To celebrate Children’s Book Week which is running 5-11th October, we thought we’d ask you to write in with the name of the book that you really enjoy reading to your child(ren).  Maybe it’s the one that you could read with your eyes shut because you’ve read it every night since you can remember, or maybe not, for that very reason!   It could be one that you remember being read to you as a child and you treasure the fact that your children now enjoy it as much as you do.  What ever the reason, we’d love to know and because we’d never ask you to do anything we aren’t prepared to do ourselves, we decided to share with you some of the books that we enjoy reading to our children. 

Sarah (Managing Director) chose The Nose Book by Al Perkins, Dr Seuss

We’re big Dr Seuss fans in our house and this one is my favourite.  I kept all my old Dr Seuss books from my childhood and I like the fact that my children now enjoy them.  As well as being a great read, I’ve got some extra special memories linked to this book as it reminds me of spending time with my eldest daughter, Kirsty, as I used to read it to her over and over when I was pregnant with my second child, Freya.

Kevin (Sarah’s husband, director and general all round computer wizardry) chose The Sleep Book, Dr Seuss

This book is great bedtime reading.  There’s typical Dr Suess tongue twisting, with great fun to be had on the umpteenth reading by attempting to read it as quickly as possible.  My favourite bit is the Mooses (sic) who dream about Goose Juice and the Gooses (sic) who dream about Moose Juice.

Sally (Accounts) chose Owl Babies by Martin Waddell:

This is a touching story about three baby owls who become worried when they wake in the night and find their mother isn’t there. It’s just a really lovely read and a reassuring book for young children.

Rebecca, Marketing Manager,  chose The Big Ugly Monster and The Little Stone Rabbit by Chris Wormell and Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Friedman

I’ve cheated and chosen two!  The Big Ugly Monster & The Little Stone Rabbit is a really touching story about a monster who is really lonely and doesn’t have any friends so he makes some out of stone.  I won’t ruin the ending, but my voice breaks every time!  And Dinosaurs Love Underpants because it makes us all laugh and the image of dinosaurs having a great pants tug of war, is always a fun one on which to end the day!

Jess, Designer, chose the Milly Molly Mandy books by Joyce Lankester Brisley

It’s hard to narrow this down to just one as there are so many I’ve loved reading including the Alfie books by Shirley Hughes and the Slinki Malinki books by Lynley Dodd, but if I had to pick just one it would be Milly Molly Mandy - the stories are so lovely. I find them very comforting to read and even though they are years old most of them are still relevant to kids today. There’s a lovely innocence to them (without being too goody-goody!) and I’ve really enjoyed sharing something I loved as a child with my own daughter.

 Children’s Book Week

The aim of Children’s Book Week, now in its 78th year, is to celebrate reading for pleasure for children of primary school age. In honour of this schools, libraries and bookshops all over the UK will be holding events and activities aimed at encouraging children to view reading as a source of pleasure, explore libraries and bookshops and even start writing themselves. If you would like further information, please click here to go to the Book Trust website.