Presenting Emma’s first ever Book Bingo! Technically, not the first!! Last year we participated but we missed the due date. But that didn’t dishearten us at all, because we still got to read all those amazingly categorized books, some of which we might not have read in the first place. It is indelible to realize that my little one (now 3 years, 9 months old) has grown up to have read and learnt from so many books especially due to this reading campaign. I still remember the time when I bought her first set of books “The Jungle Journey” and a couple of Touch-n-Feel books when she turned 6months old. Time sure does fly, and these books are my little birdie’s wings. Here goes Emma’s Book-vacation, Bookation for #kbcbookbingo2023:
- A yellow-colored book – There’s a Monster in Your Book by Tom Fletcher and Greg Abott
Is your little one afraid of monsters? I bet after this book the monsters will make her giggle. A fun book that makes you move along with your book to get rid of the monster. A monster you end up loving. Emma was a little sceptical after listening to the book title, but she loved it so much that she read it on a loop for days. - Leaf or flower on the cover – Peep Inside Animal Homes by Usborne
A great book to learn habitat of different animals. A book that carries on Usborne legacy full of vibrant colors, meaningful and crisp content, learning platform, and so much fun with all those lifts and flaps. Emma was enchanted by the book, learning about animal homes, she co-related it with Zayn & Zoey Houses Around the World. And it enhanced her vocabulary by a great mark.
ONLY KBC MEMBERS HAVE A SPECIAL COUPON CODE KBC15 which will give you 15% OFF when you order directly from the ZAYN AND ZOEY website. Simply click this link that takes you to the Zayn and Zoey shop on their website. - A book with siblings – Charlie and Lola: But Excuse Me That is My Book by Lauren Child
Thanks to Book Bingo, we got introduced to Charlie and Lola. Emma being a single child, it is at times difficult to help her understand the concept of siblings. This book helped her absorb how siblings take care, help, understand, and love each other. The way Charlie helped out Lola with her book issue, made Emma wish if she had an elder brother too. It also makes us understand the “It’s Mine” problem. A must have book for multiple reasons. - A book that features mom – I want My Mum! (Little Princess) by Tony Ross
When I hear Mumma a hundred thousand times a day, it takes me by storm. But, at the same time I fall for her even more. Surely all mothers can relate to it. How our life rotates around our children and vice versa. We become the magic solution for everything going south, irrespective of the type of problem. The first word that naturally and almost instantly comes out of our mouth every time we are stuck, in a problem, in pain, need help and support is “Mom”. The book rides on the same lane. As much as little kids adore and live this book, adults will love it too. - A book that features dad – Dad by My Side by SOOSH
One of the simplest but the best books on Dads. Easy one liners, clear illustrations and depiction of day-to-day scenes of our busy lives. It pictures the hurdles of dads, and how they conquer it all to be with their child every day. Each page makes us relate so much that we almost breathe with this book word-by-word. Though mostly mothers are the main attachment figure, yet it helps establish a strong bond between father and child. It makes Emma understand that no matter how busy her father is, he will always be there for her. A must have for father-child bonding. - A bedtime book – The Cat’s Pyjamas by Catherine Foreman
A gem of a bedtime book. The most important and significant part of a bedtime routine is putting on your night suite, your pajamas. Emma has always been difficult when it comes to changing clothes, especially before bedtime. In addition to that, the job of choosing “the right pajamas”, which I always have failed at. She would always choose something else, leading to delay in bedtime. That is where the book sweeps in. The book is about a cat having different types of pajamas for every day of week, and to dream respectively. This turned out to be a savior. We would tell her to choose what kind of dream she is looking for, and then choose wisely. A really fun bedtime book.
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on. - Lift the flap book – Trees: A lift-the-flap eco book (Ladybird Eco Books)
First of all, it’s an eco-book made of recycled board, and plant-based inks. How perfect, an eco-book for maintaining eco-balance! It is a great book to introduce our little ones to trees, its parts, its types, how a tree changes, and how it helps our Mother Earth. The flaps it make it even more interesting for those tiny hands. Emma was totally engrossed in the book for quite a long time. She started taking care of plants in our garden and reminded me to water them whenever I got busy. A simple book with an important message.
There are other books in this Ladybird Eco series - A cat book – Drat That Cat by Tony Ross
It is Emma’s first cat book, and possibly about pets as well. The book is about a pet cat, which is often frowned upon by its family, and ends up in trouble. Later the cat decides to stop being taken for granted, and make the family understand how much they all love it. Emma was highly curious and asked why the cat wasn’t loved…? “No one should treat their pets that bad.” She empathized with the cat with all heart. An interesting book to help with the concept of empathy, care, and love for pets. - A book by Debi Gilori – The Bookworm
Being one of our favorite authors, we cherish ‘No Matter What‘, ‘All the Way Home‘, ‘Little Owl’s First Day‘ etc. Recently we got our hands on ‘The Bookworm’, and this has become our new favorite. The book is about a little boy trying to get a pet and ends up having a worm which loves to listen to stories. And hence, the bookworm. Emma’s eyes sparkled reading it, and said I love books and stories too. Am I a bookworm? A question that doesn’t need to be answered. She sure is! - A book on first experiences – GOING TO THE DENTIST Usborne First Experiences
Usborne first experiences are the best in this category. Emma was supposed to have a dental checkup for her school health records. It was her first dentist visit. To ease the process and avoid any surprises, we read this book a couple of times before her consultation. The book really helped the process all along. As she sat in the chair, she was calm, able to relate, knew what is being done to her, and we got the checkup done without a hiccup. Additionally, all thanks to the book, she has started brushing her teeth before bedtime as well, all by herself without being pressurized at all. - A book that makes you giggle – Octopus Socktopus by Nick Sharratt
The funniest book on Octopus. The different forms an octopus can take, the funny forms, and how it would be called with a new name, ending in ‘octopus’. Such comical words, it was absolute joy and burst of laughter whenever we read this book and say those words aloud. Though it doesn’t make much sense, but it fills the place with smiles and giggles all around. This book always cheers up Emma whenever she is dull or sad. We call each other by those octopus’s names, and she then jumps in joy.
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on. - A book on big emotions – The Grumpy Pirate by Corinne Demas & Artemis Roehrig
We often categorize our emotions as happy, sad, angry. An emotion that we come across quite frequently, which lies somewhere around sadness, anger, and disgust is being grumpy. Lack of energy, enthusiasm, being irritated, you feel grumpy. We had such episodes with Emma when she wouldn’t want to do anything, disliked every bit. To help her, we got this book. The book is about a pirate who is always grumpy, unhappy, dissatisfied, and how he realized it and worked on it. It really helped Emma, and we were able to calm her down and make her understand her mood with the book.
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on. - A book that was helpful in addressing an issue – NOW! by Tracey Corderoy & Tim Warnes
With little kids around, we do feel a continuous poke all the time. Everything necessarily needs to be done, given, taken care of right away. Kids do not know the idea of waiting in the first place. It is right for them to expect everything without a moment’s delay. The book tells the story of a boy who wouldn’t wait ever, and hence his parents explained him the importance of patience. After reading the book, Emma learnt to wait, or at least ask how much she would need to wait and why. We have come a long way from the NOW tantrum, all thanks to this book.
There are other books in this series by the same duo. - A book you love for the illustrations – The Smeds and The Smoos illustrated by Alex Scheffler
It is a book that Emma chose herself by looking at the cover page, and it didn’t disappoint, after all it was a Julia Donaldson book. A book that we fell in love with because of its perfect and colorful illustrations. It is a story about creatures that we could have only imagined, but here comes the magic of writer-illustrator chemistry. Not just that, in the first two pages Emma was able to understand and straight away denied the concept of racism/casteism/regionalism. Some serious understandings with such a simple book. Tons of love for this book forever. - A book by an Indian author – The Jungle Radio by Devangana Dash
Again, it is one of those books that we might not have known by ourselves had it not been recommended by this fam. We had multiple books about animal sounds, but this is for the first time we got a bird sound book. In the book, there is a girl who listens to different sounds and looks for the bird making that sound. In the first go, it became a hit with Emma. We observed her humming to those sounds quite often, and it is really fun too. She started asking Alexa to play those sounds and it became a routine for days. Lovely book, especially for music lovers. - A book that has food in the title – Wonderful Words My Food by Miles Kelly
Just like the title, it’s a wonderful book to learn about different kinds of food. Starting with the basics like fruits, vegetables, and elaborating on foods for a particular place/occasion. Such a colorful book, amazing illustration, helps in improving vocabulary, perfect for little ones as well as growing up toddlers. Most of the content is bright pictures and their names, like a picture dictionary for food items. Emma learnt a great deal about food from this book. A must have for fussy eaters. - A book with a stuffed animal – The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (Scholastic)
For most kids, having a stuffed animal is an absolute joy. It becomes their first friend, bedtime buddy, sense of comfort. This is the story of one such stuffed rabbit. Initially it was loved and adored, but as the boy got more toys, the rabbit remained ignored. The rabbit desired to be loved and become real. The book helps us in so many ways – having too much stuff (toys), not caring for what we have, importance of love and care. It is a great bedtime book as well.
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on. - A book about a day out with family – All set to Read- Level Pre-K- Fun at the Camp- READERS by Om
This book introduces the concept of camping. Though while buying this book, I intended to have Emma read three letter words, but it turned out to be absolute fun. It is about two siblings going for camping with their dad, followed by learning about campsite activities, seeing wonders of nature, adapting with the minimalistic amenities. For Emma, her favorite part was setting up the tent and sleeping in it. Great book for reading at the beginner level. - A book that teaches an important lesson – Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o
The most beautiful book ever!! Differentiation due to color of the skin is not an unusual thing around us, and hence one of the most important subjects for our kids to learn. Emma never observed or came across such situations, so she didn’t know of the issue. When we read the book, her first observation was Sulwe’s beauty. We still went on and Emma got to know about racism. As quoted in the book – “Real beauty comes from your mind and your heart”. A MUST have book for kids of any age. - Grown up’s favorite book in the house – No Buddy like a book by Allan Wolf and Brianne Farley
What a touching book this is! It is about how learning and help from books make an endless list. Starting from language development, to achieving intellectual insights there is nothing we can’t learn from books. It gives us our own mystical world of imagination where our thoughts become alive and real. Emma was really surprised to realize that how much she got to know via books. She started listing the things she could remember being learnt from books. The rhyming content makes it even more beautiful. - A hand-me down book you are attached to – What We’ll Build by Oliver Jeffers
Emma hasn’t been blessed with a hand-me down book yet. She got this book as her birthday present by a close friend of mine. Someone I adore for her reading nook and thought process. When we started reading it, I felt Emma might not be able to comprehend, but my little one just went with the flow. A heartwarming book about father-daughter bond, possibilities of our lives, how to protect and care for each other. Hats off to the illustrations too which build an instant connect. A must have book for our little ones growing by the second. - A book you tore – Pickle Mania by Srividhya Venkat
Pickles are that magic wand which can stir up your taste buds almost in an instance. Emma wasn’t very fond of pickles or sauces or anything spicy in general. Then, we got this book from our Secret Santa around Christmas. When we read this entertaining book, Emma found pickles intriguing. Just like Nitya, she asked for giving it a try. That was a win for us, at least a start. She still doesn’t like spicy ones yet, but she does enjoy the sweet ones occasionally. We read it on loop during mealtimes for so many days that no wonder some pages got a bit torn. The book is hilarious with Nitya trying so many types of pickles, and other than that it also touches upon bonding with grandparents, not giving up, trying things before jumping to a conclusion. - A book you have carried to bed and slept with – Who’s Whonicorn of Unicorns by Kes Gray and Gary Parsons
Unicorns are defined to be of such innocence and purity, kids naturally get drawn to them. Dreamy creatures signifying love, warmth, and a colorful world full of imagination. A beautiful picture book with hilarious unicorn names based on type and nature. After a couple of reads, it became a comfort blanket, a dream catcher for Emma. She finds absolute joy in reading aloud those names, and at times she suggests new names of her own too. Unicorn lovers should definitely have this one. - A book written in rhyme (not nursery rhymes) – Wriggle and Roar by Julia Donaldson and Nick Sharratt
This is the best rhyming book for when our infants’ become toddlers, and one is not interested in nursery rhymes. I am pretty sure that not just kids, parents love it too. Rhyming content on animal actions, animal voices, gardening, laundry, and what not. Who would think of such varied topics in a single book? Emma really loves this book as she listens to it with such sincerity. An absolute fun book with lots of learning. - A book your grandparent read to you – The Rainbow Crossing by Scholastic
This book covers an important topic of traffic safety. How kids shouldn’t go out all by themselves, how to follow traffic rules, how to help elderly people, and above all that how to help anyone in need. It showcases an out of the box artistic way for creating a zebra crossing. Emma usually refers to word multicolor as “rainbow colors”. This time it became true. Every time we are walking by a road or crossing one, she remembers the Rainbow Crossing.
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on. - A book that has food stains on it – Zayn and Zoey Healthy Eating
This is Emma’s most favorite Z&Z book. A book which is always on the dining table since the day it got delivered. She would always look into the book to see what kind of food she is eating, healthy or junk! What nutrients she would get, and what will help her grow. Not just hers, but also our meals get evaluated and questioned when we order pizza or anything that falls under junk food. Hence, the book is bound to have food stains. Amazing thing that such a little kid knows so much about food nutrients which I myself learnt much later.
ONLY KBC MEMBERS HAVE A SPECIAL COUPON CODE KBC15 which will give you 15% OFF when you order directly from the ZAYN AND ZOEY website. Simply click this link that takes you to the Zayn and Zoey shop on their website. - A book given to you so mom/dad could have tea in peace! – The Usborne Big Book of Big Trucks
Emma is a huge vehicles fan. Most of her toys are vehicles, the things she first observes when we are out are vehicles. This Usborne book made our lives really easy. At least we can converse without continuous “Excuse Me’s”, have tea in peace, or a little bit of peaceful ‘me’ time. The book explains about so many categories of vehicles, with big foldouts, every part of it clearly shown and explained, intriguing big pictures. Emma would take this book along with her construction toys and could remain in the vehicle bubble forever. - A book by Wonder House – Princess Fairy Tales
This is a set of 10 fairy tale books about Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, Snow White etc. An all-time favorite for bedtime reading. Such encouraging and beautiful stories of characters that we have been reading and listening to for ages. It is an amazing read for early readers. Emma fell head over heels for these stories in no time. - A book you gift often – All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold (Author), Suzanne Kaufman (Illustrator)
This book is all about seeing everyone through the lens of equality. No matter how they look, what they wear, what they eat, which religion they practice, all are same, everyone is welcomed. When kids get to see diversity be it playground, or school, or any public places/gatherings, at some point they do observe and wonder about those differences. We as parents need to help them understand why those differences, and how it shouldn’t matter. This book does exactly this! - A book you got from KBC recommendations – How Full Is Your Bucket by Mary Reckmeyer Tom Rath
It is not justifiable having to mention just one book that we got from KBC recommendations. I am a million times sure that every member of this family resonates with me. But since the restriction, we want to thank kbc for the best book ever. A book that I probably might not have come across all by myself. A book that enlightens both adults and children. We have always heard of karma, good deeds, and bad deeds. This book throws light on the same lines but in a unique manner. Every good deed gets rewarded, every bad deed demotes you. Forget about blunders, it helps us analyze the simplest and the smallest of our thoughts and actions in day-to-day life. Emma at times asks if she got a drop added or spilt when she is not sure of being right or wrong. I feel a drop every time I order a book, at the same time I see a drop being added to the buckets of members of the family too. Feels right, feels perfect, feels the best way to sign off from this Book Bingo!!!
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