Reading to our kids is often the source of so many complaints! With our first child, it is a kind of cute fun bonding exercise with no competing siblings, but as brothers and sisters are born it becomes something of a performance, ensuring me-time for each with the stories they like and at a level that we would like in terms of ages and interests. Whether you love it or hate it, you love your children so you’re going to do it anyways!
But what are the best books to read to our little darlings before tucking them in and bidding them good night?
The list below encompasses a range of ages and abilities and are fun enough to capture their attention for the necessary and requisite amount of time. Even better is the fact that they are all part of a series of books allowing for ongoing reading without wondering what next?
The Tashi series, by Anna Fienberg – Who is Tashi? A series of Australian bestsellers about this interesting character.
Old Mother West Wind, by Thornton Burgess – Forgotten stories from our own childhoods.
The Little Pear books, by Eleanor Frances Lattimore – Little Pear books, based on the author’s experiences growing up in the early 1900s in Shanghai.
The Dory Fantasmagory series, by Abby Hanlon – The stories of Dory Fantasmagory, the youngest child in the family misunderstood and ignored by her older siblings.
The Wayside School series, by Louis Sachar – Funny stories about the educational system. For all ages.