10 Favourite Picture Books to Read with Your Child

Picture books help to bring a story to life. They enable young readers to take part in the reading process even though they may not yet be independent readers. Picture books also allow young readers to get the gist of a story, draw inference and retell the story according to their understanding.

We’ve compiled this list of ten picture books that’ll keep your child thoroughly enthralled:

Peace at Last: It’s late at night and Mr Bear is extremely tired. Falling asleep should be simple. Not tonight!! The nightmare begins with Mrs Bear’s  loud snoring. Mr Bear seeks solace in Baby Bear’s bedroom but Baby Bear can’t sleep either so he’s pretending to be an aeroplane; NYAAOW! NYAAOW! Mr Bear’s heard enough and heads off to the living room to get some sleep but guess what?  There’s Cuckoo clock in there; CUCKOO! CUCKOO!

He headed off to the kitchen to crash out but….a dripping tap puts paid to that. Mr Bear eventually gets some Peace at Last. Guess where?

Farmer Duck: Duck has the misfortune of living on a farm with a lazy farmer. The farmer stayed in bed all day and asked duck to do all the farm duties. Duck brought the cows and sheep in from the field and put the hens in their hen house. Duck also did all the domestic chores; the cooking, ironing and more. AND during all this the farmer stayed in bed inevitably putting on weight. From time to time he would ask duck ‘how goes the work?’  Duck would reply ‘QUACK!’

All the animals on the farm loved duck but hated the farmer’s laziness. They devised a cunning plan to get rid of the farmer. BUT who would run the farm?

The Park in the Dark: This picture book features the story of three toys coming to life while their owner, a little girl, is fast asleep. One night, they decided go on an adventure though the park.

The entire story is sophisticatedly told with the use of rhyme. For example when the toys are about to leave the house; ‘’softly down the staircase through the haunty hall, trying to look small, me and Loopy and Little Gee, we three.’’ And when they get outside the house; ‘’it’s shivery out in the dark on our way to the park, down dustbin alley, past the ruined mill, so still, just me and Loopy and Little Gee, just three.’’  The toys felt sacred during certain parts of their journey through the dark park but they eventually relaxed and started to have fun. BUT suddenly the mood changes; ‘’RUN RUN RUN shouts Little Gee to Loopy and me and we flee, me and Loopy and Little Gee, scared three.’’  Guess  what made them flee the park in such terror?

Dinosaurs Love Underpants: This picture book solves the mystery of how dinosaurs became extinct! I jest but it’s a funny take on solving the mystery. It began with cavemen wanting to cover their modesty with some snazzy underpants. But they weren’t the only ones who took a liking to the underpants…dinosaurs loved them too!! So they decided to chase the cavemen. Not to eat them; they just wanted their underpants. Simples!!  T-rex was the first to take a liking to the underpants and soon Triceratops, styracosaurus and the others got in on act. The cavemen left the dinosaurs to squabble over the underpants. A recipe for disaster! This is a fun way to learn the names of the different dinosaurs and ‘examine a new theory’ about how they became extinct.

Owl Babies: This a bit of a tear jerker of a picture book !! Baby owls Sarah, Percy and Bill lived with their mother. One night, they woke up and their mother was gone!
They had no idea where she was. Percy and Sarah, the two older baby owls thought she went hunting. But Billy, the youngest owl, squeaked ‘’I want my mummy’’. They grew more worried as the night progressed. Sarah, the eldest owl, took on the role of the mum and gathered her younger brothers on her branch. They waited and they waited.

All the raw emotion is beautifully illustrated and you can’t fail to empathise with what the baby owls were going through. The good news is mummy eventually comes home and the relief a palpable.

The Pig in the Pond: This is a whacky picture book!! It involves Neligan the farmer and his pig. It was a very hot day when Neligan left his farm to go into town. The ducks and geese were waddling about in the water to keep cool. Nothing unusual there…

Pig was sitting at the edge of the pond watching them splash about as the day grew hotter and hotter. There’s no mud about for him to keep cool, what should he do? You guessed it…he thought going for a swim would be a good idea!! And so he did!!

The ducks and geese were scattered and thrown into the air as pig splashed about in the water. Word soon got out that pig was in the pond.  The news spread like wildfire…’’pig’s in the pond! pig’s in the pond! pig’s in the pond!’’ Soon all the animals from nearby farms came to witness the spectacle.

Neligan eventually came home to the mayhem. How would he put an end to this madness? He decides to join his pig in the pond along with all the other animals. I told you it was whacky!

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt: This is an absolute classic!! It tells the story of a bear-hunting adventure involving a dad and his four children. They waded through long wavy grass in a meadow, squelched their way through mud, splashed their way through a river and endured a snowstorm. Eventually they found what they were looking for. A BEAR!! It’s not as friendly and cuddly as they expected…time to scooooot!!

The author uses poetry to bring the story to life; ‘’we’re going on a bear hunt..we’re going to catch a big one…what a beautiful day!…we’re not sacred.’’

Highly effective use of onomatopoeia further enhances the reading experience; ‘’splash  splosh!… splash  splosh!.. splash  splosh!’’ as they made their way through the river. A fantastic read. 

A Goodnight Kind of Feeling: This is a very colourfully-illustrated picture book. It chronicles a day out a little boy has with his dad and his teddy bear. The book starts with the boy preparing for his day out; ‘’I like that getting ready, come on teddy we’re on our way out kind of feeling.’’

He then goes on a fun-packed day out,  which includes going to the park to play and having a picnic. The day is rounded off by a toy-shopping trip. This all makes for a hectic day of father-and-son bonding . Now it’s time for a bath and a story from dad… all contributing to a goodnight kind of feeling 🙂

Best Friends or not? : This is the enchanting story of two polar bear ‘besties’, Nanook and Suka, who didn’t always see eye to eye.

To be more precise, Suka always wanted to dominate play time.  All he ever wanted to do was play ‘snowballs’. Nanook wanted to do something different from time to time; after all there’s only so much snowball throwing a polar bear can take!!

Nonook eventually decided that he’d had enough of Suka’s selfish behaviour and sort his own fun. He chilled out on an ice-peak with a flock of birds, splashed in the sea with a…  of  seals and joined some arctic fox cubs in a cave.

Eventually Suka realised it’s no fun being on his own and eventually caught up with Nanook? But has Suka changed his ways?…..

This picture book is an excellent introduction to the concept of give and take.

Well Done Little Croc: This is the picture book for you if your child always doubts their abilities.

Little Croc has a lot of friends who are able to do things that he can’t. For example, playing ball games is a nightmare for him. Giraffe is good at heading the ball because of his height, monkey can catch the ball because he can jump so high and tiger is able to chase the ball because he could run so fast. Poor little croc felt out of his depth… no pun intended. Mum did all she could to reassure Little Croc that everyone has something they’re good at; he just hadn’t found his yet.

One day, while playing ball near a river, the ball rolled into the water; guess whose time it was to shine?

This picture book is a great introduction to teaching children that everyone has something they are good at. The trick is finding what that thing is.

Please let me know if you’ve read any of these titles with your child and feel free the add to the list 🙂