I was this close to skipping 《享读宝》because of the price ($60!) — but I’m so glad I didn’t.

This graded reader series features simple, everyday stories like《自己找》《是我的》and《要喝水》. It’s actually for about 5-7 years old, but my 3.5 years old boy really connects with it!

The best part? The reusable sticker activity pages. My son absolutely loves matching the words — he picks up the books on his own and plays again and again. He even tries saying the characters aloud!

A surprising win in our no-screentime toolkit. We got this high-quality book series from Maha Yu Yi Bookstore.

A classic that never gets old. With its simple rhythm, cheerful collage-style art, and those iconic peek-through pages, this one’s a favourite.

But did you know it’s actually a quiet little math book? It introduces counting, sequencing, days of the week and even basic nutrition — all wrapped up in a story about transformation.

Interestingly, the book gets one small thing wrong: caterpillars turn into chrysalides, not cocoons! But we still love the story!

Another classic, The Gruffalo is one of those books that’s fun to read aloud (again and again), thanks to its clever rhymes and memorable rhythm. We’ve read it so many times at bedtime that I’m pretty sure I can recite it in my sleep.

The story follows a little mouse who takes a stroll through the deep, dark wood and outsmarts a series of predators by inventing a fearsome creature called the Gruffalo — only to come face to face with the very creature he thought he’d made up. It’s funny, a little cheeky and just the right amount of thrilling for preschoolers.

What I love most is how it celebrates wit over size, and how children always delight in the twist at the end. Definitely a keeper on our shelf.

This one’s a gentle gem. The Colour Monster is a beautifully illustrated book that helps young children name and understand their feelings through colours. Each emotion is matched with a hue — yellow for happiness, blue for sadness, red for anger — and the story follows a confused little monster as he learns to sort them all out.

What I love most is how accessible it is. Emotions can feel big and hard to explain, especially for preschoolers, but this book offers a soft, visual language that makes it all a little less overwhelming. The collage-style illustrations are playful and expressive, and the message is simple but meaningful: it’s okay to feel many things, but it helps to understand what they are!

This one’s a tender, thoughtful read for any child about to become a big sibling. When her baby brother arrives, Matisse realises she’s not so little anymore — and that being a big girl can mean being gentle, patient, and full of love.

I bought this when I was expecting number two, and it became a lovely way to talk to my eldest about her role as a big sister. The illustrations are soft and nostalgic, and the story captures all the small, quiet ways a child grows when a sibling comes along. It’s not loud or overly emotional— just sweet, honest and beautifully reassuring.

This one’s full of charm and local heart. The Incredible Basket celebrates the humble rattan basket and all the ways it’s been used in daily life — carrying everything from noodles to mangosteens to comic books.

Part of Quek Hong Shin’s “Heritage” series (The Amazing Sarong, The Brilliant Oil Lamp, The Marvellous Sugee Cake), this is my son’s favourite — and I can see why.

The basket is such a fun and familiar symbol, and the story sparks lots of curiosity about how things were done before. I also love that the boy is called Xiaoming — it instantly reminded me of writing Chinese compositions in school, and gave the book an extra nostalgic kick!

Join Olive, Kale, and Mum as they prepare colourful tang yuan for Dongzhi (Winter Solstice) and Yuanxiao (Lantern Festival). Using natural food dyes and a rainbow of ingredients, they knead, colour, and cook their way through a warm, hands-on family tradition. Set against the backdrop of these Chinese festivals, the story celebrates the joy of making something together — and savouring it as a family.

When I first saw this book, I knew my son would love it — he’s drawn to anything with colours. The story is a fun, page-flipping adventure where your child chooses a colour for the tang yuan and jumps to different pages to reveal what emotion it holds. You can also pair the book with the BrookieKids app to unlock a voice-interactive version of the story, so your child can practise speaking in Chinese as they go along. A delightful mix of tradition, language learning, and hands-on storytelling.

As a longtime Journey to the West fan (Monkey King forever! 🐒✨), I’ve always dreamed of sharing this epic story with my kids — but the original texts are way too dense for them (and I actually.)

So imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this gem at Maha Yu Yi Bookstore: a full-colour comic version of 西游记, written entirely in Chinese. The illustrations are bold and fun and the wordings with Hanyu Pinyin make it so much more approachable for young readers. My kids were not resistant at all, and the eldest even chose it for her Chinese silent reading.