The Bub in the Belly

This book is a good way to look at counting (up to five), the days of the week, different types of food and even to teach our little one where butterflies come from. It comes highly recommended both for the storyline as well as the colourful illustrations. First published in 1969, a copy of the book is reportedly sold every 30 seconds somewhere in the world. It has been described as "one of the greatest childhood classics of all time" and has won multiple awards.

However, I have never really been impressed with the illustrations or the little holes in the pages that children apparently love (the book was apparently inspired by a hole puncher). The first few times I introduced this book to Ryan, he was not impressed either so I actually put this book away. When I re-introduced it a few months later, Ryan was much more receptive although I still had to speedread through it otherwise he'd turn to the last page and close the book before I get to finish the story. I continue to rotate this book in and out of Ryan's active library every few months and everytime it is re-introduced, Ryan seems to take a little more interest in it. At the moment however, he still doesn't care about what the hungry caterpillar ate on Saturday.