The bookshelves in my son’s room have had such tired overflowing look for a while that I could no longer ignore their plea to be freed of some of those books that are far too young for my so grown up boy.  In the attempt of making space for new books I have started piling up those old favourites that kept us company during the toddler and preschool years in the hope of passing them on to another child who would give them the loving care they deserve. As you do at times like this, I went down memory lane and I found I still know by heart the rhymes of the Mr Men little books and other catching stories like Each Peach Pear Plum. You may laugh, but you never know when such knowledge might come in handy in days to come.

Jokes apart, there were some great early year books on our shelves. This is what I found.

1. Little Rabbit Lost by Harry Horse is a classic book with beautiful old fashion drawings and a sweet story of a little rabbit that gets lost on his birthday because he felt so grown up he went wandering by himself during a visit to the Rabbit World. All ends well and he finds his mum in the end. An old classic with a message: stay close to your parents when out and about!

2. Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell is a lovely book with the zoo animals hiding under pull up windows, which is sure to keep the little ones entertained for a longtime.

3. Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg- eh in two pieces I am afraid; this book went through a lot! – Another old time classic with beautiful rhymes and captivating drawings.

4. The whole collection of the Mr. Men books

5. Two copies of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

6. Tigers Love to Say Goodnight by Sue Mongredien and Sebastien Braun. This is a sweet bedtime story of a little boy’s toys snuggling up at night.

7. Two Magic Windows books of the Touch and Feel collection: On the Go and Life in the Jungle. They are both colourful books with clues and pull out windows with the respective answers. We had a lot of fun with those. We actually had a lot of these interactive books, but these two are the only survivors.

8. Everybody’s Activity Book by Pascale Estellon – a fantastic book with a range of activities including cutting, sticking, colouring and drawing. It comes with sticker sheets and printed pages for extra cut and paste fun. It is great for recognising shapes in everyday objects, visual coordination and creative learning.