But books do fall into three basic levels:<\/h3>\n\n- those the child can read alone,<\/li>\n
- those the child can read with an adult, and<\/li>\n
- those an adult must read to the child.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Here are some basic things to look for as you help kids to choose \u2018good books\u2019:<\/p>\n
Good kids books for Infants & Toddlers (birth to 2)
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n- Books with big, colourful pictures of familiar day-to-day objects<\/li>\n
- Durable books made of cardboard, plastic or washable cloth<\/li>\n
- Books that appeal to the senses, with fabric, textures or scents<\/li>\n
- Stories told in short, simple sentences with pictures that explain<\/li>\n
- Poems and rhymes that are enjoyable for parents to read aloud<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note<\/i>: <\/strong>This last one is a biggie for me. That\u2019s why I love Doctor Seuss (the shorter ones, not the 80-page epics). Having said that, even a non-rhyming story can be fun to read, like Julia Donaldson\u2019s The Gruffalo<\/i>, Monkey Puzzle<\/i> or Tyrannosaurus Drip<\/i>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/photo-1565843248736-8c41e6db117b.jpg\")
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGood Kids Books for Pre-Schoolers (aged 3 to 5)
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n- Main characters who are your child\u2019s age or even slightly older<\/li>\n
- Illustrations and photos that are clear, colourful and engaging<\/li>\n
- Simple, fun plots that move quickly so the book can be read in one sitting<\/li>\n
- Lively rhymes and repetition that children can repeat\/remember<\/li>\n
- Stories, about everyday life and events, that encourage questions<\/li>\n
- Stories that review basic concepts: letters, numbers, shapes, colours<\/li>\n
- Playful animals, real and imaginary, that hold a child\u2019s attention<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note<\/i>:<\/strong> Aged 3, my daughter is now returning to favourite books from when she was a \u2018baby\u2019, because she\u2019s seeing things in them she never noticed before: details, jokes, aspects of her own life. They also seem to feel to her like old, familiar friends.<\/p>\nGood kids books for Young Readers (aged 6 to 11)<\/h2>\n\n- Clear text that is easy to read<\/li>\n
- Colourful, attractive illustrations and photos that bring the text to life<\/li>\n
- Pictures that give clues to the meaning of unfamiliar words<\/li>\n
- How-to, craft and recipe books with simple instructions and illustrations<\/li>\n
- Books by authors\/illustrators who are already your child\u2019s favourites<\/li>\n
- Books featuring your child’s favorite characters \u2013 from movies or TV<\/li>\n
- Chapter books that can be read over a few days, not in only one sitting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Good](\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\")
<\/p>\n
Note<\/i>: <\/strong>Yes, you should opt for books that appeal to your child\u2019s interests. But an interesting tip I picked up is to choose books that aren\u2019t<\/i> obvious choices for your child. My little girl loves ballet, animals and birthday parties, but she likes reading about diggers, cranes and dinosaurs. She also enjoys \u2018reading\u2019 non-fiction, like the Guinness Book of World Records. And the Mr Price Home winter catalogue.<\/p>\nAnd, just in case you\u2019d like specifics, below are some recommended book lists:<\/p>\n
Award-winning SA good kids books:<\/h3>\n\n- Ashraf of Africa \u2013 Ingrid Mennen & Niki Daly \/ Nicolaas Maritz<\/li>\n
- Fly, Eagle, Fly! \u2013 Christopher Gregorowski \/ Niki Daly<\/li>\n
- Fynbos Faeries \u2013 Antjie Krog (& Gus Ferguson) \/ Fiona Moodie<\/li>\n
- Just Sisi \u2013 Wendy Hartmann \/ Joan Rankin<\/li>\n
- Makwelane and the Crocodile \u2013 Maria Hendriks \/ Piet Grobler<\/li>\n
- Nina and Little Duck \u2013 Wendy Hartmann \/ Marjorie van Heerden<\/li>\n
- Not So Fast, Songololo \u2013 Niki Daly<\/li>\n
- Siyolo\u2019s Jersey \u2013 Mari Grobler \/ Elizabeth Pulles<\/li>\n
- The Best Meal Ever \u2013 Sindiwe Magona \/ Paddy Bouma<\/li>\n
- The Day Gogo Went To Vote \u2013 Elinor Batezat Sisulu \/ Sharon Wilson<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Source:\u00a0Gorry Bowes Taylor’s List of\u00a0Award Winning Children\u2019s Books<\/p>\n
NY Times<\/i> top sellers<\/h3>\n
Source: New York Times<\/i>‘ List of\u00a0Best Selling Picture Books<\/a>\u00a0for Kids<\/p>\nWhat have I left out? What\u2019s your child\u2019s favourite book? Do you have a book <\/i>you loved as a child that you\u2019ve read to <\/i>your child? I\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\nThis article was originally written for Jozikids by Tiffany Markman in 2014.<\/em><\/p>\nNote: If you enjoyed this article, and would like to stay updated with more, you can:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Subscribe to our free weekly Jozikids\u00a0<\/em>newsletter<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 for parents in Gauteng<\/em><\/li>\n
- Like us on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n
- Follow us on\u00a0<\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the first part of this two-part series, I looked at common, oft-repeated stories based on scary, freaky and downright depressing rhymes and tales from way back when. This follow-up intends to give you some alternatives, both local and international.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":352263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Here are some basic things to look for as you help kids to choose \u2018good books\u2019:<\/p>\n
Good kids books for Infants & Toddlers (birth to 2)
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n- Books with big, colourful pictures of familiar day-to-day objects<\/li>\n
- Durable books made of cardboard, plastic or washable cloth<\/li>\n
- Books that appeal to the senses, with fabric, textures or scents<\/li>\n
- Stories told in short, simple sentences with pictures that explain<\/li>\n
- Poems and rhymes that are enjoyable for parents to read aloud<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note<\/i>: <\/strong>This last one is a biggie for me. That\u2019s why I love Doctor Seuss (the shorter ones, not the 80-page epics). Having said that, even a non-rhyming story can be fun to read, like Julia Donaldson\u2019s The Gruffalo<\/i>, Monkey Puzzle<\/i> or Tyrannosaurus Drip<\/i>.<\/p>\nPhoto by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGood Kids Books for Pre-Schoolers (aged 3 to 5)
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n- Main characters who are your child\u2019s age or even slightly older<\/li>\n
- Illustrations and photos that are clear, colourful and engaging<\/li>\n
- Simple, fun plots that move quickly so the book can be read in one sitting<\/li>\n
- Lively rhymes and repetition that children can repeat\/remember<\/li>\n
- Stories, about everyday life and events, that encourage questions<\/li>\n
- Stories that review basic concepts: letters, numbers, shapes, colours<\/li>\n
- Playful animals, real and imaginary, that hold a child\u2019s attention<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note<\/i>:<\/strong> Aged 3, my daughter is now returning to favourite books from when she was a \u2018baby\u2019, because she\u2019s seeing things in them she never noticed before: details, jokes, aspects of her own life. They also seem to feel to her like old, familiar friends.<\/p>\nGood kids books for Young Readers (aged 6 to 11)<\/h2>\n\n- Clear text that is easy to read<\/li>\n
- Colourful, attractive illustrations and photos that bring the text to life<\/li>\n
- Pictures that give clues to the meaning of unfamiliar words<\/li>\n
- How-to, craft and recipe books with simple instructions and illustrations<\/li>\n
- Books by authors\/illustrators who are already your child\u2019s favourites<\/li>\n
- Books featuring your child’s favorite characters \u2013 from movies or TV<\/li>\n
- Chapter books that can be read over a few days, not in only one sitting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/p>\n
Note<\/i>: <\/strong>Yes, you should opt for books that appeal to your child\u2019s interests. But an interesting tip I picked up is to choose books that aren\u2019t<\/i> obvious choices for your child. My little girl loves ballet, animals and birthday parties, but she likes reading about diggers, cranes and dinosaurs. She also enjoys \u2018reading\u2019 non-fiction, like the Guinness Book of World Records. And the Mr Price Home winter catalogue.<\/p>\nAnd, just in case you\u2019d like specifics, below are some recommended book lists:<\/p>\n
Award-winning SA good kids books:<\/h3>\n\n- Ashraf of Africa \u2013 Ingrid Mennen & Niki Daly \/ Nicolaas Maritz<\/li>\n
- Fly, Eagle, Fly! \u2013 Christopher Gregorowski \/ Niki Daly<\/li>\n
- Fynbos Faeries \u2013 Antjie Krog (& Gus Ferguson) \/ Fiona Moodie<\/li>\n
- Just Sisi \u2013 Wendy Hartmann \/ Joan Rankin<\/li>\n
- Makwelane and the Crocodile \u2013 Maria Hendriks \/ Piet Grobler<\/li>\n
- Nina and Little Duck \u2013 Wendy Hartmann \/ Marjorie van Heerden<\/li>\n
- Not So Fast, Songololo \u2013 Niki Daly<\/li>\n
- Siyolo\u2019s Jersey \u2013 Mari Grobler \/ Elizabeth Pulles<\/li>\n
- The Best Meal Ever \u2013 Sindiwe Magona \/ Paddy Bouma<\/li>\n
- The Day Gogo Went To Vote \u2013 Elinor Batezat Sisulu \/ Sharon Wilson<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Source:\u00a0Gorry Bowes Taylor’s List of\u00a0Award Winning Children\u2019s Books<\/p>\n
NY Times<\/i> top sellers<\/h3>\n
Source: New York Times<\/i>‘ List of\u00a0Best Selling Picture Books<\/a>\u00a0for Kids<\/p>\nWhat have I left out? What\u2019s your child\u2019s favourite book? Do you have a book <\/i>you loved as a child that you\u2019ve read to <\/i>your child? I\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\nThis article was originally written for Jozikids by Tiffany Markman in 2014.<\/em><\/p>\nNote: If you enjoyed this article, and would like to stay updated with more, you can:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Subscribe to our free weekly Jozikids\u00a0<\/em>newsletter<\/em><\/a>\u00a0 for parents in Gauteng<\/em><\/li>\n
- Like us on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n
- Follow us on\u00a0<\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the first part of this two-part series, I looked at common, oft-repeated stories based on scary, freaky and downright depressing rhymes and tales from way back when. This follow-up intends to give you some alternatives, both local and international.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":352263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Note<\/i>: <\/strong>This last one is a biggie for me. That\u2019s why I love Doctor Seuss (the shorter ones, not the 80-page epics). Having said that, even a non-rhyming story can be fun to read, like Julia Donaldson\u2019s The Gruffalo<\/i>, Monkey Puzzle<\/i> or Tyrannosaurus Drip<\/i>.<\/p>\n Note<\/i>:<\/strong> Aged 3, my daughter is now returning to favourite books from when she was a \u2018baby\u2019, because she\u2019s seeing things in them she never noticed before: details, jokes, aspects of her own life. They also seem to feel to her like old, familiar friends.<\/p>\n Note<\/i>: <\/strong>Yes, you should opt for books that appeal to your child\u2019s interests. But an interesting tip I picked up is to choose books that aren\u2019t<\/i> obvious choices for your child. My little girl loves ballet, animals and birthday parties, but she likes reading about diggers, cranes and dinosaurs. She also enjoys \u2018reading\u2019 non-fiction, like the Guinness Book of World Records. And the Mr Price Home winter catalogue.<\/p>\n And, just in case you\u2019d like specifics, below are some recommended book lists:<\/p>\n Source:\u00a0Gorry Bowes Taylor’s List of\u00a0Award Winning Children\u2019s Books<\/p>\n Source: New York Times<\/i>‘ List of\u00a0Best Selling Picture Books<\/a>\u00a0for Kids<\/p>\n What have I left out? What\u2019s your child\u2019s favourite book? Do you have a book <\/i>you loved as a child that you\u2019ve read to <\/i>your child? I\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n This article was originally written for Jozikids by Tiffany Markman in 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n Note: If you enjoyed this article, and would like to stay updated with more, you can:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In the first part of this two-part series, I looked at common, oft-repeated stories based on scary, freaky and downright depressing rhymes and tales from way back when. This follow-up intends to give you some alternatives, both local and international.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":352263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Good Kids Books for Pre-Schoolers (aged 3 to 5)
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
Good kids books for Young Readers (aged 6 to 11)<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"Good](\"https:\/\/www.jozikids.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-08-04-at-9.31.07-PM.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAward-winning SA good kids books:<\/h3>\n
\n
NY Times<\/i> top sellers<\/h3>\n
\n