Most toddlers can’t recognize words, but that doesn’t stop them from loving books, especially books that are beautifully illustrated with pictures that tell a story.
We discovered a few enchanting books from the National Library many months ago. These brightly coloured books contain mesmerising illustrations by Rosalind Beardshaw and Jill MacDonald. Both their style is simple and elegant, and we love their nature-themed ones.
We borrowed and renew them, returned and borrowed again. After a couple of months of borrowing and reborrowing, I decided that we should simply invest in these books, which now form part of our private gallery for the little ones to revisit over and over again.
Rosalind Beardshaw – Walk and See Series
The Walk and See Series comes in a set of 4 books. Each book tells a story of two little ones exploring the outdoors in a particular season.
A picture is worth a thousand words. With so many things to admire on every page, there is no need for a lot of words on the pages. The words are just sufficient to highlight the key concept on each page and allow me to guide the toddlers through their visual reading experience.
And the pictures relate to my twins very much because they love going to the outdoors, playgrounds, jumping on puddles, picking flowers and going to the seaside. So I place these books on the coffee table so that they can read them on a daily basis, and to inspire them to love the outdoors even more.
Jill McDonald – Hello World
The Hello World Series is all about introducing science to the little ones. Every page is colourful and filled with simple information.
The toddlers’ favourite, for now, is Backyard Bugs, for we have been sighting lots of insects in the garden these days. Little friends such as snails, grasshoppers and dragonflies are bugs that they see every day. So they can relate when they look at the cute little grasshopper appearing in the Hello World book.
The toddlers love the Dinosaurs and Birds too because of the birds they find in the playground, and the dinosaurs appearing on BBC’s “Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures” that their elder siblings watch on Youtube.
The book on Solar System is by far the hardest for me to introduce to them. They only know the sky and the clouds in the sky for now. Perhaps, the 3-year-olds may appreciate this book better than my 2-year-old toddlers. In fact, I have used this book to introduce the solar system to the older siblings. I guess the vibrant drawings and the simplistic explanations led the children to want to find out more.
Jill MacDonald has other books on the Hello World Series too, such as Weather and My Body.
What are the books that your toddler read over and over again? Share with us in the comment box below.
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