Favorite books for Toddlers

It is no surprise that reading is so important for language development in children. We make it a habit to read every night before bed as part of our bedtime routine, and sometimes throughout the day as well. I really encourage all parents to incorporate reading at night before bedtime as early as infancy. Not only does reading help establish a healthy sleep routine, it shows kids that reading is fun and relaxing!

When looking for books for toddlers consider:

• Rhyming books — easy for little ones to remember and follow along
• Interactive/Lift the flap books — Keep toddler engaged in the story
• Repetitive Phrases — similar to rhyming helps them remember and follow along
• Pictures that match the words — helps with word recognition later on

Did you know that kids thrive on reading the same stories over and over? Remember: re-reading the same stories can help toddlers start to put words with pictures — they begin to memorize the books, which is actually very helpful in learning to read.

One other point I would like to mention is that I really try to stay away from the gender stereotypes — thats a “boy’s” book or a “girl’s” book. I pick some of everything and in fact, some of our absolute favorite books are about cars and trucks and I am TOTALLY good with that.

I thought I would share our top 30 favorite books just in time for the holiday season. These make perfect gifts (or cards —similar price and less wasteful). This list is a mix of classics and new books — are perfect for kids under three years old. I always choose a board book if available because they are less likely to get destroyed.

Below are our top 30 favorite books in no particular order:

1. Little Blue Truck – one of our all time favorites– we actually own several in this series
2. The Pout Pout Fish — we own several pout pout fish books as well but the original still remains our favorite
3. Madeline – one of my favorite childhood books as well
4. Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site — a new one to us but we pick this one at least once a week
5. Press Here — this is THE COOLEST interactive book to own
6. The Gruffalo — such a cute rhyming story line. I personally love the ending
7. Room on the Broom — same author as the gruffalo but about a witch. We love this one.
8. The Snowy Day — gorgeous illustrations and apparently a groundbreaking book from the 60s about realistic urban living. If you follow me on instagram you probably know this is Izzy’s current favorite.
9. Pat the Bunny — an oldie but goodie. Need I say more?
10. Brown Bear Brown Bear — always read this as a child, and one of our girls favorite.
11. The Hungry Caterpillar — A classic for every toddler bookshelf
12. Knuffle Bunny — love Mo Williems. All of his books. But this one reminds me of living in NYC and the girls adore Knuffle Bunny.
13. An Elephant and Piggy book – Another Mo Williems Classic. Notice how he incorporates real pictures with illustrations in his books! We just love him! Elephant and Piggy are characters in a series of many books. We have been loving lets go for a drive!
14. Olivia – Just the cutest little Piggy around!
15. Pajama Time — or any other Sandra Boynton Book. We love them all!
16. Fox in Sox — or any other Dr. Seuss classic — you cant go wrong here. This one always gets a good laugh though because of the tongue twisters.
17. Giraffes Cant Dance — Gerald is the cutest sweetest giraffe who doesn’t let bullying stop him from doing what he loves best!
18. Where the Wild Things Are — we love this book so much we even have a matching T-shirt.
19. Cat the Cat — cute short rhyming book that is always a favorite choice!
20. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom — this book has honestly been the drive for my girls to learn their letters!
21. Gosie – About a little Gosling that learns to share. We love this cute story.
22. Dear Zoo – a lift the flap interactive book. Perfect for young toddlers.
23. Llama Llama Nighty Night — Love all the Llama Llama books. This is our favorite.
24. Llama Llama Red Pajama — second favorite Llama Llama book!
25. Peek-a-who — Super short read that most toddlers can easily memorize. Great for young toddlers and learning to read!
26. Harold and the Purple Crayon — ever since we saw the puppet show we have been obsessed with this classic.
27. Goodnight Moon — every child should have this classic on their book shelf!
28. Oh the Wonderful Things You Will Be — such a sweet book with gorgeous illustrations.
29. Dragons love Tacos — this one is geared for older toddlers but super cute!
30. The Napping House — Loved this one too as a kid!

Like this post? Consider checking out the Tike vs. Balance Bike article from Twinsietips! Will you be getting one of these for the Holidays?

Rachel

Rachel is a mama to two beautiful identical twin girls, Izzy and Maddy, and lives in Atlanta with her husband, girls, and cute little pup. Rachel graduated with honors from New York University earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and the Founders’ Day Scholar Award. She also received her Masters of Science in Nursing degree from New York University. Rachel has spent the majority of her career as a pediatric nurse and currently works in pediatric oncology.