We love the Gruffalo books, in fact anything by Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler. And other favs are by Tony Mitton/Guy Parker-Rees (eg All afloat on Noah's Boat,or Bumpus Rumpus Dinosaur Rumpus). John Birmingham is another oldie but good author too, his books have been around since I was a kid, which is a looong time ago now. The Dr Seuss ones are good too, cos they colour code them into pre-reader, early reader & older reader.

And if you've got the patience to read chapter by chapter (and your DS has the attention span), things like the original Blinky Bill, Magic Pudding, Winnie the Pooh (including the poems), Wind in the Willows are all gorgeous, although a bit more "work", cos not so many pictures.