Books your grandchildren love

I've just ordered A necklace of raindrops too but think mine just the paperback on ebay, looking forward to reading it to my granddaughter, thanks for telling us about it Rosiebee.

The oldest one is working his way through all 13 Lemony Snickets and I have just bought a boxed set of the Narnia Chronicles for him and his slightly younger sister. I also have a big pile of Roald Dahl stories from the second-hand bookstall in the local market. The two littles love Hairy Maclairy and Slinky Malinkee. (I'm sure I've got the spellings wrong but I haven't seen them – books or children – for a year as they live the other side of the world.)

My 5 year old GD loves Spider School (Early Reader) by Francesca Simon (author of the Horrid Henry Books)

''Snakes and snails and spiders for dinner! Kate was having a bad day. Her first morning at her new school and already her clothes have gone missing, her best friend has disappeared, and her new teacher is a comic-reading gorilla. Something is very wrong Francesca Simon brings every child's worst nightmare to life in this funny, original story brought to life with Tony Ross's inimitable illustrations. ''

We still have You Choose! As an adult, I was not too impressed that it had no words HOWEVER, the kids have always loved it and we can look at those highly illustrated pages and talk about something different every time we look at it (See other thread on talking to your children!) so a win-win.

Another tip for parents who don't talk/read to their children is audio-books. The youngest is in there now listening to The Snow Queen on CD and enjoying looking at the pictures and turning the pages for herself. Independence at such a young age? That's another topic!

I laughed at the "Screw-Fix" catalogue comment. The old adage that boys prefer Non-Fiction still stands then?

Oooh Yes, Hairy Maclary series are fab.

We still use those names to describe dogs we see now! The Old English Sheepdog - Muffin Maclay like a bundle of hay or the sausage dog - Schnitzel Von Krum with the very low tum. Lynley Dodd also did The Other Ark. We get to recite the opening passage to that very often living in England:

"It started to rain, it bucketed down
Teeming in torrents on mountain and town"

Kind of fitting for today!

on amazon people have lists -could Geraldine do a gransnet list of recommended books-perhaps she could negotiate discounts for us?

Usbourne Books do an utterly brilliant "1001 Things to Spot". Scenes from all over the world incl farms, arctic, jungle, carnival etc. The three year old GS is entranced. Beautiful illustrations and plenty to talk about. I think it will be good for another couple of years at least. Great for looking through and letting the imagination roam.

A couple more suggestions
My grandchildren are all under school age and even though it's been fun to read some of the books I read to their parents, it's been even better to discover new ones.
We like many that have already been mentioned - Shirley Hughes, Julia Macdonald, Lynley Dodd but also
Giles Andreae - Commotion in the Ocean and others in a series
Jonathan Emmett - She'll be Coming Round the Mountain and Bringing Down the Moon - about a mole who desperately tries to catch the moon.
The last one is from a series of Picture Lions which come with delightfully gentle dvd's, including Going on a Bear Hunt.
Returning to picture books has been one of the best things about having grandchildren.

PS For anyone who read my suggestions, I had a senior moment. The book and dvd series is Walker books, not Picture Lions.

My advice is to include classical books, such as 'The Wind in the Willows', 'The Railway Children' and 'The Secret Garden', as soon as you think your family's children are ready for them; these are beautifully written, and familiarise children with the rules of syntax without having to consciously study them.

Anything by Anthony Browne, last year's children's book laureate. My current favourite is 'Little Beauty' which is suitable from 4 years onwards. The story of a Gorilla who wanted a friend and the keepers at the zoo gave him Beauty, a kitten and he loved Beauty and they were very happy together. As always with Browne there are strong philosophical issues raised about happiness, sadness, friendship, fairness, truth and lies and more. It is wonderful.

I bought Dragon Stew last week for my two grandsons - one is almost four and the other is 20 months. Both loved it. The four year old wanted it read to him straight away twice. It is a rhyming story with words four year olds find amusing and with very good vibrant pictures. Definitely a success.

Got Dragon Stew for our 4.5 year old from the library - he enjoyed it hugely and so did I!

I reread the Just-So stories recently (on my Kindle) and they were far, far better reads than my GDs book-of-the-film-of-the-book of the Jungle Book. That was no more than a resume of the plot of the film, in words of one syllable. I must get a hard copy of the real Jungle Book for her, along with the Just-So stories.

I found myself reading Just So Stories two nights ago - found a copy I had bought for DS and kept for when he was old enough. Might try him with 'how the whale got his throat' and 'how the camel got his hump', just as a starter.... see how we get on from there.

My gd loves my DD reading her Milly Molly Mandy. They were written in the 1930's and are really old fashioned but she is fascinated by them.Both grandchildren love Thomas the Tank engine and The Bear Hunt. My GS loves best of all, The Gruffalo.

The Baby's Catalogue by Allan and Janet Allberg was for a long time the favourite book. No words but loads of little pictures of home life and familiar things and activities which make it totally absorbing.

I forgot to mention Topsy and Tim books which my children loved and they have recently been reprinted and updated. My 3.5 year old GS has now got the whole lot and asks for them time and time again.

The Childhood Collection, ten classic stories with original illustrations, is always by the bed when GC come to stay. Favourite story The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig! When they get interested in the Romans please get them The Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosemary Sutcliff. The film was not very good, but the books (3) are wonderful, and beautifully written.

Re The Jungle Book; one of my favourite films of all time is the 1942 Jungle Book made by Alexander Korda and starring Sabu. My 4 year old grandson actually sat and watched it with me a few months ago. It always seemed to be on the telly when I was a child, and it was a bit of a shock years later to find it was made in colour.

We are enjoying the 'Beast Quest' series at the moment GS is 5 yrs old.

My children and the next generation have all loved 'The Elephant and the Bad Baby' by Elfrida Vipont and Raymond Briggs. It has rhythm and repetition which small children thoroughly enjoy. Be warned, one reading at bedtime is rarely enough! Luckily it's short - ideal from about 18 months.

We recently found a great baby book for our granddaughter called baby giggles with little press points that played different giggles - we love it.