Children’s Picture Books for November

This is just a small selection of books that we have either bought or inherited from our childhood. Our children’s picture books range from classics, retro, and budget buys to modern releases, but all of my chosen selection are ones we highly recommend and enjoy reading to our two year old. I guess the age range of the books I pick will be for toddlers up to age 5 or 6.

The idea is that I choose a selection of children’s picture books that tie in with each month of the year. There are always lots of changes throughout the year that we ended up discussing with our toddler, and I’ve found that he has a greater understanding of things when he’s seen or heard about them in a book first. Books also promote curiosity and imagination. I don’t just mean to pick books about leaves falling from the trees in October and November! There are all sorts of changes in the weather, the colours, the animals, food, and so on.

Our little boy has become a little wary of the dark since the clocks went back in October so the book about the little bear who couldn’t sleep because he was afraid of the dark was perfect for this month’s book selection. Because of this, the moon has become a bit of a theme as well (being the only light in the dark night’s sky). November is also a spooky one following Halloween and then All Soul’s Day, so, of course, I had to pick Room on the Broom! And lastly, being late autumn, we’ve all got to think about getting warm and cosy as we approach the season of hibernation.

We’ve made story time a daily habit during the day as well as at bedtime ever since our little bear was around 6 months old and it’s certainly one of my favourite times of the day. I hope this blog series will inspire many story times, library visits, and lots of secondhand and local book shop purchases!

 

ROOM ON THE BROOM

JULIA DONALDSON & AXEL SCHEFFLER

Kicking off with this one following the spooky Halloween and All Soul’s Day! I also think November just feels like a spooky month with the darkness and stormy weather. November makes me think of things like forest walks, mushrooms, fantasy, magic and fairytales.

As usual, Julia Donaldson delivers a perfect rhyming masterpiece and Axel Scheffler creates some really moody landscapes and funny characters. It’s a great story about friendship, inclusion and bravery. (The BBC short film is also brilliant).

 

OLD BEAR

Jane hissey

Written in 1986, this was one from our childhood! I love this book series so much - partly for the nostalgia but also for the brilliant ideas within the story and the cosy home decor including all the retro wooden toys.

The TV show is also on YouTube on Jane Hissey’s page and is the loveliest thing to watch with the calming soundtrack and narration (especially compared with the loud and fast-paced noise of today’s television…)

Although we’ve managed it a few times with our 2 year old, the text may be a little too long as a bedtime story for the younger ones.

 

DORMOUSE HAS A COLD

Julia donaldson & axel scheffler (acorn woods collection)

Of course I’ve picked this as we’re all currently suffering with long drawn out colds this month!

We own the entire collection as they’ve been a firm favourite from around 8 months old (apart from when the little ****** rips the flaps off).

 

BRAVE LITTLE OWL

Gill davies & dick twinney

I’m not sure if this one is still available to buy as I’m slowly inheriting all of my childhood books which my Grandma has kept for all these years (and I’m now 34!)

I don’t know whether this would have been a bestseller but it’s a sweet little book about a baby owl who is learning to fly whilst being afraid of the dark. The illustrations are nice which also feature embossed pages. Our son often picks this one at bedtime which goes to show that a simple theme and shorter text is sometimes what they want!

 

THE MOON

Britta teekentrup

I’m not going to lie, I bought this in Waterstones purely for the beautiful artwork and simplicity of it without even really looking inside! The text is a rhyming verse with brief descriptions about the moon and how nature works with it. It’s not a thrilling story or overly engaging for little ones but it is a lovely idea, which is written really well and is a good introduction to nature around the world. Another good option for a calm bedtime story!

 

CAN’T YOU SLEEP, LITTLE BEAR?

Martin waddell & barbara firth

Another inherited book but this time from my husband’s childhood collection! I was introduced to this fairly recently and I fell in love with it instantly for the illustrations, text and storyline. Our little bear is slightly afraid / wary of the dark, too, as well as still waking up multiple times in the night and wanting to be in our bed… So this book couldn’t be more appropriate!

Aside from that, these are the cutest and most endearing illustrations I’ve ever seen! It’s quite repetitive but the text and storyline is just so lovely. It’s actually part of a series and I’m currently trying to track down them all down as some are no longer available. I think this was probably the first and most well known one, though.

 

READY, STEADY SQUIRREL

Nicola kinnear

I’m not sure whether this is the month when squirrels start hunting for all their buried nuts but the illustration says November on the squirrel calendar so I’ll trust the author has done her research! As well as getting cosy and slowing down, the end of autumn has got to include a bit of a scrapping about as we’re all getting the last few jobs done before hibernation! I love the work of this author and illustrator; she’s created a really unique and varied collection in this book series. Great story ideas and morals and the colour palettes are outstanding.

 

NOVEMBER THEMES

Here are a few other themes and ideas for November - not just for book buying, but also for chatting about or for creating seasonal activities.

  • Autumn leaves falling and the trees going into a hibernation state;

  • Forest walks and woodland elements such as mushrooms and conkers;

  • Fireworks, bonfire night or getting cosy by the fire indoors;

  • Knitwear, wrapping up warm in hats, scarves and coats;

  • The weather - lots of rain, wind and storms;

  • Jumping in puddles;

  • The cold and flu;

  • The animals that come to my mind when I think of November: owls, bears, hedgehogs, squirrels, badgers, bats, ravens;

  • Although Halloween is at the end of October, the celebration is continued with All Soul’s Day in November, so all spooky, fantasy themes seem very appropriate this month;

  • Witches, wizards, toadstools, magic and fairytales;

  • Hibernation;

  • As the clocks have fallen back in October the days are short and so the dark, being frightened of it and the moon shining outside all seem like good topics, too.

I hope that was inspiring and thank you so much for reading!

I intend to create a lot of seasonal animal character designs throughout the year (when my toddler starts sleeping a little better to give me more time!) which I’ll share on my blog posts.

I don’t have many designs yet for late autumn, but if you’re in the spirit, I do have Christmas cards and gift tags available!

Hannah Nicholls