Books To Read

Picture books are a great way of encouraging younger readers to get involved with books. In picture books, the pictures tell as much of the story as the text itself does which helps the young reader understand the story even if they are fairly new to reading. As well as helping children understand the storyline of the book through pictures, the images also help keep the concentration of the reader and are therefore often brightly coloured. Great examples of this are Dr Seuss Books- they are really vividly coloured with brilliant illustrations which is part of the reason they have been so popular over the years.

As well as traditional picture books, there are plenty of picture books that also require plenty of interaction with the reader- mystery books are one example, and the “Where’s Waldo?” books are another. In the latter, the child has to find the Waldo character from a large crowd of different people.

Here are some classic picture books:

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

Peter Rabbit lives with his mother and three sisters at the start of the book- Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail. They have all been forbidden by their mother from entering the garden of Mr McGregor, as their father met his end there. However Peter takes the opportunity to go and gorge himself when his mother and sisters are busy, however he is spotted and chased by Mr McGregor. He loses his jacket and shoes, which Mr McGregor uses to dress a scarecrow. He eventually escapes and is put to bed with a mug of camomile tea.

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

This book tells the story of Max, a young boy who gets into trouble for playing around his home one evening in a wolf costume. Max is sent to bed without supper by his mother, but in his room a mysterious new world grows out of his imagination and Max sails to the land of Wild Things. Although the Wild Things are fierce looking monsters, Max conquers them all by staring into their eyes without blinking. He is subsequently made the king of all Wild Things, but he soon finds himself homesick and goes back to his bedroom where he finds his supper still hot and waiting for him.

Where’s Wally? By Michael Hanford

Where’s Wally? Was created by British illustrator Michael Hanford, but was published in “Where’s Waldo?” in the United States and Canada. The object is to find the title character in a large illustration. In some of the books, you also have to find some of his friends, which makes each page a lot more difficult. They are great books and create hours of fun.