A Week of Children's Books: Books with Billie and Ruby
We have our second installment of books with children. This time the books have been chosen by Billie (repeat offender) and joined by the youngest member of the Total Teaching team, Billie’s little sister Ruby.
Billie is 4 years old and she loves reading. She loves listening to stories and discussing them, Billie also enjoys reading stories that she knows on her own. Billie likes to point out the letters she knows and the sounds that they make.
Ruby is 18 months and is a handful. She has taken a real shine to books and reading in general. We read close to 50 books a day, not at her parents' request, Ruby is always carrying a book and loves to repeat the same 2 words… Book, More. She is a big fan of any books that are interactive, loves to touch and feel the pages. A bit of onomatopoeia and she loses her mind.
We hope you enjoy their book selection. Billie has chosen some stories that may not be as well known as her previous choices whereas Ruby stuck with the classics.
Billie's Outer Space Adventure by Sally Rippin
Billie's Thoughts: I like it because the girl's name is Billie. She has a friend called Jack. They hop in their rocket and blast off. They go to planet Pom Pom and planet Boo Boo. They meet a big monster that is mean, then they come back for fruit.
Avocado Asks by Momoko Abe
Billie's Thoughts: Avocado is lonely because he doesn't have any friends. He doesn’t have any friends because he doesn’t know if he is a vegetable or a fruit. Avocado asks what am I. I like the fruit because they are funny. I like when the tomato says hey you!
The Steves by Morag Hood
Billies' Thoughts: There are 2 Steves and they don’t like each other and they’re mean to each other and they say ‘Your feet smell like poo’. And then there are 3 Steves.
Shark in the Dark by Nick Sharratt
Billie's Thoughts: The boy has his telescope looking at the moon and everywhere and he looks up and down and left and right. The boy is looking for a shark but he finds a boat. Then he finds the seagull with his dinner. I like when he sees the ice cream. Then he goes to bed and there is a shark peeking out of the water.
That’s not my …. series by Fiona Watt
These books are an absolute favourite in our house. Ruby who is 18 months at the time of writing, forces us to read all the books on repeat… Luckily there is a lot of them. As we read them Ruby says ‘Wow’, ‘Ooohhhhh’, she also whacks every page excited to find the textile for her to feel. The repetition in the story allows Ruby’s older sister, Billie (4) to read the stories to her very eager younger sister. We also have a lot of conversations around synonyms. A few favs in our house are:
That's not my dragon
That's not my train
That's not my unicorn
That's not my pirate
That's not my tiger
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
80s classic, I was told once - no actual idea! Older than Daddy though, I know that. This book is the most popular book in our house. Ruby absolutely loves it, Billie acts out the problems for each animal, and we all laugh and have a good time. Ruby laughs like a hyena when she hears the elephant is too big, she connects this to daddy's big belly. She looks at you gleefully when she hears the monkey is too naughty, unfortunately she hears this about herself but now believes it's a term of endearment.
If this book was a song it would be ‘Living on a Prayer’ - a bonafide banger that everyone can belt out.
What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson
One joy of having young children is reading the same books over and over. In our house the misadventures of hefty Hugh and lanky Len are a bedtime favourite. Ruby loves finding the ladybird on each page and screams with excitement when she finally does. She also enjoys tracing the trail of the ladybird as she whispers in all the animals ears. Both girls love that the cats say different things - it reminds them of their auntie’s fat and naughty cats. Billie cracks up every time the goose says neigh or the duck says oink… MADNESS!!!
We hope you enjoyed hearing from the youngest members of the Total Teaching team as they share their favourite books with you. Check them out for yourself! They are sure to bring lots of laughter to your house as they have to ours.
