What To Read To Your Preschooler

Our readers often ask what books to read to children who've outgrown tactile picture books but are not quite ready for chapter books. Here are our recommendations:

• The Maisy series with its striking colours so adored by preschoolers worldwide
• Julia Donaldson's Gruffalo (if that one's too scary for your sensitive 3-year old, try other books by this author: Room On The Broom, Monkey Puzzle, The Snail And The Whale)
• The Cat In The Hat
• The Little Yellow Digger
• Charlie and Lola books 
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• Goodnight, Moon (and Goodnight, iPad!)
• The Story Of Ferdinand
• Baby Bumble and the Sock Pirates
• Tiger and the Temper Tantrum
• Rumble in the Jungle

Go to the bookstore with your children and let them choose. Sometimes you'll be surprised: "This book, really?" - but go ahead and buy it anyway. This not only teaches the love of books, but also decision-making and having your choice respected.

If your preschooler doesn't want to sit still when listening to the book, let them act out the plot or just hop and and down while you read. The child's learning style probably demands being in motion while concentrating, and this permission to move about will come in handy when your child needs to memorise work for exams later on in life.