These are the books Alfred has favourited from birth. We have stacks of books but these are the ones he requests again and again. They interested him when he was 6 months and they still interest him now. In order of most popular:

1. Dog by Matthew Van Fleet

This book has it all…real photos, tabs to pull that wag tails and cock legs, textured fur and felt ears, even a sticky tongue! Alfred loves dogs and he loved this book the minute I bought it when he was about 10 months. It’s still read daily 5 months on.

2. Music Is… by Brandon Stosuy

A book of opposites and full of musical realness. It has music genres, instruments and how it can make us feel. The first pages say, “Music is quiet”…”Music is loud”. The change in my voice volume when I read this makes Alfred laugh EVERY time. He requests this one whenever he sees it.

3. Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill

So, I do try and stick with books displaying realistic scenarios but we were this book and Alfred constantly pulls it off the shelf! It is a really fun one for those little fingers that have learnt to lift flaps and discover the secret under-flap illustrations. He’s loved this for as long as I can remember. Now, at 15 months, he understands who we’re looking for and thinks it’s quite funny whenever we don’t find spot under a flap.

4. The Wheels on the Bus by Hinkler Books

Alfred loves pressing the music button for me to sing the book to. It’s nice that he can play some music when he feels like it plus we can sing along to each page. He will often bop up and down after pressing the button. Always a popular request from Alfred.

5. Look and Learn: Sounds

I like this book because it has two real photos of each animal, plus the sound they make (or the English word for the sound anyway). I don’t think this book is actually available anymore, we got it secondhand. Alfred loves it though. Any book with real photos of animals without too much overcrowding on the page would be a hit.

6. Edible Colours by Jennifer Vogel Bass

Mixing colours, fruits and vegetables and introducing foods we may not have seen before or didn’t know came in that colour – just some of the cool things about this book. Alfred has pointed to a few familiar foods. It’s a fantastic book with the proper name for each fruit/vegetable.

7. Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox

While I’ve had this one for a while and have read it to Alfred when he was younger, he’s started showing more interest now. Pointing out different body parts and things of interest in the pages.

8. Rain Feet by Angela Johnson

Perfect for Summer in Qld, Australia (I know we’re still in winter)! I love this book so much. It describes the sights and sounds, the clothes we wear in the rain, and the illustrations are beautiful. When I buy board books (which isn’t all that often now) I look for diversity. Not just diverse skin colours on the pages but also the authors and illustrators. It’s only a tiny step but it’s an important one.

9. The Butterfly Garden by Laura Weston

This books covers the journey of the Monarch Butterfly. It’s life cycle. It is black and white but full of colour under the flaps. It’s quite sturdy too but I don’t leave this one out unattended. It’s put up on the shelf and Alfred can signal for it when he wants it. A beautiful book!

10. Hairy Maclary series by Lynley Dodd

I grew up on these books and now Alfred will too. So well written and engaging!!! I love them all, including the ones about cats. Sometimes I used to start reading and Alfred would wander off because they’re quite long, I would just keep reading it until the end while he roamed. Now he turns the pages himself so I have to skip over some things!

Book baskets

We have two baskets of books around the house. I often put library books plus rotate from our own bookshelf. It’s great to have a basket as we can carry them between rooms. I like the idea of a front faced bookshelf but that’s not happening any time soon and not really necessary for us at the moment.

Where we read

1. On the couch

2. On Alfred’s bed before bedtime

3. On the floor

4. On Alfred’s bed when it’s not bedtime

5. Anywhere

6. I’d like to say outside but Alfred’s very busy outside, maybe when he’s older

7. Sometimes at the dinner table

8. At his weaning table

Thanks for reading,

Caroline