Books you 'have' to buy for the grandchildren

I buy any book that looks interesting for their age group. The grandchildren are both avid 'readers' that is to say aged 5 & 3 they will often grab a book and demand to be read to. I usually choose a book that has good pictures and words they are beginning to recognise. They each have a book shelf in their rooms and in the play room and also belong to the local library and can choose up to 5 books each. GD (5 years) has reading books from school and GS (3 years) is beginning to recognise words. The main problem is when they go to the library and choose books in Welsh, DH is not too good with the pronunciation, but he does try,

My GS loved the Alfie books, and also The Lighthouse Keeper series and Katie Morag. Because he kept getting it out of the library, I bought him Bob and Barry's Lunar Adventure: A Right Royal Disaster, which is very funny. I once bought a book for my godson when he was young and I wish I could remember what it was called because I read it (carefully!) before I sent it to him and it was hilarious. All I can remember about it is that it was about a family who advertise for a babysitter because they have to go away and can't take the child with them. The 'person' they engage turns out to be a pirate in disguise and he and the child have some very silly adventures. I remember that Quentin Blake illustrated it. One of the strangest children's books I have read was the acclaimed A Bear and a Boy in a Boat. I got it out of the library for GS and read it first, but though it was very funny in parts, it was a strange story and I found it rather disturbing. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has read it.

I can't resist buying books, old favourites and new, but I like to support our library too. I took three books out yesterday and brought them over to read to DGS2, but sometimes we go to his local branch. I'm a big library fan!

Current favourites are the Alfie books, because DGS2 thinks he looks like Alfie (he does!). I have ten of them, but am kicking myself for missing Alfie's Christmas in the 10 books for £10 offer on the Book People site last week. I put 4 copies in my basket, then left it overnight to decide on the other 6, fool that I am. And of course they were out of stock the next day.

I have kept books that DS loved like the David Walliams books and "Wimpy Kid" series for DGSs. DS is 14 so they are relatively recent books. We also have classics from The Very Hungry Caterpillar, through Winnie the Pooh to Harry Potter.

A mixture of all already mentioned. To buy, Julia Donaldson, Shirley Hughes, Charlie and Lola, good traditional collections of nursery rhymes and many of the Usborne fact books. The Ahlberg books my daughter loved along with her Secret Sevens, Ladybird books and her complete Topsy and Tim collection have all found their new home with the grandchildren.

It does pay off to read and read to them when they are tiny. My GC are bookworms now at 9 and 10.

The tiny one under 2 loves Share a Shell so is hopefully going the same way.

Above was actually his 5th birthday, silly granny!
Doctor Suess books are great, as are the Oxford Reading Tree non-fiction series 'Floppy's Phonics'. Moonlight Publishing's series 'My First Discoveries' are a beautiful non-fiction series in a good sized format for small hands. They make clever use of overlays and stand up well to handling, some we've had for 10 years. The Weather, The Body, Trains are favourites.
For bedtime reading there's Shirley Hughes' Alfie books, Mick inkpen's Kipper, several Allan Ahlberg favourites and the personalised 'The Little Boy Who Lost his Name'.
My GDs have very much enjoyed Jacqueline Wilson's books, they accept that not all families are snugly nuclear and conventional.
With such a huge amount of books available its sometimes difficult to keep up. I like my GC to have the original AA Milne Winnie the Pooh books and his poetry books, Alice with illustrations and an illustrated A Christmas Carol together with children's books with the stories of Shakespeare's plays, Classical Myths, Fairy Stories and Folk Stories. Just be careful to get a good version of the last four, they vary so much.

I bought younger GS a Kindle. To encourage him. Promised his mum that I would pay for the e-books. My God! That child has taken to reading in a big way!

Yes, Julia Donaldson is brilliant. On GS 4th birthday his mother had two tickets for What the Ladybird heard at the Hackney Empire. She asked me whether I'd like to go with him, well, yes!! What a treat, a lovely production in a beautiful and historic theatre. The first time I'd been to a play with my youngest GS. He was quiet for a while though watching what was on stage then, when the ladybird appeared on the barn roof, he, and dozens of others, spontaneously yelled 'There's the Ladybird!' An unforgettable afternoon, his mother let me for the tickets and I wouldn't have missed the whole experience for anything.

The older he gets, the more difficult I find it to choose books that my grandson might like. He's eight and is reading beyond his age group. Harry Potter,of course; Beast Quest is popular, as also are The Roman Mysteries, and The Diamond Brothers books; odd gems like "Fortunately the Milk...", the "Supercat" series (even I think those are very funny!). Even before he could hold a book I bought Just So Stories, Greek Myths and Legends and Aesops Fables and saved them until he was old enough to listen to them - we still read them now. I bought him a book about the Voyages of Odysseus because I liked the illustrations!! He likes some of the stories but thinks the illustrations are weird!

As well as a good story I think books should be beautiful to handle and look at. Sometimes the illustrations put me off all together - there are some badly produced children's books out there. There are some wonderful non fiction books out there too - Eyewitness books are usually good and do not overload with information. For a small child small sized books that are easy to handle are good also they need a clear print.
Alfie books by Shirley Hughes and some of her poetry books are lovely and the illustrations can be a great talking point with all the detail. I just love browsing children's books as well as adult ones!

Anything by Julia Donaldson. The wonderful rhythmical sense that she has - her sense of humour - the little twist at the end of each story or poem. And the gentle repetition which children love. Wonderful!

I buy books which I know are good, but also ones that I know they would like .So books like Mog and The Tiger Who Came For Tea, The Magic Faraway Tree, but recent books as well. I know the kind of things they like, but do sometimes slip in the odd book that I think they should like.