Five Books I Love For Kids

We’ve read to our boys every night before bed for as long as I can remember and it has always been one of my favourite times of the day. We’ve gone through so many books in that time but as Lucas has grown up I’ve tried to hunt out some books which are a little different from your usual picture book. I’m a big believer in finding the answers to questions in books and Lucas is five now, he’s asking a lot of questions and he’s so inquisitive about everything. These books teach him about the world around him, about people and humanity, about different cultures and families. He takes so much to heart and he’s often asking me if stories are true, so now before we start I book I usually have to tell him if it’s a pretend story or a real one. He’s soaking up all sorts from non-fiction books and these ones are my favourite at the moment. If you’re looking for something a little different then look out for these fantastic books, they would make perfect gifts as well.

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World – Kate Pankhurst

I can’t get enough of this book; each Great Woman has a double page, crammed full of facts telling her story. It’s written and illustrated by Kate Pankhurst and she’s done an amazing job of sharing a few facts whilst making the pages engaging. There are a couple in here I didn’t know much about so it’s very interesting. It’s one of Lucas’ favourites at the moment and he particularly likes reading about Agent Fifi, Anne Frank and Mary Anning.

The Story of Life – Catherine Barr and Steve Williams

This book is brilliant if you’re child is starting to ask about where humans came from. Lucas is always asking me about the start of the world and how people came to be on it. It’s a first book on evolution which breaks it all down into simple stages for children to understand and has amazing illustrations on each page. I’ve found it useful myself – it’s one thing to understand evolution as a concept but explaining it to a five year old is a bit of a tricky one. 

And Tango Makes Three – Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

This book is such a sweet story, it’s based on real life male penguins who became a couple in Central Park Zoo. Their zookeeper found them an egg to look after and hatch and they became parents to Tango. It’s such a lovely way to introduce same-sex parents and different types of families. 

Shackleton’s Journey – William Grill

We’ve read this a couple of times but I think it may still be a little old for Lucas – it usually brings up more questions than it answers. Still I wanted to keep it in here as it’s a great way to talk about another time, and introduces epic explorations. It’s also a beautiful book, the illustrations are modern but stunning and it taught me a lot I didn’t know about the polar expeditions. 

Little People Big Dreams, Maya Angelou – Lisbeth Kaiser

The Little People Big Dreams books are a wonderful series of books focusing on different woman, you can get quite a few others now from Amelia Airheart and Coco Chanel to Agatha Christie and Marie Curie. I bought this one with some vouchers the boys got for Christmas. It’s a great way to start to talk about race and civil rights. They are such stunning books and important to read as well. 

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