Book Recommendations for My 2.5 Yr Old...

Hi, there.

You can get some of Sandra Boynton's books...they are a lot of fun. Each of my kids has really enjoyed them. After several readings, the kids like to chime in with the funny parts. There is one book called something like "Red Hat, Green Hat" and the character keeps putting his clothes on the wrong part of his body and each time he does it, he says, "oops". The kids really enjoy "reading" that part and we've started calling it "The Oops Book". Anyway, the characters are repeats in most of the books and the illustrations are not overwhelming but really comical and sweet.
Good Luck.

My 21mo-old son loves books, but is only interested in certain ones, and thankfully I've figured out what they are. He loves book with teaching themes: letters, numbers, shapes, colors, objects/animals or a combination. He also is starting to like books with activities, like Priddy Books' Slide and Find series. For books with stories, the story has to be short and the writing has to have good rhythm and pacing. Some good for that are Boyton's "The Going To Bed Book" and pretty much any Dr. Seuss pre-school book. If it's not a teaching book and there's no real story, or if the story is wordy, repetitive, or the words don't flow when read, he's not interested. Having colorful pages with good contrast is a big help as well.

I'd say take her to the children's section of the biggest book store near you, pick out several you think she'll like, read them to her, (and let her explore the shelves as well) and take home the ones she can't get enough of! That's what I did - it worked!

Some favorites: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, More More More said the Baby, Harry McClary from Donaldson's dairy, the fancy Nancy books, LLama Llama mad at mama, and I'll add more later if I think of them!
Enjoy this time. They grow up so fast! My kids are teenagers and recently my daughter had to pick a childrens book to read to her english class. We had fun discussing all their favorite books. She chose "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" to read to her class,but you might want to wait until your daughter is a little older for that one.

My son keeps requesting these three books from the library:
The Funny Little Woman by Arlene Mosel
Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Joanne Oppenheim
Pirate Soup by Erica Farber

We check out 10-15 books each visit. We have a special bag just for the trip. The books with melodies appeal most to my son. Also, I tend to pick up a lot of non-fiction books that have pictures. My son enjoys these sometimes, especially about animals. Dr. Seuss is a standard in our home, too.

Have fun on your library trip!

Instead of giving you specific titles, for there would be hundreds~ I will tell you what to look for. I teach that age and have a degree in education, so...
*only a few words on each page, no more then a dozen usually unless they are really the kind of kid that LOVES to listen to books
*bright colorful pictures that are easily recognizable

honestly the content doesn't matter as much as those two things. I have a personal library of over 2000 kids books and the 2 1/2 yr olds all listen to all the ones that the older kids listen to during circle time. But they have been doing that since they were not even 2 yet so for them it's also routine. If I have a fidgety two year old I sit them near me or on my lap or ask them questions about the book and pictures. Very seldom do I have a book that is not ok for the whole group and usually in that case I don't read the words but rather discuss the pictures.

Are you looking for books just to read to her or are you looking to start her on the road to reading? If you are just looking for fun books to read to her, take her to the library and look at some books together and let her choose a book. If your local library has mommy and me reading programs get her involved. You will see how much more they will like being around books when other toddlers are around looking at books and listening to stories. Consider getting big picture books. Toddlers love big bright pictures, you can get counting books to start he on her way to counting or her A,B,C's. If you watch T.V. in your home, consider getting books about themes that you watch on TV. Themes that interest her.
If you are thinking about starting her on the road to reading start with big books that only have one or to words on each page then slowly add more and more words. Many toddlers like to do reading programs on the computer, like Reading rabbit or Grandma and Me, etc. There is also the Step into Reading or I Can Read books that I have used with beginning readers. Start with leave level 1.

Either way you are looking to go. Don't spend a lot of money on books. The library is a great resource and remember if your library does not have a book you are looking for, they usually can order it in. Also letting her look at a book store like Border or Barnes and Noble will give you ideas of what she might like. Most Borders and Barnes and Noble stores will let you sit in the children's section and read with your child.

Good Luck

Sandra Boynton and Eric Carle are favorites of my daughter. Anything that has the flaps or textures (Pat the Bunny, etc.) also keeps her interested.
The library would be good, too, to keep "mixing it up".

This is a great book, http://www.amazon.com/Great-Books-Girls-Inspire-Tomorrows...

Greak Book for Girls. It breaks down each age group and tells you about the books. It might give you more of an idea of what to look for. I love going to the library and maybe you could check out different ones to see what your daughter likes or dislikes.

One of my favorites for your daughter age is The Scrubbly-Bubbly Car Wash. I love the bright pictures and the fun words.

good luck.

K.

Anything by Eric Carle my kids all love them. The pictures are always wonderful. Any books with flaps to open and look under my kids all loved the bugs in boxes book. chica chica boom boom. my oldest son is 21 this year and his fav and the one he now reads to the grand children is what can you do with 10 black dots.

Some of my sons favorite at that age(and still are), are the Bing books by Ted Dewan. The books are kind of retro looking and Bing bunny is a total toddler. They are quick, but do have a story line which are very toddler appropriate. I think there are 8 of them.