Our pick of children's books for October

Baby

Big Book of My World

By Kali Stileman

Published by Doubleday Children's Books
ISBN 9780857530424

This is a gorgeous book for helping babies and toddlers aged one year  upwards to explore the world around them, with lots of early learning opportunities.

The areas covered range from first words and opposites to children’s favourite things and activities.

All the spreads are bright and colourful and use fun illustrations to help explain the subject being covered which range from sounds, feelings and manners to opposites.

Our favourite spreads are those encouraging children to find different objects in the picture on the page, including Things in the Park, Things at Home and Things in Town. These are lovely activities to share with very young children and will put them on an early path to learning.

Toddler

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse

By Eric Carle

Published by Puffin Books
ISBN 9780141340012

This is a beautifully-created book for a child of any age, but it will also be loved by toddlers for its vibrant colours and its refusal to stick to established concepts.

The story opens with a child and the words, 'I am an artist and I paint...' and there follows a succession of colourful spreads - an orange elephant, a pink rabbit, a green lion and so all, all beautifully realised, until we reach the last pages and a blue horse.

The book is a celebration of children's imagination and is bound to encourage them to want to pick up a paintbrush themselves.

It is also a celebration of the artist and author who created such classics as Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

 

3 - 5 years

Winnie Under the Sea

By Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul

Published by OUP
ISBN 9780192757470

Winnie the witch and her cat Wilbur need a holiday so they pack their cases and whiz off to a beautiful tropical island for some sun, sea and sand.

Winnie loves swimming with the fish and wants Wilbur to come and look at them too. Wilbur also wants to come and look at the fish (yum yum!) but cats hate water. So with a wave of her wand, Winnie turns Wilbur into a cat fish.

That works well, but turning herself into an octopus could be a magic trick too far... How will Winnie and Wilbur get back to shore...?

Look out for lots of fish, underwater treasure and a yellow submarine! There are also lots of things to spot in the drawings, including lots of number 13's (it's Winnie's favourite number!) fish eating fish, a hairy octopus and a special witchy ipad!


This is a very recognisable story within a real family setting that has been enjoyed by mums and dads – as well as their offspring – for many years.

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