This is our entry to the exiting #kbcBookBingoJr!
These are Advit’s 30 absolute favourite and most cherished reads. He is 3 years old. Most of these books would be apt for 3-6 year olds.
- A dino Book: Dinosaurs’ Day Out by Nick Sharratt
Well coming from someone who wishes to have a “dino pet”, this is a really special book. A lovely story about Dexter and Daisy who are travelling to meet their cousin Delilah. It has wonderful illustrations and also works great as a look and find book. The highlight of the book is how they meet Delilah finally! Will be absolutely cherished by all Dino lovers.
2. A book on good Habits: Wailing won’t work by Kimmie Auntie, illustrated by Ayeshe Sadr & Ishaan Dasgupta
A great book for handling tantrums and meltdowns we often come across with our little ones. This book is about a little girl Vidya, who is always crying and fussing about every little thing until her sister Sargam comes out with a plan to make her sister realize that a frowny face is not cool at all! And her plan works – Vidya realizes that by behaving nicely with others she can actually get what she wants! Being nice is so much better than being fussy!
3. A Dr.Seuss Book: I wish that I had Duck Feet
Dr. Seuss books let you be silly and we love to be silly and funny. How lovely it would be to have duck feet or deer horns or a whale spout! Doesn’t it sound like super fun?! While all that really sounds nice but it is important to appreciate what we have! The biggest comfort lies in being yourself. And this very important lesson of life is conveyed in this beautiful Dr.Seuss book with amazingly funny illustrations by B Tobey. We were in splits while reading this.
4. A Boynton Board Book: Snoozers
This is a cute collection of 7 short stories. Typical of Sandra Boynton that will keep you totally engaged. The book is very interactive where Adu loved being the little bear and would say, “I am not tired”.
7 short stories for 7 nights of the week! Sorted.
5. A Book that teaches you a lesson: The Invisible Boy by Trudy Lidwig, illustrated by Patrice Barton
This book has touched us very deeply. It talks about little Brian who is kind of invisible to all of his friends and even to his teacher. He is never a part of any games the other kids play, eats his lunch alone and spends his time making beautiful drawings. How a new boy notices Brian, appreciates his talent and makes him a part of the whole gang is what the story is about. What we have learnt through this book is to be kind to others and to be friends with one and all, even if they are a little different.
6. A lift the flap Book: Lulu at the Zoo by Camilla Reid, illustrated by Ailie Busby
While we love all our lift the flap books but our all-time favorite is this Lulu book. Join Lulu and her mum on this exciting trip to the zoo! This is a very cute book that teaches about animals, numbers, colours – all in one go. Must have for all toddlers for a fun time at the zoo. The added fun is to find Lulu’s favourite toy Rabbity who has gone missing at the zoo!
7. A bedtime story: Mai and her friends-A katha book by Durga Bai
This was my elder one’s first book that he got as a gift when he was 3 months old. And with this book our reading journey had begun. When Adu was born, I started reading this book to him and it became his favourite bedtime book. A very sweet story about a cow “Konda”, her calf and their “Mai”. Konda gets lost on a stormy night. When she doesn’t return home, her calf gets restless, terribly missing his mother. So, Mai and the little calf go out in search of Konda. The whole jungle and all the animals come together to help Mai in finding Konda. The book beautifully explains the importance of having friends in life.
8. A Book by your favourite illustrator: Little Cloud by Eric Carle
Eric Carle books are always a delight to read. A beautiful story about a little cloud who becomes a sheep, an airplane, a shark, a monkey and a clown in its journey till it finally merges with all the other clouds to form one big cloud. Don’t we all love to see the clouds and imagine what they look like!! The illustrations are so beautiful and real that they make you feel you are with the clouds up in the sky.
9. A Book with a quirky cover: Marmaduke the very different dragon by Rachael Valentine, illustrated by Ed Eaves
We fell in love dragons when we watched the movie – How to train your dragon! And this book became our treasured possession. Being different is absolutely fine and actually fun too! Marmaduke is a very different dragon with enormous ears and fantastic, sparkly, huge wings and so is Princess Meg with messy hair and her love for dancing. And together they surely know how to have fun! You will absolutely love this story about Marmaduke who is different but doesn’t realize that he is special till he meets Princess Meg. Beautiful illustrations and a very strong message to teach acceptance to our little ones.
10. A Fairytale: Rapunzel and her ever so shiny locks by Gemma Cary and Kelly Caswell
We have this particular version of Rapunzel and absolutely love it. Lovely illustrations and the beautiful story of Rapunzel where she learns that pride is not a good thing to have. How she learns to give and ends up making friends is what makes us very happy at the end! A fairy tale with a happy ending!
11. A Touch and Feel Book: Lady bird Baby touch-Peekaboo
This was one of the first books that was Adu’s own possession and not a hand me down from his big brother. We loved seeing the fuzzy caterpillar, soft tiger, stripy zebra and the sparkly helicopter. Those tiny fingers touching the patterns and the giggles that followed will always be special. And the best part was looking into the mirror at the end of the book to see himself – Baby Adu!
12. A Book that was gifted to you: A Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Eric Carle is our absolute favourite. A Tiny Seed was gifted to us as part of the #kbcSecretSanta during Christmas from a new friend of ours. While we read the story we understood how brave a seed is that travels and survives to finally grow into a beautiful plant. Well, the book motivated us so much that we grew our tiny “Methi Plant” from the seeds and water it very diligently everyday! Eric Carle books are so simple yet so beautiful and the illustrations will keep you completely engaged. Very good book to introduce the concept of how plants grow to the little curious minds.
13. A Book on Mythology: Tales of Hannu the Monkey God by Anchal
We came across this beautiful book just by chance. Written by a mum to make the concept of “Hanuman Chalisa” fun for her kids, we loved it immediately. And why not! After all Hanu looked like a monkey, holds a “gada” and most importantly has superhero like powers. A great book if you want to introduce your child to the power of Hanuman Ji. Somehow, those mantras always give that confidence to overcome all the fears. The book has fun activities like joining the dots, puzzles and many more that make it totally special.
14. A rhyming book: Mouse moves House-Usborne Phonic reader
Somehow we find this particular creature very sweet. We even want to have a mouse pet and currently we are trying to make a house for our future pet! No matter how much I find the thought creepy, I like the innocence of a child’s mind. So this was an obvious choice to buy. And we learnt lovely rhyming words like Jack and Mack, house and mouse. There are many in this series to introduce the concept of phonics to the little readers through lovely illustrations and short stories.
15. A Book on Shapes/Colours/Numbers: Lift the flap Numbers Book by Wonder Books
A very simple book that has made learning numbers really fun for us! The book has numbers from 1 to 10 and behind the flaps there are surprises waiting to be discovered. Bright and colourful to get started with the concept of numbers and counting.
16. A yellow coloured Book: Dino Diggers –Digger Disaster by Rose Impey and Chris Chatterton
This book came as our birthday gift this year from our little sister. The book is amazing fun because it has dinosaurs and the many construction vehicles. In this book, the super-efficient Dino Diggers work together as a team to finish their job. While we learnt about diggers and cranes, we learnt a very important lesson that as a team we can do anything in the world! The highlight of course is making the lovely digger using the cutouts given in the book. Must have for kids who love dinosaurs and diggers!
17. A funny book: Dippy Dozy Dolly Duck by Eilidh Rose and Barry Green
This again came to Adu as a hand me down from his elder brother. This is a puppet book and we find it hilarious when Dippy – the duck gets hit by just a falling coconut but thinks it is the sun that has fallen down. And then starts the fun to tell everyone that the sun has fallen down. It is a board book that comes with the duck hand puppet, so totally a hit!
18. A Book by an Indian author: I Need to Pee by Neha Singh, illustrated by Meenal Singh and Erik Egerup
This book needs no introduction! Bought this book because the name and the cover were just too catchy. And oh dear…what a lovely read this is. We love our lip smacking juices too much just like this little girl Rahi. While we had a blast reading about the funny encounters that she had because she always had to pee, what we loved the most is the book of quotes. We have learnt to never hold back our pee and be confident like Rahi in any situation. How can I forget the concept of dry toilet that we now want to have at home!
19. An informative Book: Inside your Outside by Tish Rabe Illustrated by Aristides Ruiz
This is a book that we have read multiple times because of the funny way it talks about our body. We had fun and laughed while learning what each organ does! What we love the most about this book is the way the concept has been introduced. And the pictures are too amazing!
20. A book on transport / vehicles: My Friend the Pilot from The Book Company
This is a cute book that is ideal for kids to learn all about airport and aeroplanes. Sue the very kind Pilot takes Danny aboard and shows him the cockpit too! It is a very interactive book because there are some fun activities at the end of the book. Identify the control tower, the luggage bay and turn the wheel to answer the fun questions!
21. A sound book: Peppa Pig Oink Oink sound Book from Ladybird books
We love this book to the core. We love rolling, jumping up and down in muddy puddle, playing with Mr. Dinosaur and all with a loud Oink Oink! It is a board book and has endured all our love happily through the years.
22. A one word title book: Dasher by Matt Tavares
This was our Christmas book for last year! It is magical in every sense. How Dasher followed his dream to find the North Star that he had heard from Mama in numerous stories and ended up meeting Santa is truly inspiring. Dasher is a brave reindeer who steps up to help Santa and his horse Silverbell in delivering the gifts to children across the world just to bring joy on Christmas morning. Though he reaches where he wanted to be, with North Star right overhead but he was sad without his family. Finally with Santa, he rescues his family and since then Santa and his reindeer have been bringing joy to all little ones every Christmas. With amazing illustrations and a beautiful story of Santa and his reindeer, this is a must addition to your Christmas books.
23. A book on any festival: Amma Tell me about Durga Puja by Bhakti Mathur
I bought this book to teach my little one about the festival of Durga Puja. As Bengalis, we look forward to these 5 days of the year to welcome Ma Durga in our new clothes and mouth-watering dishes. The pictures in the book are very eye-catching and made us truly happy when we were confined indoors this particular year due to the pandemic.
24. A book that has siblings: Why I Love my Brother Illustrated by Daniel Howarth
A lovely collection of what brothers have to say about why they love each other. Beautifully illustrated by Daniel Howarth to capture why a brother is always loved and a special friend for life. The very own words and feelings expressed by children have been captured in this book. Yes we love to play tag, we look up to our elder brother and absolutely want to do everything he does and we totally love to hold hands! Small feelings that make the relationship beautiful.
25. A Book about Animals/Birds – Little Kids First Big Book of Animals – A National Geographic Kids Book by Catherine D. Hughes
An amazing book that every child should have! Did you know a Koala has a pouch too like a kangaroo! This is a book that has animals from various habitats – Grassland, Dessert, Ocean and many more. Very informative book with fascinating facts. A perfect book for little inquisitive minds who love animals.
26. A Book on Space/Solar System: Mousetronaut written by Astronaut Mark Kelly, Illustrated by C.F.Payne
Oh our love for mouse never ends. And how wonderful it is to know that a mouse could be an astronaut too! Based on a partially true story because indeed animals are sent on space missions. Meteor was a very small, teeny tiny mouse but was very hardworking. His hardwork was noticed by the space commander of one such mission and little mouse Meteor finally gets the chance to go into space. While the other mice were all scared, this little one totally enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness. No fear at all! The story is about brave little Meteor who helps save the mission with his presence of mind. We love our mousetronaut – little Meteor, the hero!
27. A Picture Book: Ruby’s Worry by Tom Percival
This book was a real find – all thanks to KBC. Ruby is a happy-go-lucky girl who suddenly starts seeing a worry – a big yellow worry. The worry kept growing bigger and bigger, making her very sad until one day when she sees another boy with a similar but different coloured worry. They start talking and whoosh disappears the worry!
We have learnt two very important things from this amazing book – one is to never worry about “a worry” and two is “to always talk about it”. One should never keep their feelings bottled up… else it becomes a monstrous worry!
28. A Sea Creatures Book: Under the sea by Sue Mayfield, illustrated by Sue Hendra
This book has a collection of three stories and each one of them teach you a beautiful life lesson. The Wobbly Jellyfish learns to overcome her fear and she is no longer wobbly when a new friend comes to school. The Prickly Sea Urchin finds his own type and gets a companion to play around. And the Fabulous Fish learns to be kind and makes many friends to play with! Beautiful stories to introduce sea animals through very strong lessons.
29. A Monster Book: The Great Monster Hunt by Norbert Landa illustrated by Tim Warnes
We are very peace loving so the thought of a monster is kind of scary! But this monster hunt is funny. Duck hears a sound coming from under her bed but she is too scared to look under! So she seeks help from her friends and together they go on the big monster hunt only to find a cute little mouse sleeping happily under the bed!
30. A book with magic: Almost Anything by Sophy Henn
A story about George who thinks he is not good at anything until a very wise bear gives him a magic hat. The faith in magic helped him do this and that..and yes he could paint, he could dance and he could roller-skate too! He could do almost anything and everything!
A perfect book about faith and belief – that the magic is within us!
[Note from Team Kids Book Café: For your convenience, affiliate links (MARKED IN PINK) to some of the book titles & images have been added to enable you to buy the books from AMAZON, should you wish to! A very small amount of money comes to kidsbookcafe.com when you purchase a book via the amazon affiliate link provided (at absolutely no extra cost to you!). Do let us know if you need information about other children’s books by writing to asha@kidsbookcafe.com.]
