It's baby season over here for everyone but us it seems!
That sounded super snarky, but I promise that it's not intended that way. Infertility is so stinking hard but we have found peace in the turmoil and praise God for that! Now, we get to enjoy, with our whole hearts, all of the precious reasons to celebrate.
I was recently invited to a baby shower for one of the sweetest ladies that I know. They're asking for books instead of cards and I am PUMPED. With a degree in library science, curating a school library collection, working in a public library with a huge children's program, and raising a small boy of my own, I think it's safe to say I know a few things about children's books!
The first thing I know, is that I am a children's book snob. For real. I love a book that makes learning a new concept fun. Beautiful and useful illustrations (you'll see what I mean below) are a must. Lastly, the text must be good. So good, that when your toddler falls in love with it, you won't mind reading it multiple times a day for what feels like the rest of your life.
So, in no particular order, these are our top 10 baby books:
1. Everywhere Babies - This book is so simple and honest with
delightful rhyming and rhythmic text that's perfect for a read aloud. The illustrations are sweet and realistic enough that your baby will easily recognize them as such which makes reading together a BLAST. The story takes you through the life a baby from eating and playing, crying and getting the best hugs from the people that love them the most. And mama? When you get to the last page for the first time (or heck maybe every time) keep your tissues on hand for the sweetness overload.
2. Opposites - TouchThinkLearn has put together a wonderful series that presents new concepts like Opposites, Shapes, Numbers. You can expect extremely simple text that is wonderfully easy to expand upon as your little ones are able to grasp more and more. The illustrations are graphic and clean too. Are you ready for the best part? THE PAGES TEACH WITH TOUCH! That's right friends, all of the pages with numbers have physical dots to touch and count together. The Shapes pages have spaces to trace the shapes, and the Opposites books? The Inside and Outside page is so adorable and clever that you'll find yourself showing everyone you know.
3. Animal ABCs - The illustrations in the book are fantastic. They're
bright and usually against a white background which makes it easy
for little ones to visually isolate the picture that matches what you're reading to them. Some of the pages fold out to accommodate a herd of elephants, a blue whale, or (in a super fun way) a snake! It was definitely a favorite of my sons and I have no doubt that it'll be one that you frequently reach for too.
4. Dear Zoo - Lift the flab books area always fun and I love that you get to peek through some of the flaps in this book and anticipate WHO might be in there! It will quickly become an adorable repeat guessing game for your little one, which is actually excellent for learning to anticipate outcomes in situations and in conversations. For those of you with older kiddos in the "why" stage, look this up! It helpes to understand why. Get it? Haha!
5. Baby: Colors! - This is another lift the flap book and I love it for three reasons. The flaps
that you lift are thick and sturdy like the pages of a board book. Each page begins with a question and lifting the pages will help your little one to "discover" the answer on their own. I super love this. Teaching our children to reach for books to satisfy their curiosity is the heart of self driven life long learning. Unlike the first few books on this list, this book used photographs of real items as the illustrations. Perfect for you Montessori parents! **Please note that the link provided to the book does not give a preview of the lift the flap book but you will receive the lift the flap version if you order from here!
6. Hello, World! Ocean Life - I think the whole Hello World series is great but the Ocean one was the favorite in our house. Did you know that an octopus has blue blood? Well, now you do. You can discover all kinds of interesting facts sprinkled throughout the simple and very readable text. The illustrations will keep your little coming back for this one over and over again too!
7. Little Blue Truck - I know, I know.... I am SURE you have heard about this one a million times, but it's just that good. It's fun to read, the art is cute, the lesson is good for everyone, and the colorful words are all onomatopoeia that match the creatures that make the sounds. Have a little interested in reading? Perfect. Every time Blue the Truck says BEEP, it is written in the color blue and the story makes it easy to anticipate what it will say. Are they really reading? Probably not. However, anticipating what's next, using context clues (like the color), and participating in the reading of the story are all major steps toward raising a confident reader with great comprehension skills. Don't pass this one up.
8. Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site - Have a little one that Loves construction vehicles? Or maybe every time you pass one and they ask from the back seat "what's that" but you have no idea what "that" is? This might be the book for you. You'll meet a fun collection of hardworking vehicles that all tuck in to bed in special ways. The Author/Illustrator is local for us and she used her many years of experience with graphic design to compose the deep sleepy color palate and was inspired by her boys to create a story that she knew they'd fall in love with.
9. Dr. Seuss ABC's - I know there is a larger version of this book but it was the slightly shortened board book that we fell in love with. My boy is 6 and I still have this book memorized. It has all of the rhythm and silly that you would expect from a Seuss book, and it's a great way to introduce beginning word sounds and the names of the letters of the alphabet. It's also a great way to refocus a budding tantrum in the grocery store when you start reciting it in the middle of the freezer section.
10. Little Owl's Night - We received this book from my aunt the day that our son was born and I am so glad that we did. Her thoughtful gift was a sweet simple way to introduce nocturnal animals and the forest at night. Little Owl explores the world around him with bold clean illustrations as he follows Mama Owl home for bedtime. Don't be surprised if you're reading this and see so much of your own day at the end, especially with one last bedtime question and sweet little ears that never hear the answers because they're already off in dream land.
There are so many wonderful books out there but these, in particular, were big hitters in our home and they continue to hold their own in the fast moving book world. If you have any favorites that you would like me to add to the list, please let me know!
Happy Reading,
Mama Huhn
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