I am posting these reviews on behalf of my toddler M who is 2 years and 7 months old. In the list I have shared, the interactive board books are perfect for 0-3 year olds. The paperbacks can be enjoyed by 4 year olds as well.
M had a wonderful summer reading and re-reading her favourite books. Enjoy our entry for the book bingo!
1) An Orange Coloured Book: Smile, Crocodile, Smile by An Vrombaut
Is brushing your toddler’s teeth a struggle? Introduce her to Clarabella and her friends, and your life will be sorted. While Clarabella’s friends are quickly done brushing their teeth and then play and eat and tumble through the day, she struggles to get the task done because she has sooooo many teeth to brush! Find out how her friends come to the rescue. Through easy text, lovable illustrations, and simple storyline, the book makes brushing fun. Every morning we pick up a character from the book and role play. Brushing teeth has never been easier!
2) A book with a number in title: 100 Dogs by Michael Whaite
This delightful book is a treat to look at. The author has come up with 100 different dogs, with silly names, doing silly things. It is engaging, humorous and a great way to increase your toddler’s vocabulary. Each page has a dog’s tail to spot. The last page of the book shows all the dogs together and you can make games out of this too. There are so many things you can do with this book. Pure brilliance!
100 Cats is the other book in this series.
3) A bath book: Playgro Splash Book
M has owned this cute little bath book since she was half a year old. Two years later, M has graduated from being fascinated by the cute baby animal illustrations to now counting the bubbles in the book. It is still her favourite companion at bath time.
4) A new author you were introduced to: Mog’s Family of Cats by Judith Kerr
Dearest Asha Aunty introduced M to Judith Kerr’s books and lovable Mog. This book introduces us to the cat family through simple text and charming illustrations. If your kid loves cats, Mog is the one you should have in your house!
5) A lift-the-flap book: Usborne Lift-the-flap Play Hide & Seek with Reindeer by Sam Taplin
Animals are playing hide and seek in this endearing book by Usborne. The flaps are big and easy-to-lift for little hands. Pleasing illustrations give a lot to talk about on each page as you go looking for the hidden animals.
6) A book by an Indian Author: Little Cub says Thank You by Suvi Naidoo
This is a sturdy little board book that helps toddlers recognise different opportunities of saying ‘Thank you’ to the people who help us. I would recommend this to start the conversation of being nice to and appreciating the people around us. You can read a detailed review of the book HERE.
7) A Puppet/ Pop-up book: Usborne Pop-up Seasons by Anna Milbourne
This is an attractive pop-up book for exploring different seasons. Kids will love exploring the stunning 3D scenes and touch the life-like butterflies, flowers, trees ,snow, birds and bees.
8) *Bestest* Read aloud book at home: Ten Minutes to Bed: Little Monster by Rhiannon Fielding
Monsters have quickly become our favourites. This is a story of cute little Belch and her monster friends, who are showing no signs of winding-down even with 10 minutes to bedtime. Every monster is quirky in her own way and M loves imitating them. We have a riot reading and acting this book out. Alas! With all the fun we are having, we still have not been able to use it as a bed-time read.
9) A Sandra Boynton Board book: Dinosaur Dance
Dancing dinosaurs shake, shimmer, quiver and have some adorable steps to teach us. The fun rhyming words and cute dinos will surely get your kid on her feet.
10) A Scholastic book: The Dinky Donkey by Craig Smith
This one is about the cheeky little Dinky Donkey and her varied peculiarities. The rhyming text and adorable illustrations will win your hearts. HeeeHaawww !
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on.
11) A book with siblings: Zayn & Zoey: Which Vehicle is it?
The famous siblings Zayn and Zoey are out exploring vehicles. The sturdy board book teaches little ones about land, water and air vehicles in a simple, interesting way. It teaches counting through 1,2,3 and 4 wheeled vehicles and offers many opportunities for inquisitive toddlers to satisfy their curiosity. You can read a detailed review of the book HERE.
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.
12) A book that was gifted to you: Peek-a-Baby by Karen Katz
This is an adorable lift-the-flap book by Karen Katz. Kids will love playing peek-a-boo and looking for the babies who are hiding behind different objects. What I really like about the book is that all flaps are shaped differently and all open from a different direction. This makes peek-a-boo all the more fun.
13) A book with a vehicle: Spot’s tractor by Eric Hill
This is a cute little story of Spot-the dog, who is having a great day at the farm, doing different jobs. The book is tractor shaped and the wheels actually rotate. So the kids can move the tractor around, learn about farm animals and have fun helping out Spot with his jobs.
14) A rib-tickling book: Is that your poo, Kangaroo? by Rosie Greening
Poo is always a hit with toddlers and if you have a book in which you can actually touch the poo, it’s a hands-down winner! The crew of Emu, Cockatoo, Koala and Platypus are trying to find out who the mysterious poo belongs to; and the Kangaroo comes up with hilarious reasons to justify it’s not his. With a short attention span of young toddlers, this one is a perfect book with a small but extremely toddler-funny rhyming story.
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on.
15) A Push-pull-slide book: Busy Vet (Campbell Busy Books)
Campbell Busy Books have good chunky push-pull-slide tabs and are excellent to develop fine motor skills. Through rhyming text, this book introduces toddlers to vets and the animals they treat. The book had such an impact on M that when we recently took her for vaccination, instead of the expected crying, she exclaimed –
“One quick jab and you will be done!”.
That’s what we say to the little rabbit in the book!
16) A book that kept you busy on your own: Press Here by Herve Tullet
This book takes your kid on a magical adventure. It has instructions for the kid to follow – shake, tilt, press, tap, clap, blow. Kids get a thrill when the dots on the next page magically transform. Clever book to keep the child self-engaged. The text is entirely in uppercase, which is a bonus for toddlers who have just started recognising alphabets.
17) A book you read in repeat mode: The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas
This is a creative book to help your toddler recognise her feelings and express them in the form of colours. The colour monster is all mixed-up and confused because he cannot tell one feeling from the other. A little girl helps identify and sort his feelings (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, calm) in different jars. The basic emotions, associated colours and simple text, helps avoid overwhelming the young ones.
18) An elephant book: Usborne Little Peep-Through Books: Are you there little elephant by Sam Taplin
Peep-through is a wonderful series with delightful pictures. This one asks ‘are you there little elephant’ on each page as we see a new body part hidden away between the riot of colours. And then when you turn the page, oops! It’s somebody else! It has cuts and holes for little hands to explore; and different animals on each page; perfect for a curious child. You can read the detailed review HERE.
19) A bedtime book: Counting Kisses by Karen Katz
This is my all-time favourite bedtime read. The adorable kiss and read book counts down from 10 to 1 and the baby gets loving kisses on different body parts from her family. A perfect book to help your toddler wind-down, while sharing loads of good-night kisses.
20) A sound book: I love music: my first sound book by Marion Billet
This book introduces you to different musical instruments. It has a kid friendly small button on each page which activates the instrument. It has bright colours, sturdy pages, pleasant sound and cute animals. Young children will love this one.
21) A book by your favourite illustrator: Ruby and the Naughty Cats Written and Illustrated by Jane Hissey
Jane Hissey’s illustrations are amazing. Each stuffed animal is brought alive on the pages of ‘Ruby and the Naughty Cats’. The Naughty cats keep messing up with whatever plans Ruby and her friends have. Ruby then decides to just let the naughty cats join them and they all learn to have fun together. The characters are charming and M instantly connected with them. Every mouse in every book she owns is now Ruby! The story is simple and the characters cute. Young toddlers, especially cat crazy ones, would love it.
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on.
22) A rhyming book: A dazzle of zebras by Sarah Creese
This is an eye-catching, rhyming, touch-and-feel book which teaches what different groups of animals are called. The illustrations are absolutely stunning and actually relate to the group name. For a school of fish, we see many fish carrying pencils and bags; for a tower of giraffes, we see giraffes standing on top of each other and making a tower. Perfect for curious minds.
This book can be ordered from Scholastic India via our kbc storefront as well. Scholastic India always has special offers on.
23) A dino book: Dinosaurs (First Explorers) Campbell
This is a charmingly illustrated introduction to the world of dinosaurs – from how they are born to what they eat. Each page has push-pull-slide, an animal index to help spot dinos, simple questions and cool facts. The book offers a good level of engagement and kids will have fun feeding the hungry Spinosaurus or hatching Oviraptor eggs.
24) A non-fiction book: The Usborne Big Book of ABC by Felicity Brooks
This alphabet book offers many learning opportunities through gorgeous illustrations. It introduces the child to uppercase and lowercase letters, loads of new words, adjectives as well facts. Each page has an alphabet and pictures of more than 10 things associated with the alphabet. The book is so different from the other books available in the market that you and your toddler will instantly fall in love.
25) A book by Nick Sharratt: The Whales on the bus
This was an instant hit as you have to sing-along to the tune of ‘Wheels on the bus’. Each page has a different animal in a different vehicle, rhyming text and vivid illustrations. Doubles up as a bed-time read as it ends with Llamas in Pajamas saying Nighty-Night!
26) A book meant for an older child that you enjoyed: Baby loves Gravity by Ruth Spiro
Baby is exploring gravity when he throws things around or plays in the park. Through simple text and cute illustrations, the book explains gravity and mass. When I read the book to M, I wondered if she would be able to understand the concept. That was until she threw her book one day and said, ‘I did not throw it, it fell because of gravity’.
27) A Peppa Pig book: Peppa’s Busy Day
Peppa and George have a busy day ahead of them. The book walks us through their schedule, while promoting a good daily routine for the kids. It has a small clock with movable hands. Kids can move these hands around and learn the concept of time. We also used this book to teach M about ‘going to school’, just the way her favourite siblings are.
28) A book on toddler tantrums: Tiny Tantrum by Caroline Crowe
With a toddler in the house, tantrums are an everyday occurrence. When kiddos refuse to listen to the grown-ups, it is time to bring in the monsters! Tiny Tantrum is a delightful book in which witty, colourful monsters sing funny, rhyming songs and teach TINY how to handle her meltdowns. The book also has a separate Tantrum song in the end, which M absolutely loves. Now when M refuses to share, I ask – ‘M what has yellow monster taught us?’ and it works!
29) A book by your favourite author: Cave Baby by Julia Donaldson
M adores all Julia Donaldson’s books and Cave Baby is her recent favourite. The rhyming text takes us through the cave baby’s moonlit adventure with the big hairy mammoth. The story celebrates the creativity of the young ones. It also passes a subtle message to the parents that a child will truly blossom if her imagination and creativity is not stifled.
30) A book you tore: Poo in the Zoo by Steve Smallman
M is usually very gentle with her books. But one fine day, for no reason at all, she ended up tearing one of the most hilarious books we have. This story about a zoo keeper and all kinds of poop he deals with, is a silly read that is bound to have your toddler in stitches. Icing on the cake (or the poo I must say) , is that it has a whole poo museum illustrated and the sheer volume of poo will get your kid giggling.
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