Our Favorite Baby Books Part 2: A Few More Good Books for Baby

Here are some more of our favorite books to read to babies and toddlers.

From Taryn:
Both of my favorite books have spectacular illustrations. While babies will not follow the stories (they’ll be more interested when they are about 2 or 3 years old), they will love to look at the colors and pictures on the pages.

1. Baby Honu Saves the Day by Tammy Yee
Baby Honu is a sea turtle who recruits some special friends to save a beached dolphin.

2. Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
This is a beautiful story about how the moon gets up into the sky. The pictures are beautiful and there are very few words, a nice bedtime book to share.

From Jane:
1. Pat the Bunny - by Dorothy Kunhardt
A classic from many years ago, this book includes a simple story on pages filled with different textures for babies to touch. I had a few of these books; my kids tended to wear them out while exploring the pages.

2. Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton
This cute little rhyming book is another story about how much parents love their babies. Sandra Boynton books are always good choices for imaginative characters and bright colors.

3. Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
While this book is nearly as old as I am, it is a classic. With all the silly rhymes and pictures, babies will love to hear your voice repeating the same sounds over and over.

4. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond
Another fun rhyming book that your children will want to hear again and again. They’ll love the crazy results from the simple beginning of giving a mouse a cookie. The pictures and colors will keep babies’ attention until they can follow the story themselves.

5. May I Bring a Friend? by Beatrice de Regniers and Beni Montresor
While it is not as well known as the other books, this story was one of my daughter’s favorites. It is a lovely rhyming story about a little boy who asks a king and queen if he can bring animal friends to his many visits to the palace. This one will be a favorite for years.

Next time: We’ll Solve Some Baby Behavior Mysteries!

Our Favorite Baby Books: Part 1

Last time, Taryn shared the latest research about the value of reading to your baby or toddler. After talking excitedly about the special baby books we had read to our own children (or remembered from childhood), we realized that we needed more than one post to share our favorites with you! As you know, we don't promote or name products on this blog but we had to make an exception for these wonderful books (and no, we don't have any investments in bookstores or publishers). First up, JenG and Kerri share their favorite baby/toddler books.

JenG's Favorites

1. Counting Kisses By Karen Katz
This was a fun interactive book that I read to my daughter from the time she was only a few weeks old all the way until she was about 2 years old. In the beginning she simply loved being talked to and kissed. As she got older she learned all of her body parts as we kissed them throughout the book.

2. Goodnight Moon By: Margaret Wise Brown
This is a classic! If you haven’t already added it to your library, you probably should! This book is written as a beautiful poem that starts with saying goodnight to everything in a little bunny’s room. At an early age my daughter would point to the objects we were saying goodnight to as we went through the book, later she would finish my sentences: Goodnight ____. Goodnight____. The story ends with bunny asleep in his bed. This book provides a great transition to bedtime.

3. Guess How Much I Love You By: Sam McBratney
This story is the tale of a daddy rabbit and baby rabbit that try to outdo one another with examples of how much they love each other. It is very sweet. When I read it, I changed the wording so that it was mama rabbit. My daughter would always have this wide, confident smile after we read this book.

4. Llama Llama Red Pajama By: Anna Dewdney
A very sweet bedtime book that I found when my daughter was 12-18 months of age and struggling with bedtime. The rhyming was very comforting and almost lulled her to sleep. I was working during the day and so my favorite line was: “Mama is always near, even if I'm not right here." I wanted her to know that just because she couldn’t see me at times, didn’t mean I wasn’t coming back to her.

Kerri's Favorites
1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar teaches about the days of the week, and the life cycle of a caterpillar. My daughter loved this book, especially the end when the caterpillar came out of the cocoon and was a beautiful butterfly.

2. White Rabbit’s Color Book by Alan Baker

This is a fun book about a white rabbit who jumps into different colors of paint (red, yellow, and blue) to become a different color. The rabbit takes a shower to wash each color paint off, but soon runs out of water and only has a little paint left. This is a great story to teach your child about colors and how 2 different colors can be mixed together to make a third color.

3. How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? By Jane Yolen

My daughter and I read this book every night before bed for months. This book is about “dinosaurs” that don’t want to go to bed but by the end they let the parent tuck them into bed and say goodnight. “They give a big hug, then give one kiss more. Goodnight, goodnight little dinosaur."

4. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

This is a great rhyming book that teaches about colors and animals. My daughter’s favorite part was at the end when it lists all of the animals that the children would see!

Now its your turn! What are your favorite books?

Next time: More of Our Favorite Books!