Mother, Baby & Kids

9 Wacky Children’s Books to Expand Your Child’s Imagination

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It’s time for your kids to explore their new hobby: reading children’s books!

Imagination and creativity are important for kids and their development.

It’s how they have fun and there are plenty of ways to help encourage that.

You can maybe try imaginative play with them or watch shows that promotes imagination.

And if you want to have your kids to also have an interest in reading, you can even try reading them children’s books with imagination as it’s theme.

These books are filled with colours and wonder that are sure to keep your kid’s entertained and hopefully learn a thing or two.

Here are nine children’s books that can help your child explore their creative sides.

Prepare for Takeoff! Blast Off to New Worlds with These Mind-Bending Children’s Books

Mist-Bound: How to Glue Back Grandpa

Image credit: Goodreads

This children’s book is written by Malaysian-born author, Daryl Kho.

It’s about a girl named Alexis and her journey to find ingredients to make an antidote for her cursed grandfather.

She meets a duyung, dream-eater, and other creatures she’s heard from her grandfather’s stories.

This children’s book is a longer read than most of the other books in this list and would be a perfect read for your older children.

It’s also based on the author’s personal experience with his father’s dementia.

This children’s book showcases not only a beautiful and interesting alternate world and characters from folktales we all know and love, but also on the importance of family.

Kayu of Manis Valley

Image credit: Heidi Shamsuddin

Kayu of Manis Valley follows a crocodile named, Kayu.

He was adopted by a family of monkeys into a jungle with their own set of laws.

He tries hard to adapt to live in the jungle but one day, his home was bulldozed to make way for a human resort.

Kayu and his family, along with other animals of the jungle have to move to stay safe while still trying to respect and follow the laws of the jungle.

While trying to look at what’s happening over at their old home, Kayu overheard that some people are planning on kidnapping a girl.

Now, Kayu has to choose between following the laws of the jungle to stay with his family or save the girl.

This story, written by Heidi Shamsuddin is a great way to introduce children to the issue of deforestation from the eyes of Kayu and other animals in the family.

Boxitects

Image credit: Kim Smith Illustration

Boxitects is a story about Meg, a brilliant and creative boxitect.

She loves creating things using boxes that impresses her teacher and classmates.

However, she meets her first challenge and foe, Simone, a new kid at Maker School.

Simone is good at everything and to make things worse for Meg, Simone’s also a boxitect.

The two of them were paired up for the annual Maker Match and they just can’t seem to stop arguing.

This children’s book by Kim Smith teaches kids about imagination and also about teamwork.

The best thing about this children’s book is that it is also a STEAM-centered, illustrated book that teaches kids that they don’t need to be older to be interested in subjects like science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.

Also an Octopus

Image credit: Pretty OK Maggie

Spaceships, a bunny and a ukulele playing octopus seems to be the perfect type of story to boost your child’s imagination.

Also an Octopus is a story about an octopus wanting to go to outer space in a purple rocket.

He goes through a few hurdles that even a rocket ship made out of waffles can’t solve.

This funny children’s book by Maggie Tokuda-Hall is a great book to promote imagination for your child as in the end, she urged for readers to create their own ending.

You can interact with your child while reading this and have them come up with a wonderful ending for this ukulele playing octopus and his friends he met through his journey.

The Watermelon Seed

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The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli is a funny story about a crocodile that loves eating watermelon.

He loves it since he was a baby and enjoy it during his breakfast, lunch and dinner.

He absolutely love it as a dessert too.

The only problem this crocodile have is his fear of what would happen if he eats one of the many seeds of a watermelon.

He accidentally swallows one and starts to think about the different things that can happen to him.

This book is hilarious and you’re gonna have a great time reading this with your little one.

Just don’t forget to tell them that they won’t grow a watermelon in their belly and you’ll be fine.

What If…

Image credit: Mike Curato

What If… tells you a story of a girl that wants to express herself.

She uses pencils to draw but what if the pencils were gone?

She’ll use the paper to fold.

This girl uses everything she had to express herself, even with her own mind.

This rhythmic story by Samantha Berger teaches kids that you can do anything that comes to mind.

You can create and express yourself with anything you have in hand.

This Is Sadie

Image credit: Amazon

This Is Sadie is about a little girl named Sadie and she has a big imagination.

She likes to imagine the box as a boat or cushions for castles.

She likes to read story books and imagine herself inside the stories.

This book by Sara O’Leary would be great for your child to come up with their own ideas to create their own world using their imagination.

This book itself might just inspire your child to use books to go on adventures and imagine themselves as the heroes of their favourite stories.

Another

Image credit: Amazon

Another is a book by Christian Robinson and it takes imagination to another level.

It has no words and readers are expected to come up with their own interpretation of the story as it progresses.

Generally, the story is about a girl and her cat.

She chases her pet through a portal and she goes through multiple other portals and found interesting things, like a duplicate of herself and her cat.

You can have your kids come up with their own interpretation and with the absence of words, you can have multiple interpretations according to their own imaginations.

We Forgot Brock!

Image credit: Amazon

We Forgot Brock! by Carter Goodrich is a book about imaginary friends.

This book follows best friends, Phillip and Brock.

Everybody can see Phillip but only Phillip can see Brock.

The two friends spend their hours together daily but one day, Phillip’s whole family went to the fair.

They had plenty of fun at the fair and Phillip got tired and sleepy.

When Phillip woke up in the car, he realised that Brock wasn’t there with him.

The two best friends were separated and each of them misses the other.

This book shows how important it is for kids to have friends, even if they are imaginary.

Let Their Imagination Run Wild with These Children’s Books

These children’s books are just the beginning.

Encourage your child to explore, create, and build their own worlds.

Visit your local library, host a family story time, or even let them design their own storybook adventure.

Remember, the possibilities are endless when a child’s imagination is ignited.

So, open a children’s book, unleash the sparks, and watch your child’s creativity take flight!


Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice from Motherhood. For any health-related concerns, it is advisable to consult with a qualified healthcare professional or medical practitioner.


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