My Dad's the Coolest by Rosie Smith and Bruce Whatley

Since Father's Day is just around the corner in Australia, I thought I'd look at another one of our favourite Dad books: My Dad's the Coolest.

Maximilian gave this book to his Dad as a Father's Day present last year. I like to give picture books to adults as gifts because it creates a wonderful excuse and opportunity for parent and child to spend some time together. And it's always nice to receive presents that tell you how cool you are!!

Like Some Dads, each page of this book features a different animal Dad and child and simple text about why that Dad is the coolest. I like this book because of the great range of animals it features, from the obvious (brave lion) to the bizarre (funny puffer fish). It is also a great celebration of the father-child bond and of the fun that all different kinds of dads have with their children.

My Dad's the Coolest has plain coloured pages with just a few words of text and facing pages with animal illustrations, again on plain coloured background. This is a really simple book, which is a refreshing change from the really busy, detailed full page illustrations in many picture books. Bruce Whatley's illustrations are terrific, and each picture shines with the love between the dad and child. If you haven't seen this book, it really is worth a look. With only a very small amount of text, My Dad's the Coolest is also suitable for even the youngest baby to enjoy reading with their dad.

If you are keen to get this book as a gift for the cool Dad in your child's world, I have also just found this awesome gift pack which includes the book My Dad's the Coolest in a mini hardback edition and a drink cooler - how cool is that?!? (Thought I'd throw in a dad joke there to finish with!)

Our book shelf and reading corner - a personal post

This is our (very crowded) book shelf. We got it from Toys R Us after seeing the same one at our nephews' house and it is awesome. Now that our collection has expanded so much, I'm going to go back and get a second one - with all the books we receive as gifts and all the books I can't resist buying it too will be full in no time!!



We also have a tub of cloth and board books on the floor that Maximilian can choose books from.

This is great because the board books don't fit really well on the other book shelf and, being strong and hard wearing, tend to get thrown around a lot!

Our storage tub comes from Ikea and is part of the Trofast system, so can be stored easily in the matching shelving - although ours is permanently in the corner. We read so often there is little point in putting it away!

At our house, we've gotten into a great pattern of self directed reading. When Maximilian was very small and less mobile, we chose various books regularly to read with him. When he was around 9 months old, every night Daddy would read a story with him before cuddling him to sleep. We developed a great system where we would choose a story then read the same one for a week with him, which I think gave him a great sense of the books because he would remember them night after night. Of course, we chose books that were our favourites, perhaps from childhood or that we'd found recently and loved.

Now that Maximilian is older and physically able to choose his own books, we try really hard to encourage that. Every afternoon we read books together for about an hour - a terrific way to reconnect when I get home from work and he is tired and a little cranky. Having Maximilian choose his own books works fabulously, although it does sometimes means that Mummy gets to read "101 things that go" far more often that perhaps she'd like!! But it also means that we get a real sense of what interests him at any given moment and can build on that interest through other play activities. And what interests a toddler changes very quickly, so what is a favourite book one day is sometimes completely blah the next.

The other awesome and amazing thing that has happened a few times is when we ask Maximilian to choose a book, such as the one with the caterpillar or the one with Max in it, and he toddles off the book shelf and then returns with the book you asked for. This level of comprehension just blows me away and I am so proud that he is so engaged with his book collection that he can do this.

It's no surprise that one of the pleasures of a picture book is the pictures, and so it's also no surprise that seeing the covers displayed makes the books so much more attractive than displaying them spine out. So many children's books are so thin that the spines are lost on regular bookshelves, which is why a display system like this one works so well. The low fabric "shelves" are perfect for face out display of books and to engage your child with the eye catching, interesting, textured or brightly coloured book covers.

Children learn a love of reading by physically engaging with books, and that is where this book shelf and storage tub excels. The books are stored low to the ground, so really encourages children to engage with books because they are at their level. It also means that often Maximilian will "play with" his books as much as any other toy because they are so accessible to him.

Our house is very small and we don't have a lot of space to spare, but we have made sure that we've set up a small reading corner for Maximilian and Walther. As well as the low book shelf and board book tub, we included a fabulous little $20 couch from Kmart - perfect for snuggling up with a good book. I'd love to get some wall stickers as well - either the alphabet or maybe just spell out "read".

Here is the reading corner in action!

How are your children's books stored? Do you have a reading corner or nook at your place? I'd love to hear about your ideas for encouraging reading and making books accessible for your child!

Mr McGee by Pamela Allen

This was the first installment in the classic and popular Pamela Allen stories about Mr McGee. These stories about the funny little man in a bowler hat who lives under a tree are great fun for kids of all ages.

I love these books! They are fantastic to read aloud, perfect for any age to enjoy and Pamela Allen's illustrations are excellent - simple and detailed at the same time, colourful and often hilarious.

The language in Mr McGee is simple and clear and would be great for children learning to read. The rhyming text is fun to read aloud - the Mr McGee books are a favourite choice for my library story time sessions and toddlers aged 2 to 4 love these stories.

Maximilian has really enjoyed this story. He laughs when the bird pecks Mr McGee and likes to chime in with the words he knows. The story is also the perfect length for the attention span of a wriggly 18 month old - this is a great book for when I'm looking for a quick story to fill in some time.

There is always an element of humour in the Mr McGee stories, which engages both the children and adult reader. He often gets himself into trouble of one kind or another, mostly through poor decision making, which children find funny (and probably relate to!!) Humour can also often be found in the illustrations - details such as Mr McGee's bright yellow underpants will have kids of all ages chuckling!

Pamela Allen is an absolute classic in Australian children's publishing and Mr McGee, like all her books, shows why.

If you are ever looking for a picture book to enjoy or to buy as a gift for someone, you simply can't go wrong with a book by Pamela Allen!

Noni the Pony by Alison Lester

Noni the Pony is a sweet and simple story about a pony and her farmyard friends: Dave the dog and Coco the cat.

The story is told in simple rhyming text - "She lives on a farm at Waratah Bay, and likes eating apples and carrots and hay." This makes it a satisfying story to read aloud and the language is very accessible for very young children.

Noni the Pony has very sweet illustrations that are very engaging for even the youngest reader. The colours are really lovely - the cornflower blue sky and green grass capture the colours of outdoor Australia beautifully I think.

There is also lots in the story for young children to relate to, such as the way that Noni gets scared in the dark. There are lots of nice messages about kindness and friendship in the story - with the help of her friends Noni overcomes her fear of the dark and feels much braver.

We borrowed Noni the Pony from the library and it is a book we have both enjoyed very much. With two kids under two, our trips to the library are a bit of a mixed bag at the moment - Maximilian randomly throws things into the book bag and I just grab handfuls of whatever board books are available before leaving in a rush, so what we end up with is a bit of pot luck :) but this story was a real hit from the first time we read it.

Alison Lester has published over 25 picture books for children since 1985, so her books are always a very safe choice!

This board book is a lovely size and shape and perfect for little hands to enjoy. I'd recommend this book for all ages - even the youngest babies will find something to enjoy in this sweet tale.

Peek-a-boo Forest by Lamaze

Peek-a-Boo Forest is a cloth book for young babies made by Lamaze.

We love this book! Maximilian received it as a gift and the 3D furry owl on the front cover immediately piqued his interest. The bright, colourful, cartoon-like illustrations are also very engaging.

Each of the colourful double pages asks a simple "Who is?" question and features a shaped flap behind which the "Peek-a-boo" animal is hiding. See the image below for an example - the animal is owl!

Although simple, each page features lots of images that provide learning and discussion opportunities with toddlers. As well as owl, there is a ladybird, tree, leaves, moon and stars and more in the image below.

The interactive flaps are made from crinkly fabric, which makes reading this a lovely tactile experience - Maximilian has always loved grabbing and turning the flaps.

The story is short, featuring just five animals: moose, owl, raccoon, bear and beaver, so it will engage even the shortest attention span. I also found the rhyming text very engaging and fun to read aloud.

This book is quirky and interesting for us as Australians, because it features animals from faraway places such as moose and beaver. My favourite page is the last one - "Who built this dam? What an achiever!" "Peek-a-boo! It's the beaver!" Ha ha!

Like all Lamaze products, this cloth book is very well made and has excellent construction which withstands even the most ferocious chewing and sucking! One of our first books which Maximilian still enjoys at over 19 months age - he still loves flipping the flaps and saying "boo" to the animals!

Along Came a Bedtime by Ian Whybrow and Guy Parker-Rees

Bear and baby bear are having a bath before bedtime when along comes a cheeky duck. Duck isn't ready for bed and so begins this romp of a story!

Along Came a Bedtime is a playful story featuring lots of fun animals and animal sounds that Maximilian really enjoys. All the favourite animals are here - bear, duck, cat, dog and cow!

The cheerful illustrations are perfect for this fun story - simple and colourful.

This book has great rhythm and rhyme. I love to read it aloud and Maximilian loves to chime in with all the words he knows. There are lots of animal sounds to engage your child throughout the story and I really love the way the baby bear talks in baby language - 'dop' for stop etc. I think this would really engage young children just learning to talk. We also love the repetitive counting : 1, 2, 3, go! Maximilian loves to count on his fingers then shout Go!

A simple but really fun book that we were lucky enough to stumble across at the library. Definitely one we'll add to our home library!

Bug Me! by Jeanette Rowe

For some reason bugs became a bit of a theme when we were preparing Maximilian's nursery space. We have a bug mobile and several bug toys, so when I came across this cloth book while still pregnant, I couldn't resist adding it to our collection.

Bug Me is a very basic book for very young babies. 

Being a cloth book, it is perfect for chewing and sucking! The cover page also has a lovely crinkly texture which makes it attractive for grabbing and scrunching and squeezing.

There is no story in this book - each page simply features a picture of a bug with the word beneath the image eg. caterpillar, ladybird, spider. The images are stylized, cartoon like and very bright and colourful. This would appeal to very young babies limited vision and focus and boost their development. We also use it to sing songs such as Incy Wincy Spider.

This would make a great first book and is definitely suitable from birth. It's appeal lies in its colour and tactile qualities so is probably best for babies up to around 18 months age. We still read Bug Me occasionally and Maximilian still enjoys touching and crinkling the pages - now that Maximilian can say all the bug names in the book, he reads it to me!! We'll hand it over to Walther now so he can start enjoying it too.

Maisy's Fire Engine by Lucy Cousins

Fire engines are big in our house right now!

Maximilian has several toy fire trucks and he learned to make a siren sound around a month ago and it is now one of his favourite sounds.So, when he found this board book in his book box recently, it was immediately a big hit.

Like all Maisy stories, this is simple and short - Maisy and Cyril are firefighters and when testing the fire hose Cyril wets little black cat. The cat then climbs onto the roof of the shed and Maisy climbs the ladder to rescue it.

Lucy Cousins' illustrations are bright, colourful and engaging and the short story and simple text make this a great book for the very young - there isn't enough content to interest older toddlers. The version we have is also the "shaped board book", which is nice for little hands to hold and easy to turn the pages.

As parents, we generally avoid branded character stories and shows, as we aren't fans of the way that everything is branded these days. I only bought this book as it was at a discount bookstore for $3.95 and I was looking for hardy board books to add to our collection.

Having said that, this is a great little book that Maximilian is really enjoying right now - as of yesterday his new word is "again" - so I read this story 4 times in a row this morning - "again", "again", "again"!! 

Whose Baby Am I? by John Butler

Whose Baby Am I? is a simple and engaging picture book for very young children.

The words are very basic - each baby animal picture is captioned "whose baby am I?" and the following page has an image of the parent animal with the caption "I am x's baby".

The charm of this book lies in the absolutely delightful illustrations of baby animals and their parents. The pictures really are gorgeous and Maximilian loves to touch and stroke them because they look so good!!

Although the words are extremely simple, they can be used as a jumping off point for further discussion with older toddlers. For example, "that's Owl's baby. What noise does owl make?" The back of the book also includes a double page "Can you guess whose baby is whose?" for the child to match up the baby and parent animals and a page which names the baby animals, ie owlet, calf, etc.

We enjoy this book regularly but it probably doesn't have enough content for long lasting value - but is often Maximilian's choice at the moment (at 19 months of age). However, if you enjoy gorgeous illustrations it is definitely worth a look.

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

This is a terrific book by veteran children's author Mem Fox with colourful, cute, quirky illustrations by Judy Horacek.

The simple, repetitive text makes this a great read aloud book to be enjoyed by children of all ages. The short story makes this book a good choice for sharing with very young children - Maximilian has been enjoying this book since around six months age and now, at 19 months, enjoys it just as much, as does my 3 year old nephew.

It would also be a great book for learning to read. When looking into it, I was fascinated to discover that this book has 190 words - 188 have one syllable, 1 word has two syllables and 1 word has 3 syllables - perfect for teaching words and reading skills to young children. This simplicity can be the secret of success in a picture book and certainly is in this case.


The illustrations are just fabulous and reward multiple reads, which is always a joy since reading the same book hundreds of times on request can get tiresome :-) We've been reading this book for more than a year now and it is still a rewarding pleasure to read each time. We still find new things to talk about and the book continues to teach Maximilian new words and concepts - for example, he loves to say "Wheeee!" for the slide sheep! I also love that he now knows what's coming, so when we get to "Turn the page quietly, let's take a peep", Maximilian already puts his finger to his lips and says "Shhh".

We have the small board book version but it is also available as a traditional sized soft page or board book (and the fabulous illustrations would reward the larger format).


Mem Fox has written an amazing number of children's books, including classics like Possum Magic and Koala Lou, won multiple book awards and is also a passionate advocate of reading to children - her book Reading Magic has wonderful tips on how and why to read aloud and how to choose books. Also check out her website for heaps of great information, including the fascinating and hilarious story of writing Where is the Green Sheep? !