Upsy Daisy wants to sing!

by Andrew Davenport

This was Eleanor's first book with a plot, and she found it, early on, an utterly compelling page-turner. To me, the story of Upsy Daisy's singing, other people hearing Upsy Daisy's singing, and then everyone's singing lacks force, or a truly satisfying third act, but Eleanor loved it, and found it superior to the similar Iggle Piggle's Bouncy Jumping Game.

It had all the elements she loved: bits where the person reading it has to do silly voices, lots of repetition, and the characters from In the Night Garden. This was a lot of its early appeal - she would sit and look at Upsy Daisy for ages, gently gnawing at the corners. If nothing else, it's a hard-wearing book.

It still, almost a year on, gets occasional airings, but the ItNG books are probably those that she goes back to least, and they never get picked at bedtime (perhaps because they're too short). This was one of her favourites when she first started to realise what books were, and was excited by the thought of being able to look at the Pontipines whenever she wanted, but now she's into naming things and describing them it doesn't get much use. Perhaps because of the weary tone we read it in, or perhaps because she's just grown out of it. Or perhaps because we got tired of doing Makka Pakka impressions and store this one waaay at the back of the shelf...

Eleanor's age: 6 months+

That's not my monster...

by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells

This was Eleanor's first proper book, and it still gets picked occasionally months later, when others have been chewed into an unmourned pulp, or shredded in a fit of unbridled criticism. The illustrations are wonderful, and the textures are interesting: I like the green monster with the bobbly nose, Eleanor's favourite is the one with the bumpy paws - they are both excellent monsters.

It's one of the best That's not my... books, and fit refreshingly into my PC search for ungendered reading material. I, however, am a woeful creature of calcified sexism, accreted over many years, and quickly dropped into the bad habit of referring to some of the monsters as 'him' or 'her', whilst the text properly calls each one 'it'.

This book grew with Eleanor, as shortly before her first birthday she learned to do a mouse noise, and to identify the mouse who is hiding somewhere on every page. This gave the book a whole new lease of life, and she still grins whenever it gets brought out. Its an old favourite, and has stood up to the rigours very well, indeed. I can't wait to use it again, with a younger sibling...

Eleanor's age: 6 months +