Popular Books to Read to Toddlers

Mr Brown Can Moo

Mr.Brown Can Moo! Can You? (Dr Seuss - Blue Back Book)Great for girls learning to read phonics, Mr Brown Can Moo Can You by Dr Seuss is also ideal as a book with plenty of rhyme and repetition to read to toddlers. The story is quirky and fun, encouraging interaction between the reader and the listener. My girls were happy to have it read to them many times over, which is great for a book that they are learning from while they listen.

The story follows Mr Brown and all the different types of sounds he can make including Moo, Choo, Slurp, Blurp and many many more….

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Filed Under: Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Starting to Read, Toddlers

Baa Baa Smart Sheep

Baa Baa Smart SheepA hilarious New Zealand story kids just love – especially when you use to voices or get your daughter to read one of the parts whilst you read the other. The story is about the ultimate con between a bored sheep and a rather gullible turkey.

If you already have Baa Baa Smart Sheep your girls will also love I Love Lemonade (surprisingly the kids don’t seem to mind the similarity in story line between these 2 books).

Zoe Says…

This is quite a silly book. I like reading it with Mum but I always want to be the sheep so I don’t have to gobble up all of the poo!!

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Filed Under: Books, New Zealand Books, Reading to Early Readers, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

A Summery Saturday Morning

A Summery Saturday MorningMy favourite Margret Mahy children’s book, A Summery Saturday Morning, has great rhyme and rhythm.This is another great story that you can either read or sing (and I’m not even much of a singer).

When the kids head to the beach with their 2 dogs they are in for quite a surprise. Stuck in the squelchy sandy and chased by a family of geese the outing comes to an unexpected end.

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Filed Under: Books, Books You Can Sing, New Zealand Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

A Kiwi Night Before Christmas

A Kiwi Night Before Christmas: Book and CD : with Sticker BookAnother gem by Yvonne Morrison. Keep the CD in your car for easy entertainment. A Kiwi Night Before Christmas is a great New Zealand story about 2 kids spotting Santa arriving with their pressies on Christmas Eve. It has become a Kiwi classic – my kids half think that the sleigh really is pulled by sheep after this book!

You can read this or sing it as the rhyme is clever and catchy. It’ll get stuck in your head though so read at your own risk!!

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Filed Under: Books, Books with CDs, Books You Can Sing, New Zealand Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

A Kiwi Jingle Bells

A Kiwi Jingle BellsIf you’ve ever had a New Zealand summer at the beach with family and friends A Kiwi Jingle Bells is the book for you. Sing the story to the tune of Jingle Bells or read the rhyme and enjoy the gorgeous illustrations. Kids fighting in a hot car, hokey pokey ice cream, boogie boards and pavlova are some of the Kiwi summer memories that the stories evokes.

You might have been in a tent or a caravan like me rather than a combi van but the memories will be more or less the same. It’s what summer is really all about in New Zealand so share it with your kids then get them out there before they get too big.

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Filed Under: Books, Books You Can Sing, New Zealand Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

Mrs Wishy-Washy’s Farm

Mrs. Wishy-Washy's FarmAn absolute favourite with both girls and boys, Mrs Wishy-Washy and her cow, pig and poor old duck have been entertaining both my girls and my nephews for the last 8 years. This is one of those books that I could recite without looking at the words I’ve read it so many times. The storyline with rhyme is well done and the illustrations are clever enough to spend extra time on each page finding things.

The story is about 3 animals who get tired of having to have a bath every day and run away to the city “where the barns are big”. They get into a bit of trouble and end up n the animal jail from where they are rescued by beloved Mrs Wishy Washy and happily returned to the farm.

I started reading this to the girls before they could talk and they still loved it up to age 3.  We also had the basic board variety of Mrs Wishy Washy for when they were babies.

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Filed Under: Babies, Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

Pukeko in a Ponga Tree

A Pukeko in a Ponga TreeThe Twelve Days of Christmas New Zealand style. A great book for reading or singing and easy enough for young kids to remember and recite. Pukeko in a Ponga Tree is a cleverly adapted and illustrated Kiwi version of The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Maya’s daycare performed this book at their Christmas concert 2 years ago (including actions) and she still launches into it from time to time. “Five big fat pigs” is definitely the favourite but with references to huhu grubs, flax kits, haka lessons, kumara, sacks of pipi, eels, poi, fish heads and piupiu, Pukeko in a Ponga Tree should be on every New Zealand child’s top Christmas books list.

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Filed Under: Books, Books You Can Sing, New Zealand Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

Monkey Puzzle

Monkey PuzzleMonkey Puzzle is such a gorgeous story – it’s about a baby monkey who asks a butterfly for help when he has lost his Mum. The rhyme is clever and the pictures of the jungle are beautifully done.

The story is written as a conversation between the butterfly, who asks for information about the Mum to figure out what she might look like, and the baby monkey, who can’t understand why the butterfly is having so much trouble working it out. The line – “how could I know, none of my babies look like me” is etched in my mind even though I haven’t read this one for a while.

Monkey Puzzle is a great story for reading over and over to young kids who love to learn the lines of a story and finish them for you as you read. And the happy ending makes it even better!

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Filed Under: Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

Play-Doh

Play-Doh of ColorsIt might seem like a cliche toy but play dough gives hours of fun for imaginative little minds – once they learn that it doesn’t taste so great!

I have a large plastic mat for the floor and a bag filled with play-doh in various different colours, old small cookie cutters, solid plastic utensils, small jars (to use as rollers and storage) and some chocolate box inners (to substitute for muffin tins). You can play with your kids or let them create on their own. Boys and girls of all ages will be entertained together with play-doh and as long as you keep them on the plastic mat it isn’t too messy.

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I’ve tried making my own play dough but to be honest keeping it in the fridge was a hassle and it never lasted as well as the bought variety. Here’s a recipe though in case you are game…

 

 

Filed Under: Activities, Art, Games, Gifts, Toddlers

Farmyard Dominoes

Farmyard Dominoes

Dominoes is a great game to play with kids of mixed ages and/or adults. Farmyard Dominoes uses 6 farm animals and a tractor, all with different coloured backgrounds, instead of dots so is ideal for young kids who don’t know their numbers yet. Maya will play this game many times over in one sitting because each game is quick enough to hold her attention and different each time. All players have an equal chance of winning as well so that adds to the excitement.

Farmyard Dominoes is made by Orchard Toys so the pieces quality is good – solid pieces in just the right size and a sturdy box to hold the game.

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Filed Under: Games, Pre-schooler Learning, Toddlers

3 Bears Puzzle

This wooden 54pc bears puzzle was one of the first wooden puzzles Zoe ever attempted and she still enjoys playing with it now. There are 3 different types of bear (mother bear, father bear and baby bear) with 3 types of piece for each bear. The puzzle comes with a wooden box filled with different puzzle pieces so that they child can choose the clothes, shoes and facial expression for each bear – creating many different possible combinations.

Little girls love dressing up and playing at dressing-up dolls or toys. The bears puzzle appeals to them because it’s like playing dress-ups, whilst at the same time they are learning to fit puzzle pieces into the corrected shaped places. These days my girls like to create extended bear families on the floor as well so that they have all the pieces laid out.

The lid also keeps all the pieces in place to avoid losing too many over the years!

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Filed Under: Games, Gifts, Puzzles, Toddlers, Toys

Where’s My Teddy

Where's My Teddy?If you love putting on silly voices and sound effects then this is the book for you. It’s about a boy who loses his teddy and discovers a gigantic bear with the same problem. The story is also about conquering your fears… and it rhymes – what more could you want. My sister-in-law sent Zoe this book because it was a favourite of her cousin – it’s been around for a long time but it was a great hit. There a couple of other books in the series as well but this one works the best with the silly voices!

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Filed Under: Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) [Board book]A timeless classic – The Very Hungary Caterpillar is a must for kids aged 0 -4 years. The story is about a caterpillar who pigs out on all sorts of different food – including one serious junk food binge – then curls up into a cocoon and turns into a beautiful butterfly. As well as learning about counting, days of the week and the life cycle of a butterfly there are different sized pages and holes to keep the kids interested throughout the story.

I remember this from when I was a kid, so it’s been around for a while. These days it comes in board book variety – which I’d recommend because it will get a good going over from the kids. I haven’t tried the finger puppet version but a similar finger puppet book that we had for my youngest daughter was extremely popular so I can see how these 2 things would go well here.

The Very Hungary Caterpillar is a great present for a new-born or toddler. Every kids bookshelf should have at least one.

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Filed Under: Babies, Books, From my Youth, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

Dear Zoo

The Pop-up Dear ZooWe’ve had a few different versions of Dear Zoo over the years including Dear Zoo with Flaps and the Dear Zoo Pop Up version. The pop up version was by far the most popular as it combines the hands-on attraction of flaps with the surprise element of cleverly designed pop ups.

Each page is different and has a different animal on it. There is repetition to help keep the interest of young kids and interaction with the book to make them feel involved and reinforce the words. This is great for teaching animal names, sizes and behaviour without the child realising that they are learning.

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Filed Under: Babies, Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

My Cat Likes to Hide in Boxes

My Cat Likes to Hide in BoxesLynley Dodd has been around for a long time – My Cat Like to Hide in Boxes is a book I remember from my childhood. There’s plenty of the rhyme and repetition that Lynley does so well. My kids liked calling out “But my cat likes to hide in boxes” each time we got to the my cat pages. We had the board book and even the back cover was part of the story for a bit of a twist.

If you have a cat this is a must for your kids… especially if it’s always hiding like ours.

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Board Book

Filed Under: Books, From my Youth, New Zealand Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers

The Wonky Donkey

The Wonky Donkey

If you like singing books instead of reading then then The Wonky Donkey is a must!

The Wonky Donkey CD is great for the car or home and got into my head so much I had to ration it out and use it as a reward for good behaviour for a while.

The Wonky Donkey is a New Zealand book and is humorous enough to entertain adults as well as kids of all ages.

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This video is hilarious and will give you a better idea of the storyline and tune – the imagery is different though so keep an open mind….

 

Filed Under: Books, Books with CDs, Books You Can Sing, New Zealand Books, Reading to Pre-schoolers, Toddlers