Our
Best New Books
Father Christmas must know how much we love
reading because we got looooaaaaaads of new books for Christmas! They’re all lovely,
of course, but there are a few that stand out as being special; modern classics
that we will treasure forever. So to give you some inspiration for the new
books you and your little ones need in your life, here are our top five:
1. Helen
Stephens, How to Hide a Lion.
When a friendly lion is chased
out of town by terrified locals, he finds an unlikely friend in Iris, a little
girl who decides to hide the lion in her house. This beautiful book depicts the
relationship between child and beast in a manner reminiscent of The Tiger Who Came to Tea (one of our
all-time faves) and the vintage-style illustrations are so old-fashionedly
gorgeous that I was surprised that this was published in 2012. If you love the
innocent charm of Judith Kerr’s books then this is for you. There’s a serious
message here, about not making negative judgements and getting to know people before
you, you know, chase them out of town with a pitchfork, but the story is so
much fun that your little one will want to hear it again and again (and again
and again).
2. Usborne
Books, The Story of Coppelia.
Forget those horrible,
tinny-sounding “musical” books that you have to hide from your children because
the sound drives you crazy. The music in this book, whilst not quite MP3
quality, still manages to sound beautiful because the publishers have used real
orchestra recordings. The book tells the story of Coppelia simply, with bright,
bold illustrations that children will enjoy, but it’s the music that takes centre
stage. Watching Amelia dance to the
ballet music was heart-melting, even on a hungover Boxing Day. If there’s a
place in your heart that loves ballet, beautiful music, or both, then you will
adore this (and you might even play with it yourself when the kids are in bed).
3. Julia
Donaldson, Stick Man.
Whether it was the BBC screening
of Stick Man on Christmas Eve, or whether it is just the fact that Father
Christmas makes an appearance, I don’t know; but Amelia is obsessed with this book and asks for it nearly every night. Every
time we go out for a walk, she’ll find a stick and yell, “Look! Stick Man!” The
story of Stickman’s struggle to be reunited with his family is genuinely
emotional. At the part where he is woven into a swan’s nest, Millie always
frowns and says, “Poor Stick Man.” This is a good thing; she’s learning
empathy. The repetition, “I’m Stick Man, I’m Stick Man, that’s me!” delights
toddlers who will love to join in with it. And the association with Christmas
makes this book extra special.
4. Julia Donaldson, Hide and Seek Pig.
This book was supposed to be a
present for someone else, but Amelia found my not-very-well-hidden present box
and claimed this as her own. In a way I’m glad it happened, because this is one
of the most child-engaging books we’ve ever had. Little
readers get to open gates and lift up blankets to find out who is hiding behind
them, and they’ll be genuinely thrilled when they “find” Hen at the end. The
rhyming couplets are brilliant for building word awareness and memory, and the
illustrations are gorgeous. This is just perfect.
5. Julia
Donaldson, Rosie’s Hat.
Little Rosie loses her hat one
windy day by the sea. The hat has lots of adventures of its own until years
later, by sheer coincidence, it is reunited with grown-up Rose. 
Now let me just get one thing
straight- I have no problem with pink, I have no issue with princesses, and I
deeply love traditional fairy tales and would defend them to the death. That
said, I love love love the fact that when Rosie grows up she is a fire-fighter
(as well as a wife and mother, if you must know). I do believe that, somewhere
between the pink tutus and the sparkly shoes, our daughters need strong role
models and although this is only one book in a million books, every little
helps. 
I realise that three out of these
five books are written by Julia Donaldson, and that’s not a deliberate thing. We
parents are not the real judges of children’s books, our children are, and I
have very much found that the Julia Donaldson books “last” with Amelia; that
she keeps going back to them long after the novelty of a new book has worn off.
I think, in the end, that that is the measure of
a great children’s book…. And I’ll look forward to expanding our
already-substantial collection next Christmas.
