It’s National Poetry Day!
We’ve written before on the subject of how valuable poetry and rhyme are for young children: they help children learn and develop language skills (rhymes are often repetitive, making the words easier to learn), they support social skills (children will naturally learn about taking turns and joining in), they get children ready for school by developing reading skills… and they’re lots of fun!
Which all goes some way towards explaining why such a disproportionate number of the books that we publish are in rhyme. We’ve also written before on the process of writing and publishing rhyming picture books – what makes a brilliant rhyming text, why’re they’re difficult to get right… and why we love them.
And looking back on our almost-four-years of published books, there really are a lot of books in rhyme! Novelty series for very young children and babies like the Noodle books and Bizzy Bear series are GREAT ways of introducing children to books for the first time, with gently rhyming texts, repeating themes, and wonderfully tactile elements like touch-and-feel, tabs, and sliders.
For toddlers, books like Icky Sticky Monster and Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap books are just BRILLIANT, with hugely appealing artwork, funny rhymes and very popular subjects.
And, of course, we’ve also published a great many rhyming picture books – here’s what you can find in shops today:
Books Always Everywhere, by Jane Blatt and Sarah Massini:
Guinea Pig Party, by Holly Surplice:
Princess Penelope and the Runaway Kitten, by Alison Murray:
The Princess and the Peas, by Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton:
The Princess and the Presents, by Caryl Hart and Sarah Warburton:
Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam, by Tracey Corderoy and Steven Lenton:
Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble, by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger:
Whizz Pop, Granny Stop, by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger:
Spells-a-Popping, Granny’s Shopping, by Tracey Corderoy and Joe Berger:
We’d love to hear your favourite rhyming picture books – do give your suggestions in the comments below!
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