Enjoying books and reading is an excellent indicator of future academic success and helps children to meet several of the Early Learning Goals set out in the EYFS. Here we look at some more of the most enjoyable books for children in the EYFS, and how they contribute to children’s development.
6. The Lion Inside- Rachel Bright
This book tells of a tiny mouse who feels invisible and unnoticed and is about how he compares himself to the Lion and feels inadequate as a result. The book’s vocabulary is extremely rich, making it fantastic for expanding children’s vocabularies. Children don’t necessarily need to be ‘taught’ each word’s definition as most can be picked up from context. For young children, just hearing words is enough to begin to increase vocabulary. The Lion Inside has plenty of adjectives which help to expand vocabulary very rapidly.
The text builds tension as the story progresses and the mouse plucks up all his courage to ask the lion to teach him to roar. Here the plot twists and the real message of the story becomes apparent; it turns out that the lion is actually scared of the mouse! The mouse, in turn, finds his true voice and realises that he didn’t have to change to be like somebody else, he could just be himself. This is a great message for children in the EYFS
7. We’re going on a bear hunt- Michael Rosen
A real favourite of nursery teachers everywhere Michael Rosen’s “We’re going on a bear hunt” is perfect for reading out loud. It follows a family on an imaginative bear hunt with repetitive text that children can join in with and onomatopoeia throughout. The rhythm and the onomatopoeia are fun to read aloud, allowing you to vary your speed, volume and intonation to keep your child’s attention.
Listening to stories with increasing attention and recall and joining in with repeated refrains are key milestones in literacy development and this book is great for developing both of these.
8. Elmer the patchwork elephant- David McKee
Elmer the Elephant is instantly recognisable to most young children by his bright patchwork colours. At its core the story is about difference, diversity and inclusion and is a great way to introduce these themes and concepts to younger children in an understandable way. The conclusion of the story is the other elephants telling Elmer that they love him because he is different, and celebrating this positively which models celebrating diversity to young children. Aside from the excellent message of the book, it is also a sweet, funny story that children will find enjoyable.
9. Room on the Broom- Julia Donaldson
Another modern classic by Julia Donaldson, Room on the Broom is based upon the experience of a witch who looks just like a classic fairy-tale witch but is actually very friendly, which helps to break down a stereotype! Told using Donaldson’s recognisable rhyme and meter with plenty of repetition and opportunity for varied pitch, speed and intonation this is a book that children will love to join in with. As the witch allows more animal friends on to her broom, it eventually becomes too much and breaks. Pursued by a dragon, and saved by her friends the witch and the animals create a new broom which suits them all and finish the story together.
10. The cat in the hat- Dr Seuss
Dr Seuss’ writing is distinctive, as are the book’s illustrations. Simple rhymes and a musical rhythm to the writing help to capture children’s attention and encourage them to join in with predicting the next rhyming word. All of these are key skills in learning to read and write. The cat in the hat is a fun, cheeky story that children will adore listening to time and time again.
Whilst all of the books listed here are fiction, or story, books it is also important to read non-fiction books with young children. Reading both fiction and non-fiction texts with children helps them to understand that books can be used for both enjoyment and information. Of course, children are likely to develop their own favourite books, and ask to be read them again and again, but reading a wide variety of books is great for building a love and appreciation of books and reading.
