Barnesy picks top kids’ books
THE MUSICIAN ALWAYS READ TO HIS CHILDREN, AND NOW HE SHARES THEIR MOST-LOVED BOOKS WITH HIS GRANDKIDS
Iused to read books to my children lying by the fire on rainy days. And we also loved to read books as they were tucked into their beds at night before going to sleep. These days I read books to my grandchildren. I have a lot of go-to books that we love to read over and over again. Here are a few of them.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (The Sound Book)
Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
Children love a book that makes noises. So do I. Bear Hunt has the repetitive line, “we’re going on a bear hunt”, running through the book and my kids loved to say this bit out loud and as dramatically as possible.
The book takes the reader and the listener out of the safety of their little bedroom and on a huge adventure, hunting for the big bad bear.
Swishing through long grass. Across the deep dark river. No sooner are you across and you find yourself knee-deep in thick, sticky mud squelching with every step. Running through the forest. Trudging through the howling wind and snow.
Then you finally come across the deep, dark cave where you see two big eyes and a wet, shiny nose and the two furry ears. It’s a bear. Quick run away.
Back through the cave, into the snow, run through the forest, into the mud, across the river and through the long deep grass. In the front door, up the stairs and into the safety of your bedroom and your warm bed.
Even I need a sleep after an adventure like that.
M is for Metal (The loudest alphabet book on earth)
Paul McNeil & Barry Divola
This book is perfect for kids who like music and dancing and generally screaming around the house terrorising everyone they come across.
My grandkids have grown up in the music business so this has a special place for us, but any child will enjoy the rhymes and the images inside these pages.
Angus from AC/DC jumping off the furniture in his school uniform with his tongue hanging out appeals to the rebel in all of us. Even the young ones.
It might help if you play a few songs before you read this book – you’ll be surprised how many kids know AC/DC’s music from Iron Man movies.
Before you know it, your child will be walking around the house singing Highway To Hell at the top of their voices. Or they will be popping up from behind the furniture singing “Scaramouche, Scaramouche can you do the fandango”. It’s a lot of fun and I’m sure you parents or grandparents will enjoy it as much as the children.
The Gruffalo’s Child (sound book)
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
As the Gruffalo’s child was getting ready for bed, she wanted a story. So, the big Gruffalo dad sat down to tell a story that would scare the child into staying in the house at night and not going out to the dark forest alone.
He told her the story of the big bad mouse. He was terribly strong, and his scaly tail was incredibly long. His eyes were like pools of fire and his terrible whiskers were tougher than wire.
That should have kept her safe in bed. But this little girl was headstrong and fearless. By now my grandchildren are all thinking they are brave and fearless too. They are tucked up safely in bed. But not the young Gruffalo girl.
Out into the wood she goes in search of the big, bad mouse.
Through the snow and the rain, she walks into the deep, dark forest. She spots a long tail sticking out of a pile of logs. It turns out to be a snake, but the snake tells her he saw the mouse by the lake eating Gruffalo cake. Gulp. The kids shiver with fear. Then she spots eyes like pools of fire, but they belong to an owl not a mouse. The owl says the big, bad mouse is somewhere nearby eating Gruffalo pie.
So the search goes on and the tension builds until the young Gruffalo, hot on the trail, loses
her nerve and runs home to her dad and the safety of her own bed. My grandson memorised the whole thing when he was four years old and would frequently pop out to the table when we were having dinner parties and tell the tale to our guest. Of course, the guests all shivered with fear and screamed at all the right places.
The Owl and the Pussycat Edward Lear
Many a night I have laid in bed with little feet digging into my ribs as Jane recited The Owl and The Pussycat to more than one of my grandchildren.
In fact, this has been a favourite of all of my children and grandchildren alike. If I am really honest, it has been a favourite of mine too. I have loved nonsense poetry like The Owl and The Pussycat or the Jabberwocky since I was a very young child. Poetry that allowed my imagination run wild.
So many a night I have lay in bed listening to Jane as she has read the children to sleep. Me, drifting off into a wonderful world of adventure and love.
The story reminds me of Jane and I coming from two different worlds but still falling in love and sailing away on our adventurous life as I strummed my guitar and sang to Jane and the stars above.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go Dr Seuss
I love this book because it leaves the listener and the reader open to a great big world that waits just around the bend.
Sometimes great things happen, sometimes you’ll fall on your face. But just pick yourself up and keep walking. Life is always full of challenges but sometimes those challenges are what makes it interesting. If you don’t know how to lose, you’ll never know the joy of winning. Just stay positive and keep moving forward. There’s a beautiful world waiting out there for you.