Picture Books by Leslie Patricelli

If you think that kids should only start reading when they enter kindergarten, these books by Leslie Patricelli can prove you wrong. Indeed, toddlers may be more fascinated by toys than by daunting books, but that is not the case if you find books that teach age-appropriate knowledge with easy text. The picture books by Leslie Patricelli aim at turning everyday, mundane activities into interesting stories that will appeal to infants and toddlers. One of her most popular books – No No Yes Yes teaches babies how to navigate in this new world and tells them what is correct and incorrect behaviour, such as picking his nose and filling the toilet with toys. In addition, with the colourful and eye-catching illustrations and the limited number of words in huge fonts, children are allowed ample room on each page for their creativity to blossom while they try to act out the funny illustrations in the book. With the hilarious stories and pictures, your child will be giggling away while enjoying these entertaining picture books!

Angel@Booklodge

Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is probably one of the most famous and popular children’s author of all time. Having written over 60 children’s books, 16 of which have been included in Publishers Weekly’s list of the best-selling children's books of all time, his classics are a must read for children of all ages! The simple and short stories filled with lively characters and interesting storylines make his books great bedtime stories. More importantly, written with fun phrases and rhymes, very young children can gain confidence in reading through repetition, and most early readers find no difficulty in reading these books by themselves! What’s more, the stories also portray important messages that are useful in helping kids develop their characters. For example, one of Dr. Seuss’ most popular books, Green Eggs and Ham, teaches children never to be afraid to try. If you’re trying to get your kids to start enjoying reading, Dr. Seuss is definitely your first choice!

Angel@booklodge



Booklodge tips: to check out Dr. Seuss titles, click this link.

Let's Get on the Magic School Bus!

Ever found it impossible to teach a 4-year old about boring topics of science? Not anymore! With the Magic School Bus series by Scholastic, kids from four to eight can now experience the wonders of science through their own eyes! Every book in this series features an adventure where the class goes on a magical fieldtrip led by their class teacher Ms. Frizzle. With the magic school bus transforming into all sorts of vehicles, such as a submarine or a spaceship, and shrinking so small as to fit into a blood vessel, the class takes on the most extraordinary exploration of space, the ocean, and even the human body! With the colourful illustrations and comic book style conversations, learning about science has never been so simple! The books also include additional facts on the side of the pages, which give readers interesting additional information on the subject. Are you ready to bring your children on board the Magic School Bus?

Angel@Booklodge

Click this link to view the Magic School Bus series

Picture Books by Karen Katz

Ever found it difficult to get your child to go to bed, or found classic stories like the Princess and the Frog boring after repeating it every single night? Karen Katz has written and illustrated more than fifty picture books that is not only fun to read during the day, but as bedtime stories as well! Her latest book – Princess Baby, Night-Night is a parental favourite because as the little Princess gets to bed, the child reading it will be as well! Karen Katz is best known and loved for her bright and cheery illustrations of adorable babies, and her light-hearted stories that captivates readers of very young age. Many of Karen Katz’s books also focus on teaching young children good manners, like how to share and play fair. With the big, bright and easy-to-read text, this book makes a great read-aloud, which helps your child take the important first step into learning how to read.

Angel@Booklodge

The Happiest Baby on the Block

What should you do when you are facing a baby who just won’t sleep or stop crying? Many modern parents find it old-fashioned to use so-called traditional ways like singing nursery rhymes to calm babies down. My aunt is one of these fashionable parents. Talking about her baby girl during dinner, she told me the best way to calm my cute cousin is, to my surprise, not by any method suggested by my experienced Grandma, but some funny ways mentioned in the book The Happiest Baby On The Block. One of these innovative ways includes imitating the environment in the uterus (which the baby has stayed comfortably for nine entire months) by swaddling and swinging the baby. Well, I haven’t got a chance to experiment these interesting tricks yet, but I’m sure you’ll find them really useful after reading the thorough explanation of every technique in the book!

Angel@booklodge.com



P.S. Find the book here!

Reading Tips!

We all know that the love of reading is crucial to the development of our children and must be instilled at an early age, but how? Read on for tips on how to nurture a lifelong reader:

A regular pattern
In order to foster the habit of reading, it is essential that children are reading books on a daily basis. It is common that children are busy with their daily routine but there are many opportunities to read books to your child during their routine. Right before mealtime is a perfect slot to read some short stories whilst bedtime story is an important part of growing up. When you have a fixed reading schedule, it gives the child something to look forward to!

Let the child select the book
The parents probably select most of the books in the home. Why not let the child have his/her own say on which book to read? Your child should also be given a choice as this allows them develop their own individual thinking.

Interaction
Reading books to your child should not be a solo performance. Whilst reading, questions and answers should be exchanged. Reading time is an opportunity to introduce new concepts to your child, enhance language ability, and to build up his/her knowledge.

Role model
As we all know, parents are role models for their children. It is important that your child knows that you are also an avid reader. Surround yourself with a lot of reading materials at your home and read them!

Reading should be fun and it is a wonderful way to bond with the family!

Joey@booklodge

The Great Hamster Massacre

Last Sunday, I paid a visit to my grandparents’. While we were chatting about my childhood, we were disturbed by gales of laughter coming from my nieces in the living room. When I asked the two sisters what was so interesting, my 11-year-old niece showed me a book they’ve been reading together called The Great Hamster Massacre.

Bearing in mind a massacre means a scene of mass killing, I was about to question whether the book is about animal abuse when I was attracted by the colourful cover of the book with a cute, chubby hamster. Flipping through the book, I came to find that the book has a far healthier content. It’s about the adventure of Anna and her brother in their investigation into the recent death of their hamster pets. The story is written in first-person by Anna and is a hilarious narration of the 9-year-old girl .The lovable tale makes an enjoyable read with its funny illustrations for readers of any age. It has won the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize 2010 and has been recommended by a wide range of children’s magazines.

Angel@Booklodge

The Great Hamster Massacre and its sequel The Great Rabbit Rescue can be found at Booklodge.com.

The Series of Who Was...

Encouraging your child to learn by reading an interesting fictitious story is not hard, but asking them to read non-novels about great people in the world is always not as easy a task. The Who Was…? series is then a helpful choice for parents who want their children to learn about the world and great people across time.

The series features over 30 illustrated biographies of great people from different times of history. With the series, your child can learn about the lives and interesting stories of people from the the famous Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci to the popular band Beatles. Every biography is written by a different author of children’s books to ensure diversity, and nearly every page of the biography comes with illustrations to bring more fun to the reading. Who says biographies can’t be interesting for kids?

Angel@Booklodge

Click this link to see all titles of Who Was ...

Step into Reading!

It is understandable how parents always want their children to enjoy reading and improve their English at a young age. Yet, many of them seem to think that piling thick books on their kids' tables and forcing them to read would eventually bring those results. This is a terrible idea as not only would your child not read them, they won't even dare to go near them!

When it comes to picking books for children, the first step is to find something age-appropriate. Random House's Step into Reading series is divided into five levels to suit five different age groups. From Step One, designed for preschool children, which includes easy rhymes and rhythms, to Step Five with long paragraphs and full chapters, it is easy for you to pick books that are suitable for your child.

Another important thing to bear in mind is to find books that are interesting and engaging. One way to do this is by choosing different types of books instead of merely sticking to ordinary storybooks. The Step into Reading series includes not only fiction, but non-fiction as well, uncovering lives of historical figures, interesting facts about science, and important stories in history. Filled with full colour art and exciting stories, these books will definitely be a fun read for your child!

Remarks: Each of the Step into Reading book only costs HK$28! Check out this link!

Angel@Booklodge

Pop-up Books

If I had to name a kind of book that will appeal to all children, it must be pop-up books. Isn't it amazing how you can discover new things every time you flip the page, lift the flap, and see how the pop-ups work?

Walker Books have published a series of pop-up books that are educational but yet still remain entertaining for young minds. The "Pop-Up House of Inventions" is an example of which that includes hundreds of fascinating facts about your home, from the origin of the washing machine to the history of the toilet. Another example would be "My Pop-Up Body Book", which allows children from the age of three to start learning about how their bodies work. As everything is explained in short, simple sentences with the aid of exciting pop-ups and colourful pictures, your children are guaranteed to have a great time learning and reading at the same time!

These hardback pop-up books would also make great gifts for young children! So if you are still struggling about what cartoon or stuffed toy to get as a present, why not make it interesting and get a pop-up book instead?


Angel@Booklodge