Huge thanks to Jennie at A Teacher’s Reflection for passing this particular tag onto me.

I have been tagged to nominate my top five children’s books. Only five??? Really???  But I love to read children’s books to both my own children and my classes!

There are so many books, both picture and chapter, which I could include on this list!

I decided to choose five picture books which I love to read to my classes every year. Books that give me joy, as well as to the listeners! Some are older, some are newer, but all are wonderful stories! I only wish I could read more complex texts to the class, but with the high level of English as an Additional Language in our class, it would go over their heads, so pictures work so much better for them!

Mr Big – Ed Vere

Such a lovely story about not judging a book by its cover. I usually read this one and accompany it with a “Bom Ba Bom Ba Bom” kinda bluesy beat… Poor Mr Big always scares everyone with his appearance, but he is just the most wonderful musician, and when his talents are discovered by others, they realise it’s not what he looks like but what he can do that they should be looking at!

Monkey Puzzle – Julia Donaldson

Where would this list be without Julia Donaldson?! I could mention so many of her books like The Gruffalo, the rhyming cadences a pleasure to read aloud, and the illustrations by Axel Scheffler so appealing to children, but this has to be my favourite! I like to sing parts of it to the “Hus Little Baby tune, as the words have been written in that rhythm. Such a lovely book to get the kids involved, guessing which animal is being described!

I’ve even made all the characters, and used them in a display at the back of my classroom!

The Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle

Eric Carle is another author I just couldn’t leave out of this list! We use The Very Hungry Caterpillar in several year groups as a key text, but it lends itself to the Early Years so well, with wonderful illustrations and a fun way of teaching life cycles! The children enjoy watching the transformation!

The Day The Crayons Quit – Oliver Jeffers

This is relatively book that is fun to read to the children. It is great for getting them to think about the use of different colours, and an excellent way for them to try and recall the colour names! I even have the sequel!

Dinosaurs Love Underpants! = Claire Freedman and Ben Cort

The Underpants series was always popular in my house too, from the aliens to the monsters, and pirates with underpant fixations! But the most popular has always been the Dinosaurs Love Underpants edition! Another colourful rhyming book which captures the interest of the children in Nursery every time as they all seem to love dinosaurs!

Rules:
1. Thank whoever’s nominated you and share their blog link.
2. Let us know your top five children’s books.
3. Nominate 5 people to do the same.
4. Let your nominees know you nominated them.

I am going to be extremely naughty here and not actually nominate anyone, as I know how busy you all are, but I open the invitation for you to post about your choice of five Children’s books and link back to me if you feel like it!