Top Ten Children’s Books that Turned my Daughter into a Reader

D is for Dragon … Flora’s going back to school recently started me thinking about all the books that we’ve read over the years.  More specifically, children’s books that she’s really loved, that are her true favourites, and that she returned to time and time again.  It’s been really hard to narrow it down, but here the ten children’s books I think turned her into an avid book lover.  And I think they really should be on every children’s books list.

Top ten children’s books that turned my daughter into a reader

Before I start, with one exception, these are all children’s picture books.  They were Flora’s favourites, the ones that fired her imagination and encouraged her to become a book lover.  The exception is one of her favourites, and one of the best children’s chapter books, a Roald Dahl entry.

1. When I Dream of ABC – Mr Henry Fisher *

I think this book should be on every child’s bookshelf. It’s the most fantastic introduction to the alphabet and the illustrations are just beautiful.  Here’s an example of the text: “V is for Vampire: Vampires are very pale because they don’t eat their greens. They … drink chocolate through little holes in their teeth.”  Flora LOVED this book and took great delight in recognising the letters each time we read it.  She was also word perfect after we read this night after night for weeks on end …

2. My Cat Just Sleeps – Joanne Partis *

I think at one stage I knew this book off by heart, we read it so often.  It’s the story of a little girl and her cat, who is always sleeping instead of playing like other cats.  But there’s a very good reason why, and I won’t spoil the ending.  Flora adored this story because of the easy repetition and lovely pictures.  And her own cat, Buzz, would snuggle up with her when she went to bed.

3. Barry The Fish With Fingers – Sue Hendra *

As soon you see the cover of this book you know it’s going to be a good tale.  Barry has fingers, fish fingers (BOOM, BOOM).  Puffy, no longer the star attraction once Barry shows up, sulks off.  Although everything works out in the end, there’s a neat little moral that isn’t too hard for young children to grasp.  We had to replace this book as it fell apart from excessive use!  And there’s a sequel, with a Hairy Scary Monster …

4. The Tiger Who Came to Tea – Judith Kerr *

So many children must have grown up with this classic tale of a little girl and her unusual dinner guest, first published nearly 50 years ago.  Flora’s favourite part was when the tiger drank all Daddy’s beer!  The accompanying illustrations are charming too.  After reading this story time after time, we migrated naturally to the Mog series (also by Judith Kerr).

5. Dinosaurs in the Supermarket – Timothy Knapman *

This book was hugely popular with our (then) would-be palaeontologist, so despite the title, it’s definitely not just for boys.  Grown-ups can’t see the dinosaurs hiding in the supermarket and a little boy gets the blame for all the mess, “…T. rex gobbling sausages … Stegosaurus spilling beans … Triceratops squirt chocolate sauce …”  The illustrations are lovely and the rhyming text encourages repetition, night after night.

6. Lost and Found – Oliver Jeffers *

It was hard to choose just one of Oliver Jeffers’ books but this was the first one we ever read.  One day a penguin arrives on a boy’s doorstep and the boy decides to try and return him home.  But no-one has lost a penguin so the boy rows him to the South Pole.  On his way back the boy realises that the penguin wasn’t looking to go anywhere and so … no spoilers here, you’ll have to read it.  A lovely story, full of charm, and the most beautiful, expressive pictures.

7. Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs – Giles Andreae *

Continuing the dinosaurs theme but this time combined with pirates – how could you lose?  Flinn and his friends fall through a school art cupboard door to help a pirate captain retrieve his ship from some pirate dinosaurs (yes, really), and make it back before the end of the lesson.  Great illustrations and some really funny bits mean that this first in the series was a firm favourite for a long time.  “Yo ho ho, Yo ho ho, Pirate Dinosaurs, Go, Go, Go!”

8. Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam – Tracey Corderoy *

The story of the two robber dogs who – eventually – see the error of their ways and set up a cake shop!  The text is in rhyming verse so it’s lovely and rhythmic to read, and the moral of the story isn’t too heavy handed.  The pictures are excellent too – Flora had great fun spotting the spider on every page.

9. The Mr Men books – Roger Hargreaves *

I remember reading the original 47 Mr Men books when I was a child so I was delighted that Flora took to them too.  After reading these with her for a few weeks, she started taking them to bed to read again by herself, so I think these are the ones that really set her on her way.  There’s just so much to appeal to children: the illustrations, the text, the fantastic front and back covers, and the stories themselves, not too short and not too long.  They really are lovely, classic children’s books.

10. Fantastic Mr Fox – Roald Dahl *

This was the first Roald Dahl we read together and it’s still her favourite, although we’ve read all the others now too. She loves the tale of the fantastically clever fox outwitting the horrible farmers. This isn’t a sugary sweet tale, it’s got plenty of nastiness and some cruelty in it too, but I think that’s what makes Dahl’s tales so enduringly popular with children. She re-reads all his stories on a semi-regular basis but this one is always her go-to.

Top ten children’s books for Flora

As I said these are just ten of Flora’s favourite books, some of which she still re-reads today.  Our house is full of books, both her father and I always have huge TBR piles, so she was never going to be a stranger to reading. But we never expected her to love it as much as she does

And that must be due to the rich and diverse selection of children’s books available, like the ones here.  Having since whizzed through the first four Sea Quest series, she’s now halfway through the last book in the How To Train Your Dragon series. The Lord of the Rings trilogy awaits her 🙂

Do you recognise any of her favourite ten children’s books? Which books do you like reading with the children in your life? Do you make it part of their bed-time routines? And do check out these fabulous and fun ideas on how to encourage reading habits in children too.

* This post features affiliate links (please see my disclaimer).