Best Books for Toddler Girls or Boys
The world of toddlers is a busy one. Even though they are frequently on the move, toddlers need books as much as babies do. Now that your child is no longer a baby, but officially a toddler, he is developmentally ready to truly discover the pleasure of books. He now has the attention span of following a basic story line. He can distinguish one character from another and has a more sophisticated ear for language. He is now ready to learn more about the world he lives in.
Make reading time fun. Let you child choose the book he wants you to read, even if it’s the same one over and over again. Read with gusto. Give each character in the story a different voice and act out the parts they play. Stop occasionally and engage your child in the story by asking him some questions. You might ask, “Can you find the balloon the little boy wants to play with,” “Where is the doggie in this picture?” “What kinds of animals do you see at the zoo?” Be patient if your child stops you to ask questions or make comments. And, if he gets tired, even if it’s in the middle of the story, stop reading and finish the story another time.
Enjoy this special time. Sitting in a comfortable chair or on your child’s bed to read a story is one of the best things about being a parent. It’s a great time to cuddle and give your toddler undivided attention. Reading a book with mom or dad before nap time, bed time, or anytime of day, can serve as a great wind-down for active toddlers.
What to Look for When Choosing Books for Toddlers
For toddlers, picture books provide more elaborate plots and illustrations then board books do. Subjects range from ABCs to animals, feelings to favorite characters. Look for large, colorful pictures and simple story lines or rhymes that introduce basic themes and invite conversation.
Touch and feel books provide hands-on teaching activities for toddlers. Touch and feel books are designed to encourage toddlers to explore the world around them. Touch and feel books feature fun, tactile elements on each page which depict objects familiar to toddlers. Touch and feel books reinforce primary learning skills through sensory perception.
Here Are My Favorite Books for Toddler Girls or Boys
Are You My Mother? – by P.D. Eastman
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I love this book. A mother bird leaves her egg in the nest to go look for some food. While she’s gone, the egg hatches, and the baby bird sets off to find his mother, but he doesn’t know what she looks like. His search leads him to ask a variety of animals and machines, “Are You My Mother?” Finally, a crane deposits him back in the nest, where his mother is waiting. Every time I read this book to my children I would get a warm, fuzzy feeling and even a little teary eyed.
Guess How Much I Love You – by Sam McBratney
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I think this is so sweet about how much a father loves his son. During a bedtime game, every time Little Nutbrown Hare demonstrates how much he loves his father, Big Nutbrown Hare gently shows him that the love is returned even more.
The Very Hungry Caterpiller – by Eric Carle
One sunny day, a caterpillar pops out of an egg. He is very hungry and begins searching for food. He travels along and eats his way through the week, each day eating one more item than the day before. Eventually he becomes a fat caterpillar. The following Sunday he spins a cocoon and goes to sleep. He sleeps for two weeks. When he emerges he has turned into a beautiful butterfly. This book teaches your toddler the days of the week, how to count from one to five, names a number of familiar foods, and traces the life-cycle of a caterpillar.
Is Your Mama a Llama? – by Deborah Guarino
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Children have fun as they follow a llama on a search for his mama. A young llama asks all his friends if their mama is a llama and finds out, in rhyme, that their mothers are other types of animals. Amusing characters include a bat, a swan, a cow, seals, a kangaroo, baby and mother owls, seagulls, turtles, rabbits, koala bears, opossums, and of course, llamas. Colorful pictures and fun animals make this a must-have book.
Baby Baluga – by Raffi
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The text in this book comes from the beloved children’s song “Baby Beluga” by Raffi. It tells the store of a baby beluga whale who lives in the water with his mother and his friends. The whale swims and plays, goes to bed, and then gets up to do it all over again. Children
will get a first, cheerful lesson about the natural world by becoming acquainted with enchanting Baby Beluga.
Harry the Dirty Dog – by Gene Zion
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Harry is a white dog with black spots who loves everything, except baths. So one day before bath time, Harry runs away. He plays outside all day long, digging, sliding in everything from garden soil to pavement tar. By the time he returns home, Harry is so dirty he looks like a black dog with white spots. He is completely unrecognizable to his family, even when he does all his clever flip-flopping tricks. In a stroke of doggy genius, he unearths the bath brush, begs for a bath, and is so happy when his family recognizes him again.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – by Helen Oxenbury
A father and his four rambunctious children set out to locate one bear. With their boarder collie along they successfully cross the tall, wavy grass, ford the deep cold river, tromp through the mud, wander through the deep, dark forest, brave a whirling snow storm and finally enter the bear’s cave where they find the bear. The bear chases the brave troop back over every place they’ve been before, to the safety of their home. The bear then turns around and goes home.
Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You? – by Dr. Seuss
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This board book is especially fun for the toddler who is just learning to recognize animal and other sounds. Mr. Brown is an expert at imitating all sorts of noises. Listen to the cow’s Moo, the frying eggs’ sizzle, the horse feet clopping, goldfish kissing and the thunders BOOM BOOM BOOM. As usual, the words and pictures of Dr. Suess make reading, and making all sorts of funny noises impossible to resist. In addition you just can’t go wrong with a book from Dr. Suess.
The Napping House – by Audrey Wood
It’s a rainy night and on a cozy bed lie a snoring granny, a dreaming child, a dozing dog, a snoozing cat, and a tiny slumbering mouse. But then an unexpected visitor arrives, a wakeful flea. When the little flea bites the mouse, it causes a chaotic chain reaction in the bed. Now no one is sleeping. The way the characters pop out of bed is truly entertaining and imaginable.
Counting Kisses – by Karen Katz
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A tired little baby receives all kinds of kisses from Mommy, Daddy, and even Grandma. From “10 little kisses on teeny tiny toes” to one final kiss on the baby’s “sleepy, dreamy head,” parents can bond with their little one by giving the same kisses to their child as the baby in the book receives. This book is a great way to have fun with reading and to share affection with a special child in your life.
Baby Happy Baby Sad – by Leslie Patricelli
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This book creatively helps toddlers understand this pair of emotions. A towering ice-cream cone makes Baby Happy. But when that delectable treat goes splat, it makes Baby Sad. And how quickly Happy turns to Sad when a favorite red balloon flies away! Even the littlest listeners will relate to this playful look at a pair of emotions that are part of every baby’s day.
Yummy Yucky – by Karen Katz
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Learning what is and isn’t ok to put in your mouth is an important part of growing up. Spaghetti is yummy, worms are yucky. Mommy’s cookies are yummy, but her coffee is yucky. Burgers, well those are yummy, but they should not be confused with boogers, which are yucky. The list of contrasts goes on throughout this book. Learning about opposites has never been more fun or funny than with this winning book.
Cookie Count – by Robert Sabuda
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Yum! This delicious counting book offers much more than the numbers one to ten. Each page is a feast of sweet, sugary treats, coconut kisses, peanut-butter cookies, Linzer hearts, and more are carefully concocted and counted by mouse chefs. The tempting desserts are made all the more delectable by brilliant pop-up constructions that leap from the pages, practically into your mouth. Cookie Count is a delicate book. Read it with your child and teach him to be gentle when turning the pages.
Green Eggs and Ham – by Dr. Suess
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Sam-I-Am won’t give up! He keeps trying to get the grumpy grown-up in the story to taste green eggs and ham. No matter how Sam-I-am presents the green eggs and ham, in a box, with a fox, in the rain, on a train, the grumpy grown-up refuses to try them. Finally, Sam-I am’s pesky persistence pays off as the old grouch takes a bite. The old sourpuss’s face lights up as he gratefully acknowledges, “I do like green eggs and ham. Thank you, thank you Sam-I-am!” Try as you might, you can’t resist Sam-I-Am and his Green Eggs and Ham.
The Run Away Bunny – by Margaret Wise Brown
The little bunny wonders what it would be like to strike out on his own. He dreams of becoming a fish, a bird and even a “crocus in a hidden garden”. With each incarnation he imagines, his mother promises to become a fisherman, a tree and a gardener so that she may still watch over, guide and protect her little bunny. Realizing that his mother’s love is unwavering, the little bunny decides he would be wise to stay home and just be himself.
Corduroy – by Don Freeman
For any kid who has dreamed of having an empty department store all to himself, Corduroy is a dream come true. This adorable bear has terrific adventures on his way to find his missing button. When all the shoppers have gone home for the night, Corduroy climbs down from the shelf to look for his missing button. He accidentally gets on an elevator that he thinks must be a mountain and sees the furniture section that he thinks must be a palace. He tries to pull a button off the mattress, but he ends up falling off the bed and knocking over a lamp. The night watchman hears the crash, finds Corduroy, and puts him back on the shelf downstairs. The next morning, he finds that it’s his lucky day! A little girl buys him with money she saved in her piggy bank and takes him home to her room. Corduroy decides that this must be home and that Lisa must be his friend.