Allan Ahlberg was born on 5th June 1938 in Croydon. Allan and his wife, Janet Ahlberg, worked together for 20 years creating many children's books, including picture books, before Janet passed away in 1994. Allan wrote the stories while Janet illustrated them.

Fans of chocolate and space will adore this princess book with a twist, whose protagonist is very definitely at the centre of all the delicious action. Not only does Will struggle to get any attention with four other brothers in the house, his mother decides to send them all to the library – in the holidays! The librarian, Spud Murphy, is Will’s worst nightmare. But unexpectedly, things take a sharp turn for the better. A more challenging addition to your class library of books for year two and a great book for teachers or parents to read aloud. The cast played several different characters throughout the series with many recurring roles for the main cast including Milton Johns, Annette Badland and Elizabeth Estensen. Throughout my younger years I have read them all. Each and every one of them was a joy to read. Mrs Wobble the Waitress is my younger sister's favourite book of the series, so I decided to re-read it and then write a review.

A unique and imaginative book about Peter, who lives in a magical library and is on the search for a very special book entitled: “How To Live Forever”. This book will provoke lots of questions from year 2 children, and it’s a useful text to spark discussion and ideas for creative writing and story starters. Allan Ahlberg, a former teacher, postman, plumber's mate and grave digger, is in the super-league of children's writers. He has published over 100 children's books and, with his late wife Janet, created such award winning picture books as EACH PEACH PEAR PLUM and THE JOLLY POSTMAN - both winners of the Kate Greenaway Medal. He has also written prize-winning poetry and fiction and lives in Bath.

Each night, the mysterious Tear Thief takes away all the tears from every unhappy child. What where does the Tear Thief go, and what happens to all the tears? This is a useful book to help discuss feelings and emotions with infant pupils – especially during circle time. Atmospheric and poignant, and with rich and poetic language, this is an excellent text to build a year 2 literacy unit around. This book is engaging and children will find it very funny. Children will love the silly things that happen as a result of Mrs Wobble's uncontrollable wobbling! The story is great and I like the way it is showing children that we are all unique and can have problems beyond our control. Problems have solutions which is what is portrayed in this book. Great for confidence building!Mr Majeika is no run-of-the-mill teacher. Amongst other things, he glides in each day by magic carpet and turns the class clown into a frog. School life will never be the same again! This imaginative short-chapter book is a good starting point for encouraging children to try longer and more complex texts in year two. Happy Families is a British children's television series made in the late 1980s based on the Happy Families series of books by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. Happy Families ran for two series, 24 episodes in all (since each story was split over two episodes), and was shown on Children's BBC in 1989 and 1990. This fun, well illustrated story would perhaps be suitable for slightly older readers in late Year 2 to Year 4. The theme which seems to run through the book is the importance of team work.

If you liked our year 2 book list, why not try our Books for Year 1 reading list or our list of recommended picture books. We also have a great list of pirate-themed books for topics in year 2. Disclosure: If you buy books using the button above, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops. Books for year 2 video Traditional fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs are reworked in these extremely funny stories about a wolf who has some trouble making pancakes. A good source of ideas for creative writing story starters, this book is a useful text to build a short year 2 literacy around.A classic picture book for younger readers. When Hannah asks for a Gorilla for her birthday, she gets more than she bargained for – a real gorilla appears and takes her on a mesmerising and unexpected journey. This is a good book to help spark imaginative ideas from year 2 pupils to then discuss, model and use in creative writing. A little boy turns up on the doorstep of Old Bob and his wife Joan, and when asked where he came from, says: “I was a rat!” An enthralling story with a clever twist and atmospheric writing. Ideal to read and discuss with your child in year 2. Janet and Allan Ahlberg's Happy Families series is full of wonderful and funny books, perfect for children learning to read. This new, bigger, edition means that even younger children can enjoy the stories. Look out for Mr Biff the Boxer, too! Malcolm is a normal boy, but all those around him a slightly strange. There’s a school that tries hard to make everything boring, a genie who appears if you rub your nose, and a city called Ponky. The first of a series, this is an ideal book for Year 2 children to read out loud. Possibly the most evil teacher in the world gets her comeuppance in style thanks to Junkyard, Pencil and Spider, who come up with a cunning plan. This fun story with short chapters and rich language works well as a year 2 class reader or a read-aloud for the end of the day.