Books for toddlers

[emmalouise]

Hi, I was looking at the discussion about good DVDs, and wondered if anyone had any tips on good books for toddlers. Something a bit more specific than that, actually: books that have positive images of green lifestyles, which sounds really worthy but I hope you get what I mean. The only example I can think of is that I read Janet & Allan Ahlberg's "The Baby's Catalogue" with my daughter recently, and it's a lovely book anyway but I was really pleased it had images of a baby being breastfed, terry nappies drying on the line, children playing in the mud in the garden and so on, not as A Big Green Message but just presented as everyday life in the background of the book (actually as it's a few years old I expect that's part of the reason - terry nappies etc were much more normal at the time). So, if I've made any sense, does anyone have any suggestions?

[Annpan]

There was a general books for kids discussion a while back here

I like Alfie books because they show dad making coffee in a cafetiere, the toys that the kids have are dolls and teddies and push carts, it is a big adventure to get new boots, they have a milk man, they walk to the shops... these are the things that E recognises so it is appropriate for her. (she is 20 months)

I also like the tiger who came to tea for the same reasons. Even Hairy Maclary has a strawberry patch and a bone from a butchers shop, Slinky Malinky (by the same author) is along a similar line...

I know that this is not the world that most children recognise though, so, yes, I guess older books tend to be better.

[tim&fatima]

two books that "a" loves to listen to are, "some dogs do" by Jez alborough. and "don't let go" by Jeanne willis & tony ross. not really that green, but does make them think differently (outside the box.) beautiful books, that are well written.

[kiwirach]

oh Slinky Malinky is one of my favourite books...'Slinky Malinky raspcallion cat....'!!

the 'Percy the Park Keeper' books by Nick Butterworth are lovely, and all about Percy caring for his park and the animals in it.
'Peepo' is another good one, set in the wartime era( about a little boy not the war tho!), so with some of the images you seek...its also by the Albergs (sp).
will have a look at the bookshelf at work( i'm a nanny ) and see if anything would suit.

[Annpan]

Nick Butterworth also did the Kipper books and a book (which is E's favourite at her Grandparents house) called 'the Blue Balloon'... not very green related though - but balloons are made from natural latex(???), and biodegrade.

[emmalouise]

Thanks for the ideas, I haven't looked at the Alfie books but had Dogger (by the same author I think) when I was a child and loved it. Annpan I think you put my point more clearly than I managed to! What I'm looking for is just to make sure that my daughter sees lives in books that resemble ours a bit - not that we're totally self-sufficient or untouched by consumerism or anything like that, but there are some things that we do a bit differently from a lot of the people we see around us, and I was occasionally made to feel like I was quite weird when she was tiny for carrying her in a sling or using terries and so on, so I'd just like her to grow up knowing at least that people make different choices in their daily lives and some of them make similar choices to us. Mind you I think all children have to think their parents are crazy and totally wrong at some point, so maybe I should just give up and start her on Bratz right now!

[Annpan]

... so maybe I should just give up and start her on Bratz right now!

NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!

[citizentwiglet]

ROFL.....Step AWAY from the Bratz, LOL!

Ellis has just turned two and, although obsessed with any toy with wheels, has a very different taste in books. He loves anything about animals or birds (are birds animals? Or are birds birds? Feel free to enlighten me!), particularly 'I'm not cute!' which he got in his Bookstart pack and is, frankly, driving me mad. Although it does make a pleasant change from The Very Hungry Caterpillar!
The nice thing about books about the natural world (however basic) is that we can go into the countryside and he can spot things he recognises in his books. Cue MUCH excitement when he saw his very first bumblebee in the garden the other day...leaping up and down yelling 'bumbee bumbee!!!' in a MOST enthusiastic fashion.
Countryside walks do take quite a while when he feels the need to point out every birdie, leaf, twig and flower he can see, though!!

[Russian Doll]

... so maybe I should just give up and start her on Bratz right now!

NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!

put the bratz in the inceerator now

what about dr zeuss my three year old cant read but loves it when mummy gets in a tongue twister reading green eggs and ham

[Clara]

The very hungry caterpillar - especially cause one day he eats junk food and gets a stomachache!

Each peach, pear, plum - cos I want to live in mother hubbards house!

and thanks (or is that "no thanks" ) to Tea I am reading Animal Friends every 10 minutes!

Cx

[mrsflibble]

don't go for "click clack moo" by doreen cronin if you want a green book; the farmer gives the cows electric blankets. "vote for duck" by the same author is also out 'cos the duck drinks loads of coffee and never mentions is it's fairtrade or not.



but if you want a funny read without feeling the need for green guilt 'cos you're not rading something that's based solely on green principles, please read them 'cos they're hillarious.

[Russian Doll]

The very hungry caterpillar - especially cause one day he eats junk food and gets a stomachache!

Each peach, pear, plum - cos I want to live in mother hubbards house!

and thanks (or is that "no thanks" ) to Tea I am reading Animal Friends every 10 minutes!

Cx

oooops sorry hun...do have another load i can post of if ya want

[Eigon]

Shirley Hughes (Dogger, and Alfie, and others) is always good. Likewise the Ahlbergs.
I'd also like to recommend Sally Gardner, whose stories seem to be usually set in a fairly self-sufficientish household, and Helen Oxenbury's toddler books, which are great to read aloud because there are actually two stories going on at the same time. For instance, the car journey one shows a hellish day out, stuck on the motorway, kid being sick, etc, with the kid saying at the end "I had a great time!", while the adult reading it can really empathise with the parents in the story.
As soon as my nephew is old enough, I'm getting him the Percy the Parkkeeper stories. They're great.

A real classic read is Milly-Molly-Mandy, by Joyce Lankester Brisley. Written between the 1920s and 40s, they have stories where MMM rescues a baby hedgehog, plays in the woods with Little-Friend-Susan and Billy, goes to a blacksmith's wedding, and lots of other charming little stories about life in an English village before the Second World War.

Something else to look out for is the Little Grey Rabbit series by Alison Uttley, where LGR, Squirrel and Hare live in a country cottage, and go skating in winter, celebrate May Day, and make rush mats, and knit and so on. Lovely illustrations, too.

[Cherry_blossom]

HIya all,
I don't mean to butt in, but I have a little boy Evan, he is 26 Months some of his favourite books are, the Gruffalo, gruffalos child and Monkey puzzle.

They are nice to read too with a little rhyme to them and you can do the voices, animal orientated rather than eco inspired though.

Xe
xXx

[Esther.R]

Beth loves the Katie Morag books - they are not really toddler books but make great stories to read at bedtime and are all very familiar to her as we live on Shetland so ferries and piers and sheep shows and crofts are all very familiar to her! Far more familiar than trains, double decker buses and cities which are just words to her as she was 4 months old when we moved up here.

She loves most of the books already mentioned.