Freya is very fond of picture books with photos or drawings with animals. She is less keen on meeting them in real life, but as her favourites include crocodile and lions that’s no bad thing.

An early favourite was a mini board book of animals illustrated by Eric Carle, the perfect size for her chubby little hands & resilient enough for the occasional chew. She used to like to find the page with the lion then wait expectantly for me to roar.

From about 14 months till now she has been fascinated by the Turn & Learn Baby Animals by Priddy Books she got from her grandparents, it has been a daily morning read. Its a bright colourful board book with charming photos and a wheel on each page to turn to match the animals. Although she has only been able to turn the wheels herself recently up until now she has enjoyed spotting the animals, making the noises & instructing me to turn the wheel.

Recently she’s been showing more of an interest in ‘My Book of Pets’ by Emma Gold Hawk & Illustrated by Carol Tratt. It’s a book I spotted in the public library and was so enamoured of the beautiful illustrations, the huge variety of animals, the textures & sliding tabs I had a buy a copy. I think this type of book with chunky sliders to push are really toddler friendly & allows Freya a chance to enjoy the interactive element of the book and control the movement as opposed to tearing the pages (the fate of a few lift the flap books). She is really enjoying spotting all the different animals and getting the crocodile to snap its jaws. The animals are drawn with a great sense of character & fun and I especially like the drawings at the edges of the pages of the dog wagging its tail, playing with a ball etc all adding to the movement in this book. This book is packed full of charm, character & animals which I suspect will mean it remains a favourite for a while to come.