Books for Toddlers
By Kerry on June 14, 2019
Quote of the Week
“The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
– Dr. Seuss
Reading to Toddlers
When my babies were just months old, I set up a bedtime routine not because they were ready for one, but because I wanted to start reading to them. Every night we’d give them a bath, put them in their pjs, have a bottle or nurse, then under the dimmed light of night I’d snuggle them into me and read my most favorite book… Owl Moon. I read them that one book every night for months. My husband would chime in here and there with some of his favorites too.
To this day, our children LOVE to read. I swear my daughter learned how to walk so she could pick up a book, walk backwards to then plop herself into our laps over and over again, book after book.
At three years old she has the attention span of 5 minute increments on everything apart from reading. She’ll happily sit in her bed for a half hour and flip the pages of books and make up stories. If you sit down on the couch, know that if you’re there for longer than two minutes she’ll show up with a book and expectations. Be ready to deliver.
We have SO many books so I thought it’d be a good time to share some of our favorites.
Inspirational Books for Toddlers and Parents
There are three books, Rosie Revere Engineer, Iggy Peck Architect, and Ada Twist Scientist which are loosely based on famous people when they are children and how they pursued their passions at young ages. What I love most is it’s inspiration for our children and really a lesson to us as parents on how to cultivate their creativity and not look at it as a nuance.
Big Feeling Books for Toddlers
My Aunt Caitlin was recently here. She is Family and Child Psychologist. She noticed that my son especially has a lot of feelings from very very happy to very very sad and all the colors in between. She got him a book called In My Heart: A Book of Feelings.
Another one I like that my friend recommended was The Way I Feel.
We also had a few Daniel Tiger books I’m Feeling Sad, and I’m Feeling Silly.
I like all of these books for different reasons.
The Way I Feel is a great definitions book. It’s basically helping kids put words to what they’re feeling. It’s very straight forward.
Daniel Tiger is great is because it gives examples on what makes Daniel feel sad and tools, like a song or painting, to move through those feelings.
And once kids know what these feelings are and what to call them, In My Heart lets our children know that they are allowed to feel all these feelings. They are normal and real and it’s okay to have them.
Toddler Size Board Books
Board books are the bomb for toddlers and not just because they’re a bit more durable (which is helpful for sure), but also because they give the toddler autonomy. A toddler can lift a board book and walk it over to you or sit and read it by themselves. Also, fun fact, board books are generally less expensive.
Here are a few of our favorite board books:
- Bedtime for Batman
- Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (It’s in the shape of Trolley)
- First 100 words
- Giraffes Can’t Dance
- Little Blue Truck
- The Little Blue Box of Bright and Early Board Books by Dr. Seuss
- Little Owl’s Night
- Pajama Time
- Pout Pout Fish
They also loved these texture books. Especially when we asked them to find the mouse in each scene:
Graphic Novels for Toddlers
I can’t take credit for this one. My husband found Ember City as a graphic novel and started reading it to them at 2. He’d point to each square, say what the characters were saying, giving each character a voice, then narrate through the pictures.
That same summer, my son came across a yellow piece of paper from the fridge and started calling it the instructions. Then him and his twin sister would run around the house pretending to find the way out… just like in the book.
Ever since they’ve been taring through a whole host of Graphic Novels. Here’s our short list:
Find Your Happy Medium
We started reading to them at just a few months old and haven’t stopped. Their love for reading is magical. To the point where my daughter put down her tablet, leaped off the sofa, and ran to her brother’s bed to hear her dad read a story. Books greater than tablets. My work here is done.
This is a very small selection of our most prized favorites. This list barely scratches the surface of what’s out there. OH! 5 Minute Story Collection books. We have a TON of those and they are great bedtime stories because we read one before bed and there’s very little kick back of wanting more. They’re the perfect length.
Anyway, find books you love and inspire you because if you love reading to them they will fall in love with reading. You’ll be more excited about telling them the story, making up silly voices, exaggerating certain words, which will hold their attention and create this unbreakable bond between you.
As always, you do you and keep finding your happy medium, one page at a time.