We are avid users of library services. We visit the local library weekly, have materials delivered (for free!), enjoy the children-friendly events. I’ve taken a habit of loaning dvds for our movie nights and we regularly borrow boardgames as well. So when I heard about the Little Helmet Reading Challenge, I thought, this is definitely for us!

The list includes 25 books and I will write five posts throughout the year with our selection of children’s books. Our family reads in Finnish and Italian language, but some of our picks are in English and I translate on the fly. Beside the link to the Helmet (our library network) archive, whenever possible I’ll include the link to the same books in other languages to make sure you can enjoy them as well. If you’ll find my recommendations valuable, let me know in the comments below.  This is the final batch of the challenge, it’s been fun!. If you wanna peek at my other recommendations, check out my previous posts: first, second, third, and fourth. Don’t miss next year’s challenge!

#21. A non-fiction book

Helmet (ENG) | ENG | FR
A book on nature was the first idea I had when I read this challenge. Yet I wouldn’t have imagined I would find such a great book. Author Matt Sewell, an expert ornithologist, has published several informative children’s volumes on animals and nature, with outstanding illustrations. Forgotten Beasts is a pleasant read also for parents and a great chance to learn more on extinct animals. One fun detail for us was discussing sizes and timelines. Even R (almost 6) cannot handle them easily, but it was fun to translate information into “this was as big as 3 cars in a row” or “this animal lived looong ago, when dinosaurs roamed the world”.

#22. The book title is just one word

Helmet (GER) | HelMet (RUS) | ITA | ENG | FR | SWE
Beware, this is an all time favorite in our household. I have read this book to my children so many times, that I can recite it by heart: Poop-di-doop! (Caccapupù in the Italian version). Despite most books in our Reading Challenge list were rented from our local library, we own this one. I discovered this book years ago during a trip to Italy, when we visited a library near my hometown and a volunteer was reading to small kids. The book is ideal for children aged 2 to 5 years old, as illustrations are colorful and simple, and written parts are very short. A lovely feature of this story is that there’s a recurrent word (“caccapupù“) that kids love to repeat throughout the reading. My kids especially love the interaction. Author Stephanie Blake wrote several other books and they are all great reads. Given her great success, few years ago, she even produced an animation series called Simon (aired in Finland during Pikku Kakkonen).

#23. A book in which I would like to be the protagonist

Helmet (ENG) | ENG
I mentioned in the previous post of this challenge how we are going through a heavy Fireman Sam phase here with E (now 3 years old). He’s gotten it so bad that sometime when he’s completing some task we can hear him singing to himself the jingle which plays during rescues. There are several books on Fireman Sam, perfect for children aged 2 to 4. We chose The Pondypandy winter rescue to stay aligned with the current weather. A nice surprise was finding that the book requires some interaction and the child to guess what will happen next. If your child is also obsessed with the TV series, this will be a nice surprise.

#24. A book published in 2018

Helmet (ENG) | ENG | ITA
This was easy since I am one of the four nerds who regularly checks the new additions of the local library. I chose Terry Fan‘s Ocean Meets Sky, a visionary story that will leave adults and children dreamy and with a warm heart. Illustrations are of another world, simply wonderful and so detailed in their imaginative nature. I wasn’t familiar with this author and I’ll definitely look up for more of his works. Amazon says this is a book for kids aged 5 to 8, but I think it’s suitable also for smaller children. It’s mostly an illustrated book, the storyline is very simple. A young child remembers his late grandfather and their shared love for the sea, and leaves on a dreamy expedition to find a special place his grandpa mentioned, where the ocean and the sky meet. One small detail I appreciated was that the protagonist was a Chinese child, which marries well my intentionality to include diversity in our family reads. This book surely would make a perfect gift.

#25. A book recommended by library personnel or a teacher

Helmet (FI) | FI | ENG | SWE
R’s teacher recommended the series of Pekka Töpöhäntä (Pelle No-Tail in the English version) and we chose the Christmas story called Pekka Töpöhäntä viettää joulua (“Pelle No-Tail celebrates Christmas”). Pekka is a lovely black cat living with his human family, who also has a secret life in the world of cats. This is Pekka’s very first Christmas. He’s surprised his human family has placed a tree in the living room and a bit scared by Santa. His cat friends will show him Christmas is a time of love and kindness to long for. Stories are for older children, I’d say age range 5 to 8. Every page has illustrations but the story is long and requires some concentrating. There’s plenty of books in the series and I’ve learned they have been translated into English too.

It was so much fun to follow this challenge! Will we continue next year? You bet we will. As a matter of fact, Helmet has recently published the new Little Helmet Reading Challenge 2019 and I have started already looking up what’s coming next. Join us in discovering new amazing children’s books!