Our 2020 Reading Journey

So, it’s finally starting to happen. My nine year old is increasingly choosing withdrawing to his bed with his own books, over sharing a joint bedtime story with his little brother. That’s not to say he’s given up on picture books, I still fish at least a dozen picture books out of his bed every week. He just prefers to read them on his own, at a much faster pace, along with more advanced chapter books for his age and reading level. He’ll still join us every so often, especially if it’s a new book or an old favourite, but more often than not it’s just me and the five year old at bedtime now. So I decided to record our reading journey together this year. I’ve been snapping a quick picture of all the books my youngest and I have read together each day – which I have been collecting in an album over on my blog’s Facebook page – and at the end of the first month I piled them all up:

We read a total of 49 different books together! Plus four Japanese picture eBooks, though I’m not sure those really count as reading as we didn’t understand most of it and just looked at the pictures. The majority of those 49 book were picture books (35 in total), but we also read a couple of chapter books – including several short ‘early reader’ ones – as well as a graphic novel and some non fiction books. Apart from the chapter and non-fiction books, which often spanned several days, there was only one book that we read twice. Considering how many books we own this is perhaps not surprising, as we have plenty books to read a different one every day, but it’s nice to have passed that phase where your kids want you to read the same book to them 37 times in a row.

One thing I would like to readdress in the coming months, is the balance of languages, as only seven of the books we read were in German. I really need to make an effort to expose both boys actually to more German literature, since it’s such an important part of their heritage. Anyway, below is a list of all the books we read in January. Perhaps there are a couple that take your fancy. Feel free to ask if you want any further feedback on any of them, though I have to say that we enjoyed them all.

I’d love to hear what you have been reading in the last month. If you have any great recommendations, let me know in the comments!

Books We Read in January 2020

Picture Books

English

  • Alan’s Big Scary Teeth, by Jarvis
  • Cock-a-doodle-Poo, by Steve Smallman & Florence Weiser
  • Dinosaur Juniors Wide Awake, by Rob Biddulph
  • Dragons Love Tacos, by Adam Rubin & Daniel Salmieri
  • Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, by Eileen Christflow
  • Flip and Find – Builders, by Samantha Meredith
  • Grumpy Duck, by Joyce Dunbar & Petr Horacek
  • Hachiko – The True Story of a Loyal Dog, by Pamela S. Turner & Yan Nascimbene
  • Hug Machine, by Scott Campbell
  • I am a Tiger, by Karl Newson & Ross Collins
  • Little Owl’s Egg, by Debi Gliori & Alison Brown
  • Manfred the Baddie, by John Fardell
  • Natsumi, by Susan Lendroth & Priscilla Burris
  • Odd Dog Out, by Rob Biddulph
  • Octonauts and the Great Christmas Rescue
  • Octonauts and the Great Penguin Race
  • Octonauts and the Marine Iguanas (read twice)
  • Octonauts and the Whale Shark
  • Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr Seuss
  • Pants, by Giles Andreae & Nick Sharratt
  • Penguin in Peril, by Helen Hancocks
  • Press Here, by Herve Tullet
  • Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam – The Cat Burglar, by Tracey Corderoy & Steven Lenton
  • Shifty McGifty & Slippery Sam – The Missing Masterpiece, by Tracey Corderoy & Steven Lenton
  • Steve, Terror of the Seas, by Megan Brewis
  • Superworm, by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
  • The Best Birthday Present Ever! by Ben Mantle
  • The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers
  • Unicorn and the Rainbow Snow, by Emma Adams & Katy Halford

German

  • Der Grolltroll, by Aprilkind, Barbara van den Speulhof & Stephan Pricken
  • Der Katzentatzentanz, by Fredrik Vahle & Helme Heine
  • Fiete – Die Große Fahrt, by Ahoiii
  • Käpten Knitterbart und seine Bande, by Cornelia Funke & Kerstin Meyer
  • Petzi im Unterseeboot, by Carla & Vilhelm Hansen
  • Tomte und der Fuchs, by Astrid Lindgren & Harald Wiberg

Japanese

  • Oshiri Tantei eBooks

Chapter Books

English

  • Aladdin & His Magical Lamp, by Katie Daynes & Paddy Mounter
  • Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, by Katie Daynes & Paddy Mounter
  • Cinderella, by Susanna Davidson & Fabiano Fiorin
  • Rabbit & Bear – Rabbit’s Bad Habbits, by Julian Gough & Jim Field
  • The Princess in Black, by Shannon & Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
  • The Wooden Horse, by Russell Punter & Matteo Pincelli
  • Thorfinn the Nicest Viking and the Awful Invasion, by David MacPhail & Richard Morgan
  • Thorfinn the Nicest Viking and the Gruesome Games, by David MacPhail & Richard Morgan
  • Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories, by Florence Sakade & Yoshisuke Kurosaki

German

  • Schwuppi die Schwebebahn, by Lucia D’Armento Sahin & Matthias Kahl

Graphic Novels

  • Dog Man – Lord of the Fleas, by Dav Pilkey

Non-fiction Books

  • Disney, The Wonderful World of Knowledge – Planet Earth
  • The Big Bird Spot, by Matt Sewell
  • The Daredevil’ Guide to Dangerous Places, by Anna Brett & Mike Jacobsen

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