kites?

Things to make and do

Draw  pictures
Your child could draw a picture of Titch and his family and then a picture of your family – perhaps drawing people in order of size. Who is the biggest, who is the smallest? If your family is very small grandparents,  cousins and pets could be included.

Make a  family album
Select photos with your child of themselves and other members of the family.  Print or copy them and stick them into a scrapbook to make your child their own family album. Talk about the pictures and write captions together.

Grow a beanstalk
Plant a bean in a flower pot, water it and watch it grow. Talk about what seeds need to grow – as it does you could start measuring it. Will it grow bigger than anyone in the family? For a growing experiment see below.

Make a pin wheel
Follow the instructions here and download and print the template here to make a pinwheel:

 
Find out more

Find more stories about growing, for example:

Jasper’s beanstalk by Mick Inkpen

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Read more books by Pat Hutchins, titles include:

You’ll soon grow into them Titch

Tidy Titch

Don’t Forget the Bacon

* Rosie’s Walk

The Doorbell Rang

Find out more about seeds and growing

Visit a garden centre together and look at the different plants and seed packets. Talk about what plants need to grow well and buy some bean seeds and experiment at home. Plant one seed in a flower pot and water it regularly so that it is damp but not wet. Plant another in a flower pot but do not water it at all and plant a third in a flower pot and water it but keep it in the dark. Check the pots every couple of days and talk about what happens.

Rachel Bright, illus. Jim Field
Orchard Books
Age 3-7 years

A little mouse is fed up of feeling overlooked, he envies lion on top of his rock, he is so imposing and so confident. Mouse thinks that if he could roar like lion instead of squeak then maybe the other animals would notice him, and he would make friends. He realises the best way to learn to roar is to ask lion himself. Very bravely he climbs up to lion on his rock. Imagine his surprise when he finds out that lion is more frightened of him than he is of lion.

This is a story that acknowledges we are all scared sometimes but if we dare to be brave we can find our inner lion. It also shows there is no need to shout to make your self heard. Written in rhyme with some lovely words such as ‘tinyful’ and ‘toothsome’ this story is a delight to read aloud and fun return to. The bold illustrations are wonderful with some amazing close ups which emphasise the animals’ feelings.

Share the story

Read aloud
Before you start reading the book aloud look at the pictures on the cover and the title page and think together about what might happen in this story.

Read the story aloud taking time to pause to look closely at the wonderful illustrations or talk about what is happening when your child wants to.

Join in
When you return to the book children will love joining in with the roars, squeaks and other sound effects.

Talk about the story

• Can you spot the lion on top of the rocks on the title pages and the first page of the story?

• Talk about how the mouse and the lion feel at different points in the story – look back at the pictures to remind you.

• Share favourite pictures, parts of the story and words. Give your ideas first eg ‘I like it when the lion is described as ‘toothsome’ – he sounds very scary.’

Things to make and do

Make the story world

• Your child could make a little house for mouse out of construction bricks

• Collect together boxes or cushions and stack them on top of each other to make lion’s rock if you have a model lion your child could put this on top

• If you have other small animal toys you could arrange those too like the animals in the story

Play the story

• Walk or pose like a proud lion.

• Give your child a mirror so they practice growling like mouse does. They could roar like lion too and try looking scared.

• Have an imaginary conversation between mouse and lion with one of you pretending to be lion and the other mouse.

Paint a picture

Give your child a large sheet of paper and some paints so that they can paint a big close-up picture of mouse and lion together. Talk with them about what they have painted afterwards.

Find out more

Read more books by author Rachel Bright here

Titles include:

My Sister is an alien

Love Monster

Also,  with the same illustrator Jim Field 

The Squirrels who squabbled

The Koala who could

Jim Field also illustrated the highly popular Oi Frog series of books with Kes Gray

Find out about another story about a lion and a mouse
Here is an animated version of Aesop’s fable of the lion and the mouse

Jackie Morris, illus. James Mayhew
Otter Barry books
Age 5-7 years

When Mr Noah decides to be quite selective about the animals he allows on his ark, Mrs Noah takes matters into her own hands.  She sets to work on her sewing machine making a brand-new coat with LOTS of very deep pockets. Then before the ark sets sail, she goes for a walk in the woods collecting the mythical animals her husband plans to leave behind.

A beautifully written and illustrated and subversive version of the traditional bible story.  

Share the story

Read aloud
Before you start sharing the story you might want to talk about the story of Noah’s Ark (see link below with a retelling).

Read the story aloud to your child pausing to talk about what is happening in the story and the illustrations.

Join in
When your child is familiar with the story, they might like to join in with the reading. For example, reading Mr Noah’s thoughts and words or you could take turns reading the lines on the opening pages when the rain comes and when Mrs Noah watches Mr Noah make plans.  

Adult: falling hard and fast Child: beating the earth etc.

Adult: She saw the plans. Child: She watched as he worked etc

Talk about the story

• Share favourite lines in the story and favourite illustrations

• Talk about the decisions the characters made in the story – Mr Noah deciding to get rid of ‘troublesome’ creatures and Mrs Noah deciding to save them.

• In the original story Mr Noah is the main character making the decisions, sharing this book might lead to discussions about the role of women and girls in history and traditional stories.

• What might Mr Noah say when he finds the creatures he tried to get rid of still exist? You pretend to be Mr Noah and Mrs Noah and have an imaginary conversation.

Watch the story read aloud by Jackie Morris, the author here: 

Things to make and do

Make a book of mythical animals
Mrs Noah saved several mythical animals, including unicorns, dragons and griffins. Make a zig zag book for your child to draw illustrations of them. You could write some information together too ( see links below).

Make up a story together
Mrs Noah told her children stories about unicorns, dragons and other mythical creatures. Try making up one together one or more of the mythical animals. Children could decide which animals are in the story and you could take turns  

Make a rainy-day picture
Look together at the rainy day pictures in the book and make your own. You could try with crayon or paint or draw lines, dashes and dots with a candle on paper and then paint with well diluted blue paint or ink.

Be a weather spotter
Keep a weather diary, or make a weather chart, and count how many days it rains in a week/ month. If there is a very rainy day, collect rainwater in a jam jar or measuring jug, and see how many centimetres of rain has fallen.

Find out more

Listen to a version of the original Noah’s Ark story here

Find out more about weather and climate change
Find out about different types of weather, using the internet and information books. Talk about the difference between a shower and torrential rain that causes floods.

Talk about climate change 
Talk about things people have done to make floods more frequent. Is  there anything we can do to stop this happening? Find out about global warming and deforestation 

See Just for Kids: What’s Climate Change? And What Can I Do? 

See our top ten picture books with girl power 

Find out about the mythical animals Mrs Noah saved from the ark 

See here for information about jackalopes 

Read more books written by Jackie Morris Titles include:

Mrs Noah’s Garden also illustrated by James Mayhew, The Secret of the Tattered Shoes illustrated by Ehsan Abdollahi and The White Fox
Jackie Morris is also the illustrator of many books including the highly acclaimed Lost Words with Roger McFarlane

Read more books by James Mayhew  James has written and illustrated Koshka’s Tales (stories from Russia) and the Katie series including Katie and the Dinosaurs  and Katie and the Starry Night. He has illustrated many books including Gaspard the Fox written by Zeb Soanes.

Suzanne Barton
Bloomsbury
Age 3-5

This is a delightful story about Peep, a tiny nightingale who loves singing and is desperate to audition for the ‘Dawn Chorus’. Unsurprisingly, he finds he is not cut out for early rising!

As well as lots to find out about birds here there’s a chance to talk about wanting to belong, being different and having different skills.

Share the story

Read aloud

Read the story aloud to your child, it might be fun to try different voices for the different creatures as you read eg the owl and the squeaky mouse.

Join in

Once children are familiar with the story they could join in as you read, perhaps with the conversations, choosing to be Peep or the other animals he comes across.

Talk about the story

• Talk about unfamiliar words eg audition, conductor.

• Talk about how Peep feels at different points in the story eg when he first hears the dawn chorus, when he misses his audition and when he meets another nightingale

• Talk about words for different times of the day in the story eg dawn, midday, sunset.

Things to make and do

Design a bird mural
Look at the beautiful pictures in the book of Peep and the other birds, the artist uses lots of colours and patterns. Your child could make their own bird design using colour pencils, crayons or collage using scraps from wrapping paper or magazines.

You could create a great big picture or mural together with lots of birds like the double page spread of the dawn chorus. Start by drawing long branches across a wide piece of paper for your child then make lots of individual birds together, each with different colours and patterns, cut them out and stick them on the branches. When you have finished find somewhere to hang your mural.

Create your own dawn chorus music
If you have a recorder tin whistle or other woodwind instrument children could try and make sounds like birdsong or improvise using straws cut to different lengths and stuck together to make pan pipes.

See here for how to make a straw flute

Find out more

• See our activity page for another book by Suzanne Barton, Robin’s Winter Song 

• Listen to the dawn chorus here

• Listen to the song of the nightingale

• Go for a walk in the woods or park and listen out for bird songs. Can you see the birds that are singing? (This can be difficult, but you may get glimpses of them.)

• Take a bird identification book (such as i-SPY Garden Birds from Michelin) with you or look at one online when you get back.

• Take part in “Dawn chorus day”. Find out more here: NB You will need to get up very early!

• Make a bird food cake and hang it outside where your child can watch and try to identify which birds come to feed.