Favorite books for a toddler

September 20, 2016 3 minute read

It has been so fun watching Max discover books. When there is a particular one he wants us to read he comes running over, waving the book in the air and sits on our lap. Even if we are standing, he still backs his little bottom up against us and plops down on our feet. There are other times he sits alone flipping through a book, babbling in a language only he knows. We’ve started making trips to our local library to pick out books, which is something that feels so special because I used to love doing that with my mom.

Right now we prefer board books because we’ve lost a few pages to Max enthusiastically turning the pages. Here are our 10 current favorites.

Giraffe’s Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae - I love that this story encourages confidence and creativity when the main character Gerald the Giraffe learns to dance. The vivid illustrations are beautiful and the rhyming meter is so fun to read.
The Little Blue Truck Leads the Way by Alice Schertle - This is the first book that Max showed a strong preference for. So much so that both Aaron and I can recite the book from memory now. It follows a little blue truck through the city and Max loves pointing out the truck on every page.
How to Babysit a Grandpa by Jean Reagan - This is an adorable book for when Max sees his grandparents.
Chica Chica Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault - This book is without a doubt fun to read and is one of the more clever takes on an alphabet book that I have seen. While there is not much of a story compared to some of the other books on this list, Aaron and I love saying “Chica Chica Boom Boom”.
Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz - This is an adorable interactive peekaboo book. The author asks “Where are Baby’s hands? Under the bubbles!” Katz has a series of similar peekaboo books, but this one is our favorite. We love having Max point out his nose, or belly button after he finds it on baby.
Mighty Dads by Joan Holub - This is ideal for any truck lover. It is beautifully illustrated and touches upon the sweet bond between father and son. Max loves this book so much and sometimes goes to sleep clutching it.
Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton - This book is on the shorter side, but it’s so fun to make the animal sounds. However, now when Max sees a pig he says “la la la la la”!
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker - This book was given to us as a baby shower gift and we absolutely love it. It is a great bedtime book because it goes through each of the big construction trucks and says “Shh goodnight dump truck, goodnight”. Now at the end of the story, Max always says “Shhh”.
The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood - This was one of Aaron’s favorite books as a kid, and we have the original copy. He read it so many times that most of the pages are hanging on by a thread. But we love reading it to Max.
Goodnight iPad: a Parody for the next generation by Ann Droyd - We picked this one up at the computer museum on our recent trip to San Francisco and it makes me laugh every time I read it. It’s a parady on Goodnight moon, but instead says goodnight to “Androids, apps and glowing screens”.