Calming down after Christmas with a bedtime story

I don’t know about you, but after Christmas here it seemed like the kids went more than a little bit loopy. I’m not sure if it was all to do with life being really busy with lots of friends and family to see over the holiday, or going away, or the influx of new toys for them both, but this year it’s really taken a while for life to get back to normal.

I’ve often found that the only time of the day that’s been more predictable was just before bed. That nice bit of time when all the stress of getting them upstairs for a bath is behind you, and all that is left is a good old bedtime story and a cuddle before kissing them goodnight. For us books have always been a key part of our bedtime routine and they often seem to be the part of the day that both Little Miss C and Master C look forward to the most.

Both children absolutely love books and they are both lucky enough to have full bookshelves in their rooms – partly thanks to lots of lovely gifts, partly due to my charity shop book obsession and partly due to my work in reviewing lots of children’s books here on the blog. We seem to have kids books covering almost every topic under the sun, and it seems funny to think back and realise that 5 years ago, before we had children, I don’t think there was a single children’s book in the house!

What I do notice is how both of them gravitate back to some of the more old-fashioned classics in their collections. Master C is currently obsessed with reading Topsy and Tim, and is particularly keen on a vintage copy of Topsy and Tim go swimming that we found somewhere. It may be related to the fact that just before Christmas he started swimming lessons, or maybe it’s just the stage he’s at right now as I seem to recall LMC having a Topsy and Tim obsession at a similar age.

Little Miss C is really enjoying learning to read at school so we often alternate at bedtime between books she can read out loud to us and stories that we read to her. A copy of Hairy Maclary came home from school yesterday, which she loves, but after a recent trip to the Buckinghamshire County Museum and their Roald Dahl Gallery, she’s also been really enjoying Fantastic Mr Fox and Revolting Rhymes – in which she particularly loves the Jack and the Beanstalk one, as she saw a version of that at the local panto just before Christmas. I’m really enjoying rediscovering some of these books from my own childhood, but I’m also realising how few of the typical children’s classics I’ve actually read.

As we went round the Roald Dahl Gallery there were all these display cases full of objects and signs saying “which Roald Dahl book is this from?” It was embarrassing how few I could answer, and the only one that I’m completely sure I got right was the one featuring a Wonka Golden Ticket! I’m therefore looking to compile a list of classic children’s books so that I can make sure I read them all with the kids – and tick off all those ones that I missed from my own childhood.

So please help me here: which children’s books do you think should be on a must read list for kids? Leave your answers in the comments below and I’ll try to compile my own list and share it in a future blog post.

Disclaimer: This post was brought to you in association with Tesco.