Our toddler daughter (18 months old) likes having books read to her. Some of them are definite favourites, to be read as often as possible, while others are the ones she likes when she’s told to go and get another book. They’re not necessarily books I would choose myself, but it’s not my taste that counts <grin>. The versions we have are mostly boardbooks, well worthwhile at this age since she often sits on the floor and looks at her books on her own, and she can turn the boardbook pages easily enough that she doesn’t get frustrated.
Her top favourites currently are We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury (Powell’s link), I Love You With All My Heart by Noris Kern (Powell’s link), and Mother, May I? by Grace Maccarone (Powell’s link).
The next bunch of books also hold her attention for a bit, but she tends not to bring them over to be read as often as the books in the first group. Sandra Boynton features heavily here, and her books are small enough that the girl can hold them while she’s being changed. They’re fun to read as well, as they lend themselves to silly voices. We have Hippos Go Berserk (Powell’s link), Barnyard Dance! (Powell’s link), and Moo Baa La La La (Powell’s link). Rounding out this are A. J. Wood’s Hubble Bubble, Cauldron Trouble (Spooky Tales) and Nina Laden’s Grow Up! (Powell’s link), where she really likes the chicken page for some reason.
Of course, by next week the favourites might be a completely different set of books.
When my son was about that age, his favorite nightly readings were the Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel. The stories are short and there’s a good message in them. Even though we’ve moved on to slightly more complex stories now, we’ll still read through a couple of these now and then, and it always brings out a smile (on both of us).
ah, fun times! Ours really liked Satoshi Kitamura, in particular “Duck is Dirty”, everything by “Eric Carle” and later anything Quentin Blake had illustrated. I also like “click clack moo, cows that type”. Most of those bear reading more than 20 times 🙂
What music is she listening to?
Of course she gets some of what we listen to, and her brother playing piano. Other than that, I have her in a music program called West Side Music Together (www.westsidemusictogether.ca), which she seems to enjoy a lot. She listens to the CDs in the car as well.
If someone gives you a Raffi tape or CD or DVD, burn it. OTW, Baby Balguga will haunt you forever.
Interestingly, our kids (just a bit of 2 now) favourite stories are changing. Winnie-the-pooh puzzle book, with lots of text and only a few pictures, is loved by both of them. I hadn’t thought they would move on from the big pictures, big letters, few words books until later.