Books: Dr Seuss's ABC, Bubble Trouble, Lenny Long-legs & Mouse Paint

EV has been devouring quite a number of books this week. Here are some recommendations.

This is without saying, one of the best loved ABC books around. It has colourful illustrations, with great rhymes for each letter. It is a fun read even for a parent. A must-have for a home library.

By Margaret Mahy & Polly Dunbar

EV loves bubbles, so I thought this would be a fun book to read to her. A fun book indeed, it also tested my skill at tongue-twisters. That's right. Using a simple story of little Mabel blowing a bubble, the authors created tongue twisting lines of rhyme about the bubble bringing little Baby away, traveling through the garden, to the streets where the neighbours mingle, up a chapel steeple, and how everyone pitched in to help save Baby. Lines like 'The baby didn't quibble. He began to smile and dribble, for he liked the wibble-wobble of the bubble in the air', and 'At the shops, a busy rabble met to gossip and to gabble, started gibbering and goggling as the bubble bobbled by' often left mummy tongue-tied. But that is the fun of it. To add to the fun, I also read the book at different speeds, sometimes loud, sometimes soft, to dramatise the story even more. A tip: it is good to have a cup of water standing by, for when 'the end' comes, it'll take more than a sigh of relief to calm the tongue-twisted nerves down.

By Sam Lloyd
A puppetry book with furry blue legs to help in dramatising opposites. The story is about Lenny Long-legs, who can't keep his legs still and loves to do things one way, and then the other way. So he will lift his legs up and down, or run fast then slow, or do a small jump, then a big jump. This book will definitely grip the attention of any kid.

By Ellen Stoll Walsh

A wonderful book about primary colours and the shades they made when mixed together. Three white mice find red, yellow and blue jars of paint, and ended up painting themselves in those colours. As they play and leave puddles of paint around, they discover that shades of orange, green and purple are magically created when mixed. A simple storyline that is playful, fun yet informative.