Our favorite toddler books
One of things I want to cultivate most in Jojo is a love of reading. I absolutely love to read (and have ever since I was a kid), and I believe so strongly in the power of books–to educate, to entertain, to be a source of independent activity and comfort.
We read to her *a lot* and have been ever since she was a teeny tiny baby. And now, it does feel very satisfying when she picks up a book on her own or when she asks us to read a book to her! A few of my favorite bibliophile moves thus far: having bookshelves in her room and more in the living room that are easily accessible to her and having custom bookplates made (and probably eventually an embosser). I also stole this idea from my friend Kate, who did it for us, but for my closest friends who have a baby–they get Jojo’s Book Club, which is a book a month sent to them every month for the first year (I still dream of a way to make Jojo’s Book Club a business, tbh). Another fantastic thing that my sister-in-law did for us is put in a huge order of her kids’ tried-and-true books for us to pick up at our local bookstore: a great way to support a local independent bookstore while also avoiding dealing with media mail shipping fees. And while we haven’t done this yet, I also love the idea of asking everyone to bring a used book to a birthday party and doing a book swap in place of gifts (I truly hate gift and goody bag culture so truly anything I can do to avoid).
With all of that in mind, many of our favorite books below: of course, all of these ebb and flow, but many of these have stood the test of time. Although I do very much recommend utilizing the book storage in the back of the Montessori bookshelves and/or figuring out a way to be able to swap books in and out (also our toy approach!) so that you can benefit from books feeling “new” even if they aren’t. And, of course, it goes without saying that we *love* our local library–not just for all of the books, but also the story times, coloring books and toys on offer. And a quick note that although I’ve linked on Amazon below, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND AND ENCOURAGE YOU to buy books from an independent bookstore–especially during the holiday season, when they make the bulk of their money! My personal favorites: The Book Catapult in San Diego, Books Are Magic and the Strand Book Store in NYC and Powell’s City of Books in Portland–and they all ship! And have truly excellent merch in addition to books!
For Dog (and Cat) Lovers
No surprises here: we are big dog lovers in this house, and I wanted that reflected on our bookshelves! It’s very hard for me to pass up a good one, and luckily, Jojo absolutely loves them. My go-to “congratulations on the baby” gift is a copy of Pig the Pug, and Dog’s First Baby if they have a dog at home. If they’re cat people, I’ll swap it with Cat’s First Baby. Other favorite dog books include Hot Dog, I Want 100 Dogs, Can I Be Your Dog?, Emma Full of Wonders (Jojo’s current favorite!) and D is For Dog. Pug is Happy is obviously a great one for puggers, but it’s especially nice to talk about emotions AND has a working mom subplot.
For Foodies
Although I was a picky eater as a kid, we are doing our best to expose Jojo to a variety of new foods and encourage a curiosity about eating. I definitely give Artichoke to Zucchini some credit in that: it’s this gorgeous illustrated dictionary of foods, and it’s given me some inspiration on new foods to introduce. We also love Can You Eat? and Yum Yummy Yuck!
For City Folk
Although Jojo is a San Diegan through and through, she is half New Yorker and we feel very strongly about making sure she knows and loves her New York roots. Between annual trips to the city, we try to keep up that New York City love through books like Subway, How Little Lori Visited Time Square, B is For Bagel (foodie crossover!) and My First Book of New York. New York: A World of Colors is a little simple but also fun.
Interactive
I’m a sucker for a creative use of a flap in a book, and obviously, these are always the biggest hits with kids! We especially love Who Am I?, Dear Zoo, Do Cows Meow?, Do Crocs Kiss? and Mail Duck (my personal sleeper hit, especially if you are a devotee of snail mail). Lemons Are Not Red doesn’t have flaps, but has some very clever cutouts.
The (New) Classics
My mom saved a ton of my childhood books, so many of Jojo’s books have *my* childhood bookplate on them. A few of those that are absolutely in the rotation: Good Night Moon, Love You Forever (although wow I cannot get through it without tears now) and The Giving Tree.
And while I didn’t discover these ones until having Jojo, I think they’ll stand the test of time: Little Blue Truck, Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site, My Very Own Special Particular Private and Personal Cat and Fortunately (I actually found this in a bookstore after a couple of cocktails, and read it and found it so absurd and couldn’t stop laughing and just had to have it).
Eric Carle
As I was putting this list together, I realized something: Eric Carle might be my favorite children’s book author of all. The Very Hungry Caterpillar inspired Jojo’s second Halloween costume, The Very Busy Spider inspired my lifetime love of productivity and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was easily one of Jojo’s first “favorite” books. From Head to Toe is his most underrated one IMO! Hard to go wrong with any of his books.
Potty Books
We potty trained Jojo over the summer (we used the Oh Crap! Potty Training method) and it is key to have many a book that helps explain the process AND provide some distraction on the potty. Our favorites are Everyone Poops, Once Upon A Potty and Big Girl Panties for explaining the process; the flaps in P is For Potty make it perfect for sitting on the potty.
Bonus: Gifts for Newborns
I recommend having a go-to baby book gift that somewhat represents you–mine is obviously Pig the Pug. However, I also quite like Everywhere Babies, You Are New and Oh, The Places You’ll Go!. I tend to buy several of these at a time, so that I have them ready to go and ship whenever we get the good news that a friend is pregnant!
Miscellaneous Favorites
I don’t know if I can necessarily categorize these, but other books that we just read again and again: Before & After, We Are Shapes, More More More, From Head to Toe, The Carrot Seed, May I Bring A Friend?, and The Littlest Family’s Big Day. We also had a Lovevery box subscription for a while (which we liked!), and I’m annoyed that there are no real ways to buy their books outside of having a subscription: Bedtime for Zoe and Bea Goes to the Doctor are two of our go-to’s.
What are your favorite toddler books? What do I need to add to Jojo’s library?
