12 Books You’ll Love Reading With Babies & Toddlers
by Eliza Smith
It is a universally acknowledged fact that reading aloud to babies and toddlers has numerous benefits. From improving their comprehension to developing their fluency in language and pattern recognition, it even helps with building confidence. It is also a wonderful way to spend time together as a family — either one-on-one or following along and demonstrating their growing reading skills with older kids in the mix.
From classics you’ll recognize from your own childhood to modern favorites you’ll soon be able to recite in your sleep, here are 12 books we recommend for reading together with babies to foster a love of reading.
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Grumpy Monkey
Available from:Everyone’s favorite curmudgeon delivers an essential lesson about confusing feelings and bad days. Introduce your child to Jim Panzee and his hilariously awful day as he works through the intense emotions of young children. It’s a fantastic way to show your toddler that grouchy feelings can happen at any time to anyone.
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Penguin Problems
Available from:Any day that Jory John and Lane Smith team up to create a book is a good day for readers. Add this hilarious board book to your bedtime reading stack, and both you and your child will find a new favorite. Each page bursts with penguins, problems, and enough humor to make reading (and re-reading) the book a pleasure.
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Families Can
Available from:Families come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. This charming board book celebrates the things that make each family unique and special. It’s the perfect book to read to your baby or toddler while they snuggle on your lap.
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Can You Guess? Animal Sounds with The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Available from:Put your acting skills to use with this fun board book from the creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. With Eric Carle’s gorgeous illustrations, useful tips from the Caterpillar, and your animal impressions, your child will have a blast learning the sounds in this book.
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Unicorns Are Real!
Available from:Unicorn lovers of all ages will bond over this sparkly board book. Filled with fun facts and adorable illustrations, it will keep your baby engrossed as you read about these magical creatures together.
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Happy Hair
Available from:One of the best books to read with your daughter is a book that celebrates her. With adorable Black girl hairstyles combined with positive messages to boost self-esteem, this book is a storytime must-read! And make sure to check out Cool Cuts for an uplifting book to read with your son.
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Dr. Seuss’s Spring Things
Available from:Dr. Seuss books are always a delight to read aloud thanks to the Seussian rhymes and imaginative vocabulary, and this springtime edition is perfect for the changing season. If your young ones are starting to feel cooped up, celebrate the refreshing nature of spring with two beloved characters, Thing One and Thing Two.
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The Three Little Pigs
Available from:You may know this one by heart, but the Penguin Bedtime Classics series is a must-have for bringing literature’s most iconic stories into the present day for young readers. We’re especially partial to The Three Little Pigs for a read-aloud session — with performance opportunities abound.
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That’s Me Loving You
Available from:With its rhythmic sentences, poetry is ideal for reading aloud. This heartfelt board book is especially ideal for snuggle time. It offers a gentle reminder that a parent’s love is always present — mirrored in the natural world and the feelings of closeness we carry with us — so that little ones can feel confident and know that they are always cared for.
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I Don’t Want to Be a Frog
Available from:You can never go wrong bringing humor into read-aloud time — it’s ideal for engaging everyone, especially distracted readers. Try out this hilarious exchange between a patient frog dad and his young son, who’s desperate to be anything but a frog (until, that is, the clever ending). The underlying message of self-acceptance makes this book even more wholesome!
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Huggy Kissy
Available from:Frankly, you can’t go wrong with any of Leslie Patricelli’s board books starring the one-haired baby wonder, but might we suggest this particularly affectionate title? With Huggy Kissy, everyone at home is eager to show the baby their bottomless love — even (or in this case, especially) the family dog.
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Llama Llama Red Pajama
Available from:Don’t be surprised if this bedtime favorite transcends its storytime slot and becomes an all-day, every-day kind of favorite. I mean, do read-aloud rhymes get much more fun than “llama llama red pajama”? The first in the Llama Llama series that inspired a llama-rific movement, it’s irresistible for little readers and heart-warmingly adorable for grown-ups.
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