The Best Children’s Books to Read Out Loud to Your Baby

One of the things I’ve always looked forward to when I’ve thought about being a parent is reading stories together. My mum read me a bedtime story every night when I was little and I want Theo to enjoy it just as much as I did. I started early and read Harry Potter to him while he was still in my tummy and now we have a selection of children’s books that I read to him every night before bed. I wanted to share with you my review of the best children’s books to read out loud to your little one. These books aren’t just fun for kids, they’re great for adults too!

Baby’s Very First Little Black & White Library – Usborne. (Amazon, £4.79)

This little box set of board books is great for babies as they’re predominantly black and white with pops of colour so are stimulating for little eyes. There are four books with a variety of themes, each books contains a picture and the corresponding word. This is more of an educational book than a story book and I make an effort to look at it with Theo most days. Rather than at bedtime, we look at this during tummy time or playtime. They’re great little books, he really enjoys looking at them and they don’t take up too much space!

Funny Bones – Janet & Allan Ahlberg (Amazon, 3.49)

I remember watching the Funny Bones cartoon on television when I was little and loving it so I bought this one for Theo before he was even born! The illustrations in this one are also black and white with pops of colour so it’s another one that’s great for stimulating him. The story also has a couple of songs in it which are great fun, if you didn’t watch the cartoon you can always make up your own tune! It’s a fun story that will keep Theo entertained as he grows.

Night Monkey, Day Monkey – Julia Donaldson (Amazon, £4.61)

From the author of The Gruffalo, this is one of my favourite bedtime stories to read out loud! It’s a rhyming story about the different worlds experienced by a monkey who only wakes up at night and one that only wakes up in the day. The rhythm gets stuck in my head like a song and I find myself repeating it over and over! You can really get into reading this with lots of expressions and variation in your voice, it really is great fun!

Quick Quack Quentin – Kes Gray (Amazon, £5.30)

This is a cute little story about a duck who has a problem with his quack. It teaches children about letters and the different sounds they make, whilst Theo’s a bit little to understand any of that you do get to make some funny noises which he enjoys!

Oi Dog – Kes Gray and Jim Field (Amazon, £5.30)

 

Of all the books here, this one is hands down my favourite to read out loud. Oi Dog is actually the sequel to Oi Frog but we bought the dog version first because he’s a basset hound. We used to have a basset called Horatio, he does in October 2016 and when we bought it, a few weeks before Theo was born, we both chose it for the same reason: we wanted him to have it so we could tell him about Horatio when he’s older.

The book is all about animals sitting on things that rhyme with them, it’s funny and very clever. It’s really enjoyable to read out loud and the story is brilliant. I loved it so much that I went on to buy Oi Frog, Oi Cat and Oi Goat and have pre-ordered Oi Duck-Billed Platypus which is out in September. I can’t wait!

Mister Magnolia – Quentin Blake (Amazon, £6.99)

I missed this one out of my vlog and I’m so angry with myself! I’ve had this book since I was a little girl but can’t find it because the house is a tip so I ordered it again! Quentin Blake illustrated all of Roald Dahl’s books but this one is all his own. Mister Magnolia has only one boot! It’s another rhyming book and is a great one for bedtime. As you can imagine, the illustrations are lovely too!

I’ve just ordered some more books even though we’ve got loads – Dear Zoo, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, a Dr Seuss box set and another Kes Gray book. I’d love to hear what your favourite children’s books to read out loud are – leave me a comment below!

You can watch my YouTube video review of the best children’s books to read out loud below.

If you enjoyed this post why not check out my New Mum Reading List post too? Would you like to see more book reviews? Let me know in the comments below!