My attempt to read to Kate started with one or two free baby books, and then tappered off, then renewed using flash cards, but Kate crawled away faster than you can say "red marker".
Then the mommies at the forum keep telling me that I must persist, and to continue reading even if she moved away, as she will still be listening though she is not seated next to me.
But its boring reading on my own, to myself, until a mommy suggested reading to her during bedtime. So it started, and she seemed to be more interested in being next to me, and listening to me reading the books. Of course, most of the times she will use her feet and kick the books, or she will pull the book away after I read it halfway, or just flipped to the pages with the pictures that she liked. But she will also insist on bringing another book into the room, onto the book, and to re-read the same books over and over again until I surrender and repeat to fall asleep.
Now I am trying to make it a habit to borrow children books regularly from the library, since I cannot afford to buy many books for her. So I thought that I might as well list down the books, and the comments that I have for each book, and her reaction to the books. Perhaps we can look back next time, and see how far she had gone, or other mommies can use this as a gauge on whether the book is suitable for her own child/children....
last updated September 2010, latest books read on top. No longer updated after September cos mommy is very lazy!
Quick and Easy Kids' Cakes she saw the cover and said she must borrow it though it is not a story book! What does she think her mommy is? A master baker? I burnt most of my stuff!!!
A Happy Day (Katie Woo series) a book about a Chinese gal!
Teddy Bears Counting She loves counting books and this book is no exception. This book also introduces addition and subtraction which is a good way to introduce the concepts to a toddler.
Guess How Much I Love You : All Year Round lovely book with 4 stories (one for each season) about the Nutbrown hares by the author of Guess How Much I Love You.
Buzzy's big bedtime book
Sometimes Buzzy shares
Buzzy's Birthday
Buzzy's Big Beach Book Both of us like this Buzzy book. She will re-enact using Elmo as daddy and Bear Bear as Buzzy, and mommy likes the message the book conveys (overcoming fear of water, and not crying after Buzzy's sand castle was swept away).
Not Me! A good, simple book to teach 'who' - who played in the rain, who dirty the carpet....
Big girl potty Makes potty training sound much easier than it really is. Kate is not inspired after reading this book :P
Seven hungry babies what can i say..she always like stories with counting...
Pet shop lullaby story book mirrors real life as a group of pets tried to make a baby hamster fall asleep.
Best Buds Cute story about a boy and a pig who are best friends
Miffy's garden She love it of course :)
Alphabet Rescue A book about the alphabets saving the day. Nice concept. She love it, I don't (the drawings are bright and colourful but just not 'alive' IMO)
Alphabet mystery A book about some alphabets solving the mystery of the missing x. She love it, I don't (the drawings are bright and colourful but just not 'alive' IMO)
Never ask a bear 10 rules on what not to do when you invite a bear over.
Queen of Easter (Anne Estelle stories) another Anne Estelle story. And she is more interested in counting the number of easter eggs then listening to the stories.
Harry and the dinosaurs have a very busy day A book about shapes. She likes it, though for some reason, she will want to skip circle.
The Deep Blue Sea from the same author as Ten little Fish. She likes it.
Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! Wanted to use this book to introduce seeds to her but she is not curious to find out more. Is she too 'Singaporean (aka bo chap)' or too young???
Ten little fish Her absolute favorite. Even now she will want me to recite the whole book to her though we had already returned the book. Beautiful drawing too.
Queen of the class (Anne Estelle stories) At first Kate is only interested in reading the A to U (no space for the rest) at the top of each page. But after a while she started to enjoy the book and wanted to borrow the rest of the series too.
Bear at the beach About a bear who look for his father. Super *sob* *sob* book. I cried everytime I read it. So heart wretching it should not be a children's story book.
Where's my mommy? Lots of animal sounds. Kate likes it too.
Best Friends .... written by a Asian author (not sure if its translated from Chinese or written in Chinese). Beautifully drawn story about two best friends - a bear and a croc.
Earthquake yes... don't think she understand this....
Monster Mess! Nicely written with alot of 'sounds' (eg, stomp stomp,crash crash, shhh shhh). She loves it!
Miffy goes flying these 3 books does not seemed to be 'original' Miffy books as the words do not rhyme. But Kate still like them very much.
Miffy's Surprise Party these 3 books does not seemed to be 'original' Miffy books as the words do not rhyme. But Kate still like them very much.
Miffy the Artist these 3 books does not seemed to be 'original' Miffy books as the words do not rhyme. But Kate still like them very much.
Miffy and the new baby
Miffy the fairy
Miffy is crying Now Kathleen loves Miffy books and is on a mission to borrow and read all the Miffy books that she can find in the library....
星星、月亮、太阳 ... read a few times, then she said 'this book cannot read'..errr...
小熊不刷牙 she just see the picture and said 'this book cannot read'..
Nigh night, little Pookie cute book about Pookie's bedtime, with parts spoken by Pookie and Kate will recite those parts. Now we are on a mission to find the remaining Pookie books.
Miffy at the zoo Now she is SOOOOO into miffy!!!!! And get this... www.miffy.com ... lots of fun in it....
Dinosaur vs Bedtime Cute book. Reminds me of Kate who also fights against bedtime.. :P
My Best Sweet Potato what is a woolyman?
Don't let the pigeon drive the bus Hilarious book which a pigeon tried ways and means to drive a bus.
So Sleepy Story Beautiful book about music waking up the chairs, tables and dishes!
Polar Bear Puzzle more suitable for a kid who understands more
Elmer and the Lost Rabbit
The tale of peter rabbit
Matisse dance for joy surprisingly Kate loves this book. Maybe it has to do with dancing. She will soar, wiggle, shake when the book talks about the actions.
Colors and Shapes - still did not manage to make her understand the concept of colors. There are also some IQ test at the back and Kate has cannot get the concepts.
Curious George and the birthday surprise
Milo Armadillo Kate likes this book and she will always flip to the last part where the gal found that she found her armadillo and they hug and go home...
Ten in the Bed lovely board book about 10 teddy bears rolling off the bed based on the commands of a baby/toddler (sounds familiar? :P)
The House that Jill built Kate absolutely love this book with all its open windows which she can peer through. She ignored the rest of the books when this book was with us.
Jeremy draws a monster
Shape by Shape she likes it :) Was reading the moment we got back into the car.
Kevin goes to the hospital she likes it :) It was the only book she read out of the 3 that we borrowed.
The original Curious George
Another Curious George book. Now Kate recognises the monkey and will call out '(G)eorge!'
Curious George takes a job
Another Curious George book. Now Kate recognises the monkey and will call out '(G)eorge!'
Stanley goes fishing
Do not understand why the man can 'fish' from the sky....
Horton hatches the egg
too wordy....
The Three Bears' Halloween Cute book about trick or treat...
Just like you
In a blue room
The hermit crab
Kate always like to bring this book and ask mommy to read 'hermit crab', but she rarely stays around to listen :P
Best Friends
Won't You Be My HugarooKate does not fancy it, though I thought she would since she loves to hug mommy
Ratatouille
Farmer DuckI think she got a thing for small hardcopy
books...
Curious George In the SnowShe likes curious George...ehehhehe
I really want to eat a child. Did not catch her interest... and the artist must have never seen a banana tree before, for the banana trees/plants in the book looks just like coconut trees, just that they have bananas instead of coconut fruits....
Naptime for Thaddeus
Tennis Anyone?Kate's absolute favourite for that round of loans. She loves the page where the pet cat farted (the picture has 'gas' c oming out from the cat's back), and even imitate the way Tom Foley, the narrator, make the 7 sign with his fingers when he said 'Hi, I'm Tom Foley, I am seven years old'
Russell the Sheep
Beautiful pictures, but Kate cannot comprehen the joke....
Digby Takes Charge
Peter Rabbit's Happy EasterKate likes it.
Horton Hears a Who
Surprisingly Kate likes this book even though it is very wordy. Maybe because its very small, maybe because the sentences rhymes.
perfectly arugula by Sarah Dillard
Kate likes this book. The moment we start reading, she will sing the disney song she had on her CD...about 'parteeee parteeee'
Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers (this is a link for the coloring book)
Heartwarming book about a boy and a penguin which is supposedly lost. Kate likes the book and will flip to the page with the lightning and rain and said "rain" in her nasal voice, and when it comes to the page which the boy and the penguin, she will stretch out her arms and asked mommy for a hug or two. :)
No More Ee-orr by Lydia Monks
Kate likes this book too, cos there are pictures of lots of animals, either covering their ears or injured, and she makes the ee-orr sound all the time.
Spot loves grandma by eric hill
The simple-reading Spot the dog series. Coincidentally, this book was with us during the final days for Kate's 奶奶.
Spot's Christmas by eric hill
Another simple reading Spot the dog series. Kate will sing Jingle Bells when she comes to the page that shows Spot singing carols.
Beware of the Frog by william bee
Kate loves this book, simply because she can flipped to the pages and look for "monnn-terrrr (monster)"
Little Rabbit Lost by Harry Horse
Cute little book about a little rabbit with a red balloon. And Kate will sometimes look for her balloon when mommy read this book.
Circus of Colors by La Coccinella
Kate loves this book, maybe bcos it rhymes and the colours are vibrant. She still cannot understand the concept of colours though.
Ambrosia by Dan Manalang
Mommy likes this book about a coconut... but Kate does not... mmm...
Best bear by Emma Dodd
A story book about a boy and his well-worn-out bear. Somehow, Kate does usually keep still until mommy finished reading the book.
Beep beep, let's go! by Eleonor Taylor
Kate loves this book, because there is a abused-till-death button that you can press, and she can still hear abit of buzz from there (instead of the sound beep beep).
I love you with all my heart by Noris Kern and Alison Fraser
Another heart warming book about a mother's love. Kate cannot appreciate that :P Borrowed before mother started reading to her during bedtime.
If a chicken stayed for supper by Carrie Weston and Sophie Fatus
Not her favorite. Maybe because it was borrowed before mommy started reading during bedtime.
Big bears can by David Bedford and Gaby Hansen
Not her favorite. Maybe because it was borrowed before mommy started reading during bedtime.
Dilly Duckling by Claire Freedman and Jane Chapman
Not her favorite. Maybe because it was borrowed before mommy started reading during bedtime.
Miffy in hospital by Dick Bruna
One of mommy's favorite when she was young. Kate likes to flip through the book too.
I love you so much by Carl Norac and Claude K. Dubois
Kate somehow loves this book about hamsters (or guinea pigs). Maybe bcos the drawings are so beautiful.
The very lonely firefly by eric carle
Lovely drawings which attract the little gal.
Maisy's fire engine by Lucy Cousins
One of her favorite. She will go 'nee nah nee nah' whenever the occasion calls for it. And is able to know things like water, cat, etc. This book was borrowed when she was at the beginning of learning to speak more.
What color should I be by Betty Ann Schwartz
A book with a transparency in the middle showing a chamelon. She loved to flip it and nearly ripped out the transparency. Unable to understand colour concepts with this book either.
