Story props and small shops!
Physical props can really enrich stories for babies & toddlers (and older!), encouraging creative & interactive play related to the book. They can also encourage a love for reading that stays with them as they grow. Reading for pleasure has been making more headlines since the National Literacy Trust’s 2024 research declared reading for pleasure amongst children was at it’s lowest level ever. The UK Government’s Department for Education (England and Wales) and the National Literacy Trust have recently teamed up to launch a National Year of Reading, starting in January 2026 to ‘kick start a reading revolution’ with the aim of reversing the trend as just one in three aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2025. It will be interesting to see the results of this Year of Reading!
Why is reading for pleasure important? The National Literacy Trust research states;
‘Our previous research shows reading for pleasure can support reading, and wider literacy, skills, wellbeing, empathy, confidence and aptitude for learning. In fact, our 2024 research showed that twice as many children and young people who enjoy reading in their free time had above average reading skills than children who don’t enjoy it’
That’s a lot of benefits.
I should start this by making it clear this is not a sponsored post or an ad or paid for in kind or anything like that. This is just a blog about two companies I really love and have bought a lot of gifts over the years from for my own and friend’s kids (and myself). I have picked out a few bits and pieces that would go well with some Moonlight Rainbow Book Board Books. The companies I am shining a spotlight on are - Babi Pur and Conscious Craft.
Babi Pur are a Wales-based company and state ‘We are a small independent, family run business selling ethically sourced products. Things that are useful, beautiful, fun and free from exploitative labour and unfettered use of resources.’ Conscious Craft, a husband and wife team from England, explain ‘Children instinctively create and live in an imaginative world. We bring that to life here at Conscious Craft by offering you the best natural toys and craft materials we can find. . . All our products have all been selected carefully to be toxin-free and have as little impact on the environment as possible. So good for you, your little ones, and planet Earth too!’
Starting with ‘Banana, Banana, Banana’ by Sarah Finan. Second in the Food, Food, Food! series - it’s perfect for any little ones that like their bananas whole, mashed or drizzled with honey! I'm a big fan of a die-cut board books and onomatopoeic words so this bright, bold beauty is a wee gem. I wonder what will be next?! Props wise you can use the obvious - an actual banana. But if it’s not snack time, the following suggestions may help! The Erzi Banana To Cut Wooden Play Food (£5.95); Nanchen Banana Rattle Doll (£21.95), Oli & Carol Fruit and Veggies - Ana The Banana 100% Natural Rubber teething toy (£17.95), Ezri small banana (£1.50) or PlanToys Fruit Set - Wooden Play Food | Apples, Oranges & Bananas (£17.95)
Next is ‘Where is Frida Kahlo'?’ by Ingela P Arrhenius. This is one of my favourite from the Felt Flap series. Maybe it’s just asking your baby where Pablo Picasso is has a surrealness to it. Art wise there is Finger Paint | Strong Colours (£17.99), Honeysticks Originals | Pastel (£17.95), My First Paint Brush Set (£12.99) or Kitpas Bath Rice Wax Crayons 3 Pack (£8.50)
‘Hello Hello Colors’ by Caldecott Honor–winning illustrator, Brendan Wenzel helps little ones to learn their colours with the help of 60 endangered species including a zebra, a swordfish, a sloth, and an axolotl - so browse through the massive range of Lanka Kade animals and pick your favourites (although I don’t think they have an axolotl!) or try some Kneta vegan playdough and their wild animals stamping set to get even more interactive! If your focus is on the colours try Grimm’s Mini Rainbow (£13.90) or really splash out on the large version (£69.99) and match each page to a colour.
The Our World Series by Sue Lowell Gallion are the kind of books that when on display get a lot of ‘ooohs’ and ‘wows’ (and that’s from the grown ups!) They can be read like a book but also open up fully into a globe and they and play cloths are made for each other. Starting with Our World : A First Book of Geography is the Our World Wondercloth (£34.99), next the To The Moon Wondercloth (£34.99) pairs nicely with the Our Galaxy book. Wonderie’s Giant Play Cloth - Into the Abyss (£39.90) is the perfect pairing for Our Underwater World and finally check out Sarah Silks’ Mini Playsilks Around the Year (£16.99) and (because it’s cute) Plan Toy’s Weather Dress Up (£24.95) for Our Seasons : The World in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn
Finally (for now) is some nice props for Little Robin's Book of Birds by Yuval Zommer. Conscious Craft and Babi Pur both have a great selection of wooden birds - I can’t find a bird that isn’t there - by companies including Lanka Kade, Bumbu, Ostheimer and Holztiger. In addition for all the bird spotters young and old are Uncle Goose Wooden Bird Blocks (£28.90) and Stemcell Science’s Audubon Bird Call (£11.99)
Hopefully this has inspired you to see what you have around the house for a story prop, introduced some new products if you were looking for a book related gift and at least made you aware of two great UK based shops for children (if you hadn’t already heard of them that is). Supporting local businesses at this time is so important and just one way we can give back to communities rather than billionaires.
