We moved during lockdown, my husband asked me to thin some books out, including the children's ones but I couldn't, so many memories.
Yes great fan of Julia Donaldson, she was new to us when our grandchildren arrived they both loved The Gruffalo, Room on The Broom and my grandson went through a phase aged about 3 when he only wanted Stick Man read to him. They are wonderful books, capture the imagination and the illustrations are simply some of the very best!
Peace at Last, Mrs Large the Elephant, Mog, The Hungry Caterpillar, the wonderful Shirley Hughes, Alfie/Dogger/Lucy and Tom were all tried and tested on our own children. Still have those, along with Six Dinner Sid. My children were fans of Roald Dahl, his humour was dark but I think it appealed to children, his Revolting Rhymes were quite funny.
The books I did off load, were Thomas The Tank Engine, my kids loved them but they were oh so boring! I did think I can't revisit those again, and then my grandson found one lurking at the back of a cupboard and asked me to read it to him, but I managed to deliberately lose it and for good before he asked for it again! My granddaughter liked Alice in Wonderland, like me, I bought her a very illustrated one when she was quite young so she could follow it easily.
A favourite book with both children and grandchildren we had was called "Bad Mood Bear". The premise being bear stays up playing with his toys when he should have been asleep and wakes up in a bad mood, bad behaviour ensues going from bad to worse, breakfast thrown off the table finally culminating in bear kicking grandad. Little brows were always furrowed when listening to this story, I could imagine the concept of bad behaviour resonating when making the connection between that and lack of sleep. My little grandson would say to grandad, who often read the story, "I wouldn't kick you grandad, even if I was in a bad mood!"
Sadly we haven't been to stay lately, some fleeting visits only. I believe they've acquired all manner of electronic gadgetry now, hope the books haven't become obsolete