Five of the best

48 Replies

Children's books tag

Warning! I’ve been tagged. It can be contagious.

Kids’ Storyworld tagged me and asked me to join in. I don’t normally do this but I’m making an exception. How could I not – it’s about children’s books.

I’m required to nominate my top five children’s books, then nominate another five people to join in!

Rules:

  1. Thank whoever’s nominated you and share their blog link.
  2. Let us know your top 5 children’s books
  3. Nominate 5 people to do the same
  4. Let your nominees know you nominated them

Right, let’s get to it.

  1. Thank you, Kids’ Storyworld.
  2. Top 5 children’s books. Now this is going to be hard. Only five! But you know, when I interview authors and illustrators for the readilearn interview series, I ask them for just one favourite. Five has to be easier, right; so, I can’t complain.

These are five of my favourite children’s books

The BFG by Roald Dahl

The BFG by Roald Dahl – I love the humour, and love to read it aloud to children. It is such fun.

The Iron Man Ted Hughes

The Iron Man by Ted Hughes – I love the poetry of language and the way the story builds. It is also a perfect read aloud.

Whoever You Are Mem Fox

Whoever You Are by Mem Fox – I love the message: although we are diverse we share a common humanity.

One Less Fish Kim Michelle Toft

One Less Fish by Kim Michelle Toft – This was the first of Kim’s books I read. I love the message about protecting the natural environment and adore her silk paintings that illustrate the book.

Heidi Johanna SpyriInside Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Heidi by Johanna Spyri – I received a beautiful illustrated edition of this book from Santa (inscribed by my Mum) when I was nine years old. I remember waking up to find it at the foot of my bed and watching the title and cover picture appear as day dawned. I read and re-read it. I still own it. It has to be on my list, doesn’t it?

Do I really have to stop at five?

  1. Nominating five people to share their favourite five children’s books is fairly easy. I know many who write about children’s books, though some of them have already been nominated, so I can’t nominate them again.

You are invited

Maybe you don’t write about children’s books but would like to share your favourites anyway. Please consider this invitation inclusion. If you would like to join in, please do.

Alternatively, if you are one of the people I nominate, and you’d rather not join in, or have already been nominated, it’s okay to decline.

Here are my five:

Robbie Cheadle blogs at Robbie’s Inspiration and writes the Sir Chocolate Books. I wonder if she’ll nominate her own books. Why not?

Patricia Tilton blogs at Children’s Books Heal where she reviews picture books that she believes will help children through tough times. Patricia reads so widely, I think she’ll have more trouble than I with this one. (Sorry, Patricia.)

Vanessa Ryan blogs at Educate.Empower and especially promotes books about the environment and sustainability. I wonder if Vanessa’s choices will reflect those interests.

Jennie Fitskee blogs at A Teacher’s Reflections with inspirational posts about educating young children. She often shares books she reads aloud with her little ones. What will she share with us?

Mary Wade blogs at HonorsGradU sharing a lot of good sense and great ideas for teachers and parents. I’m interested to see what will influence her book choices.

  1. I’ll definitely let the nominees know they’ve been tagged.

Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts.

48 thoughts on “Five of the best”

  1. reocochran

    Norah, I posted on my blog, “Jennie’s Five Book Challenge” and included your link and hers, too.
    I expanded my post by including the other titles of those five favorite authors.
    I didn’t nominate anyone but asked people to include a favorite book in their comments.
    I liked your Mum’s “Heidi” book gift when you were nine years old. I like “The Iron Man” which reminds me of another book. Maybe I will think of it’s title. I liked the “BFG.” I will need to check your other two books out! ❤Smiles, Robin 📚

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Norah Post author

      Hi, Robin. Thanks for reading and commenting. I’ve been over to read your post, but couldn’t see how to leave a comment. Thank you so much for mentioning my post. Of course in your favourites, I’m familiar with A. A. Milne, Dr Seuss, and Steven Kellogg. While I’ve heard of Curious George and seen a few television shows, I don’t know him so well. I hadn’t heard of Jan Brett, so now I’ll have to look her up. Thanks so much for joining in this fun post tag. I’m getting to learn of many more books to read. It’s nice to meet you, Robin with an i. One of my closest friends is Robin with an i; and just like her namesake, she is a wonderful musician.

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    1. Norah Post author

      I agree. Only five. It’s impossible, so I just took the first five that came to me. I do love these ones and think every child should read them. But then I could add dozens, hundreds more – you’ve only got to look at my blog posts to know that! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  4. Pingback: 5 Favorite Children’s Books (2017 Read Alouds) – HonorsGradU

  5. Pingback: Five of my favourite picture books I read in 2017. – Educate.Empower.

  8. D. Avery @shiftnshake

    So cool! Immediately these picture books came to mind: anything by William Steig but especially Amos & Boris (Abel’s Island for older kids); anything by Bill Peet, but especially The Kweeks of Kookatumdee; Anything Mem Fox, Koala Lou has a special connection; anything Byrd Baylor, especially I’m in Charge of Celebrations; Patricia Palacco, especially Junkyard Wonders. I always liked as a child and also as an educator Dr. Seuss, who taught me to read. I remember Go Dog Go, and The Biggest Bear, and of course fairy tales. All of these are for all ages, have used them in different ways in elementary classrooms over the years.
    Thanks, that was a fun diversion.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Norah Post author

      That is a great diversion with a wonderful list, and new authors for me to check out. Thank you. I am vaguely aware of William Steig and Bill Peet, but can’t name for sure a book by them at the moment, and don’t recognise the ones you mention. I looooove Koala Lou, but I could choose only five. So unfair, but then my list would never end. I don’t know either Byrd Baylor or Patricia Palacco. One of the first books my son read was “Go Dog Go”. I often quote bits from it e.g. “Do you like my hat?” and wonder if anyone else gets it. 🙂
      I would love to be in your classroom and experience the imaginative ways you use these books to switch kids onto literacy. How amazing it would be! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

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    1. Norah Post author

      Thank you for reading and commenting, Sophie. I’m looking forward to seeing your list. I saw you tagged along with me, and have noticed your notification in my inbox. Now I just have to get there! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. Norah Post author

      Thanks so much, Michelle. I was tempted to list a few others of Roald Dahl’s books too, but I could choose only five. I’ll be interested to see what my nominees choose too. Would you like to share yours? Again, I could nominate only five. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. Norah Post author

      That’s right, Patricia. I do remember reading that, but forgot about it when I was thinking about who likes to share children’s books. I don’t usually join in things like this either, but I grabbed the chance to promote more children’s literature. You do that far more frequently than I. Thanks for letting me know. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Norah Post author

        It is good to link up with others who share our background, isn’t it? You are connected with Susan Scott, I think, aren’t you Robbie? She’s also from South Africa.

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    2. Norah Post author

      I don’t think I saw it on TV. Isn’t it great that so many wonderful programs can be dubbed into different languages depending on their audience. Thanks for reading and commenting, Colline.

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        1. Norah Post author

          Maybe it was Swiss since it is a Swiss story. Animation used to be like that, didn’t it? The lips didn’t match the words. Animators do an amazing job nowadays but I think a lot of the syncing is computer generated. That’s pretty amazing too.

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