There are books that come and books that go, but then there are the books that stay with us. They are the ones that stand the test of time. These are the kinds of books that you want in your baby’s library.
To this day, my son, now four, still runs to the basket of board books when we need something quick before bed and we don’t have much time.
One of his favorites is the Very Hungry Caterpillar. He can almost retell it from memory. When my daughter was born, I asked him if he wanted to read her a book. Can you guess which book he ran off to find? Of course, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. As he turned the pages, he relived the book that we’d shared so many times. It was so cute to hear the inflection in his voice as he mimicked my tone and intonation.
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When we read with our kids we aren’t just making memories, we are creating life long learners and lovers of books! It’s important when planning a library for your baby to think about having a variety of books. I’ve listed some of our favorites below with their key characteristics. I hope you enjoy many hours with these books. The memories will last you a lifetime.
Are You My Mother by P.D. Eastman
- problem/solution
- repeated phrase (Are you my mother?)
- animal identification
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin
- letter order
- letter identification
- repeated phrase (Chicka chicka boom boom, will there be enough room)
Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
- problem/solution
- descriptive language
- animal identification
- patterned text (They sent me a ___, It was too ___, I sent it back)
Go Dog Go by P.D. Eastman
- color identification
- different sizes
- prepositions (up, down)
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
- wordless
- read through illustrations
- animal identification
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
- rhyming words
- household identification
- repeated phrase (goodnight, ___)
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
- a parent’s love
- comparisons
I Spy by Jean Marzollo
- rhyming words
- repetition
- search & find
- toy identification
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
- repeated phrase (I’m afraid it won’t come up)
- determination
- growth mindset
The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
- rhyming
- animal identification
- counting (eggs)
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
- repetition
- descriptive words
- building sequence
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
- life cycle
- counting
- food identification
There’s a Wocket in my Pocket by Dr. Seuss
- silly rhymes
- make believe animals
If you like Dr. Seuss you also might enjoy this
- repetition/pattern
- problem/solution
- chant
Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill
- lift & flip book
- problem/solution
Are you just starting your baby’s library?
What was your favorite book as a child?
Do you plan to read to your child often?
You might also be interested in How I Taught My Son 100 Words by His First Birthday
I love every single book on this list, it’s a perfect collection! We also love Brown Bear, Brown Bear. My children and I usually read together several times a day. We love it! One of my favorite books as a child was “Who Said Red?” It would fit in well with your suggestions!
I love books so much! I should add Brown Bear to my list–that’s an excellent one. I will have to look up, “Who Said Red?”, I’ve never heard of that one.
I absolutely LOVE your list! My list of toddler books is nearly identical, ha, ha! Books make the best friends!
I love children’s books! We can teach so many life lessons with them too 🙂
Great list of books! We own a few of these already. Chicka chicka boom boom was my twins favorite book then they were younger.
Yes, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a great one! I used to teach Kindergarten and that was always a favorite read aloud!
Definitely some long-lasting, classic books here. I always loved The Rainbow Fish; I think you can get a board book version.
-Lauren
Oh, that is a good one! I’ve never seen it as a board book. I will have to look for it! I’m curious what the board book version would read like because it would be hard to shorten such a good story.
Love this list! Pretty much all are our favorites too. 🙂
My son, now 4, still loves to pick a board book as a “quick story” before bed when we don’t have a lot of time.
My boys adored anything by Eric Carle. Great starter list!
Thanks, Dianna! My son loves the Very Hungry Caterpillar book! When we brought our daughter home from the hospital my son wanted to read her a story, so he flipped through the pages and retold the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. It was the sweetest thing! We’d read the story so many times that he practically had it memorized.
I counted, and we have 8 of these books! My favorite is Are You My Mother? — my mom used to read it to me when I was little.
It’s so fun to read books that we were read as kids!
Reading is one of my daughters favorite things to do, and board books are about all she has the attention span for right now. ‘There’s a Wocket in my Pocket’ is my fav!
That book is so fun! I love the silly rhymes! That was one of my son’s favorites too 🙂
Yesss! These are so good. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is my daughters favorite of these. She used to call it “chicky boom”.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom was one of my favorite read aloud books when I taught Kindergarten. It’s such a fun book, my son loved it when he was little too! We have so many books now I need to do a rotation or something. I haven’t see Chicka Chicka Boom Boom surface for quite a while.