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Top 5 Children’s Books

This week I decided to write about something that wasn’t just incredibly silly. It doesn’t involve me taking part in kids swimming lessons, concerns around what my sternum is, or any kind of race against a train. No this week I thought I’d try and write something that just might be actually useful to somebody, somewhere.

Lofty ambitions I know. In fact, the title of this post is be a bit misleading, because technically it’s not a ‘Top 5’, no mass survey has been conducted of the Wicks clan, no polls were furiously collated and debated over, actually I haven’t even asked my 3 boys. This is just my gut feel for some of the most popular books in our house, that come storytime each evening, get read again and again and again.

So they come highly recommended from a 6 year old and a 4 year old. Oh and a 37 year old, I mean if you as a parent enjoy a good book it’s more fun for everyone!

Therefore in no particular order, here are 5 awesome books in the Wicks household…


Dustbin Dad

by Peter Bently and Russell Ayto

I can tell you the exact moment being a Dad began to pay real dividends in terms of bonus food. We were sat in a local pub/restaurant in Torquey whilst on holiday in Devon in July 2015. It was the first time we bought Harry his own kids meal, with me knowing full well that at 16 months old there was no way he’d eat it all. And from that moment on I have been the grateful recipient of half eaten burgers, cold chips and barely touched milkshakes.

So this is a book that resonated with me. I don’t even recall where we got it from but I imagine it was Rach’s purchase and she probably chuckled to herself whilst buying it. Funny, clever and a joy to read aloud, Dustbin Dad comes highly recommended.


Diary of a Wombat

by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley

For sheer humour, this is one of our favourites. Not really knowing much about Wombats, I feel I know a lot more now. Basically they like sleep and food, my kind of animal. This story is about a Wombat’s relationship with the human family who live near by, as told from the perspective of the Wombat.

Brilliantly written, pound for pound, it gets the most laughs of any book in our house.


The Rhyming Rabbit

by Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks

You just knew there would be a Julia Donaldson book in here somewhere. She is master of clever and subtle rhyme and puts it to great use in a tale about a rabbit who only ever speaks in rhyme. It’s great fun to read as the words trip off your tongue and in terms of style, it looks unique with bright and colourful drawings with the odd photographed texture thrown in (there’s probably a term for this style… but if there is I have no idea what it is).

Almost anything by Julia Donaldson is worth reading and this is no exception (note, I receive no royalties for saying this – though Julia, if you’re reading this, I’m not adverse to such things)


You Choose

by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodheart

Nick Sharratt is a brilliant illustrator. He’s drawn for such legends in the children’s book field as Jacqueline Wilson and Julia Donaldson.

‘You Choose’ is therefore less a story book and more a book which lets little imaginations run wild. Each page presents an “If you could…” question and below it are pictures of all the different options you could choose. For example ‘Is there a job you’d like to do?’ with dozens of brilliant pictures to get your little people’s minds buzzing.

We could easily spend 20 mins on this book alone, even though we must have been through it at least 100 times! There’s even several sequels now to keep their imaginations going – It is fantastic.


Dinosaur Roar!

by Paul and Henrietta Strickland

Dinosaur Roar is probably better suited to those a bit younger, Josh (4) particularly loves this one, probably because it’s about dinosaurs. It’s a series of rhyming couplets about different types of dinosaurs and must be read in our house whilst using suitable accents for each of the dinosaurs described (‘Dinosaur lumpy’ has a very distinctive voice!).

It’s fun, it’s silly and it’s got dinosaurs. That’s a win.

So that’s it for now – Why not leave a suggestion of your favourite children’s books below? With so many books available I’m always on the look out for hearty recommendations…

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5 Comments

  1. Alison

    Hi Jonny

    We used to enjoy โ€˜The Elephant and the Bad Babyโ€™.by Raymond Briggs. It got to the stage I didnโ€™t need the book because I knew it off by heart as it was such a favourite when my son was little. We also enjoyed the AA Milne poetry books and Winnie the Pooh as he got a bit older.
    I collect books and one day I though Iโ€™d read some of the Just So stories by Rudyard Kipling to him. Unfortunately my copy of the book was a 1912 edition and I soon found out was very very un PC!! So, we had to buy a modern edition of the stories before we could read them ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿ˜€. Oops!

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