2000 / Hardback / 128 pages / UK
****
I could have saved time and shelf space if I'd found this quality assortment before buying nursery rhymes, fairy tales and picture books separately, but she's already so attached to her versions that most of this is redundant now. Interspersing short rhymes between classic tales, licensed characters and even the blooming Snowman, it's like a great Pre-CBeebies line-up.
1993 / Hardback / 16 pages / UK
**
I thought a wheel book would be an appealing new genre, but she's not really fussed about that feature, with its slavish commitment to four life stages that doesn't even apply to most of them. So for now, just another book to make animal noises to, but with real pics this time.
2002 / Paperback / 64 pages / UK
****
Pretentious, ma fille? Rather than trying to give her an aggressive headstart on a third language, this was just what I settled for when they didn't have the English version in stock, since the writing makes no difference when you can't read yet. And if she ever does end up learning French, it could help there too.
Various, The Walker Book of Bear Stories
***
You can imagine how self-satisfied I felt when I spotted that this collection included We're Going on a Bear Hunt and loads of other stuff for the same price you'd pay for that picture book alone. Suckers! Sure, your child might actually enjoy having the story read to them when it isn't squashed into unappealing panels that I initially mistook for a continuation of the contents page, but you can't argue with the value. Now shut up and eat your supermarket own-brand multipack crisps.
2012 / Board book / 14 pages / UK
**
We've overdone the animal noises by this point, but at least that's her Mastermind specialist subject sorted. This was an unadvertised bonus bilingual Welsh edition (I think that's the one where 'y' is a standalone word), so that should come in thematically-limited use if we cross the border.
