Books,,

Yesterday I took Molly to our brand new community library (which is conveniently around the corner from us) for a baby & toddler reading group. I have a wonderful memory of going to a library as a small child to hear The Tiger Who Came To Tea, I loved it so much and I can't wait for Molly to have those memories. We read together everyday, and each morning usually around 8am after her breakfast she brings me The Very Hungry Caterpillar and then various others throughout the day. So after an inspiring afternoon I thought I'd share a few of our favourites.

1) Molly At The Dentist. This one was given to us by my papa's best friend. It's been a firm favourite for Molly as it has pages that she can flip up and down which encouraged her to actually sit for a whole 2 minute book! I do believe beginning with this at night time for a proper sit on my knee and read is what's encouraged her for slightly longer and meatier reads- let's say 4 minutes! 

2) You're My Little Bunny. This one was another sweet gift from a family friend. To get Molly to sit through each page and not race to flip them I've made special noises and actions to go with each bit. It really does work, for example 'And when we all role down the slope, we land with one biiiig thump' and on thump we will both slap the page which is followed by a fit of Molly's giggles. I've noticed now when I say the word breeze she blows because she recognises the action from reading and it's been great for her growing vocabulary.

3) The Good Little Wolf. This is my favourite for introducing characters. We have Mrs Boggins who has a high old lady voice, Rolf who is very sweet, the Big BAD WOLFFF who has a rough gruff tone, and not forgetting of course Rolf's pal Little Piggy (Pigs are Molly's favourite animal and she snorts all the way through). I enjoy this one the most, I love the illustrations and the fact that the first time I read it I laughed aloud. I think Molly does too as she's been requesting it a lot lately.

The two books photographed are beautiful old Nursery Rhymes that have been passed down to Molly from each side of my family. We've started singing a few before nap time so that we sing during the day and read at night. Do you have any book suggestions? We're on the lookout for some more :)