I'm at the Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival in March. I'm giving a talk to parents on raising a child who loves to read. This is the recommended book list for that talk.
Mad About Books – Raising a Child Who Loves to Read
Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival 2013
Recommended Titles
1/ Babies and Toddlers – Birth to Age 2+
Sing them lullabies, read them nursery rhymes
A good nursery rhyme book – with art work you love – eg Sally Go Round the Stars (Sarah Webb – Irish)
Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli (Board book)
Where’s Spot? By Eric Hill (Board book) 2/ Toddlers of Age 2 +
Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (Irish)
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury
A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton – (Irish)
Other books to try: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Michael Rosen Farmer Duck – Martin Waddell Alfie’s Feet – Shirley Hughes Dear Zoo – Rod Campbell
3/ Younger Children – age 3 or 4 +
Fairy Tales – invest in a good collection
Oliver Jeffers – Lost and Found, The Heart in the Bottle (Irish)
Chris Judge – The Brave Beast (Irish)
Mo Willems – Knuffle Bunny, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Niamh Sharkey - Irish Children's Laureate and picture book maker
Other titles to try: Clarice Bean, That’s Me – Lauren Child Olivia by Ian Falconer There are Cats in this Book by Vivian Schwarz Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans Lunchtime by Rebecca Cobb (a new picture book maker) Wolves by Emily Gravett Dogger by Shirley Hughes Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Jill Kerr I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klaussen Marshall Armstrong is New To Our School by David Mackintosh (Irish) Busy Busy World by Richard Scarry The Brave Beast by Chris Judge (Irish) The Gruffalo and other picture books by Julia Donaldson
4/ Early Readers – Age 5/6+
Series books for very first readers:
Elephant and Piggie Series by Mo Willems
The Cat in the Hat and other books by Dr Seuss
Books for young readers to read for themselves:
Roddy Doyle’s The Giggler Treatment (Irish)
The Worst Boy in the World by Eoin Colfer (Irish)
Judy Moody series by Megan McDonald
The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy 5/ Books to Read Aloud to Age 5+
The Secret Garden, Ballet Shoes and any of your personal favourite classics as a child.
Charlotte’s Web by E B White
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearse
The Butterfly Lion by Michael Morpurgo
Roald Dahl - Fantastic Mr Fox and Matilda – pick the Dahl titles that you love the most
If they like Dahl they might also like David Walliams – who has written books like Mr Stink
6/ Confident Readers of 9+ J K Rowling Eoin Colfer (Irish) Anthony Horowitz Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan Derek Landy – Skulduggery Pleasant (Irish) Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney The Tom Gates series by L Pichon – great for Wimpy kid fans
Family/friendship books: Cathy Cassidy Jacqueline Wilson Ask Amy Green series by Sarah Webb – age 10+ Judy Blume – Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret Judi Curtin (Irish)
Award winners: Wilderness by Roddy Doyle (Irish) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead – age 10+
Other titles to try: Holes by Louis Sacher Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech Northern Lights – Philip Pullman
7/ Older Readers of 11+
Wonder by R J Palacio
Patrick Ness – A Monster Calls The Knife of Never Letting Go
John Green – The Fault in Our Stars
The Arrival – Shaun Tan
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (Irish)
Other titles to try: Skellig – David Almond Maus by Art Spigelman (graphic novel) Coraline by Neil Gaiman The Hunger Games series Sabriel by Gareth Nix 8/ Books for Reluctant Readers
Audio books Where’s Wally? Quiz, joke and puzzle books Non fiction – sports biographies Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey The Wimpy Kid books Sports magazines Playstation magazines 9/ Books for Tired Parents
That’s Not My series – published by Usborne
Hug by Jez Alborough
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell 10/ Books for Parents Who Want to Know More
The Ultimate Teen Guide The Ultimate First Book Guide Both published by A and C Black
Babies Need Books by Dorothy Butler
Mad About Books: The Dubray Guide to Children’s Books by Sarah Webb www.dubraybooks.ie
More about Irish writers and picture book makers: www.childrensbooksireland.ie
Remember:
1/ Choose books that YOU love to read aloud to your children 2/ Be seen reading 3/ Talk about books with your children 4/ Make books part of your family’s history and everyday life