Favorite Toddler Books?

My son can't get enough of Richard Scarry's Busy Busy Town. Any of his books are great. I also second the opinion about Leslie Patricelli (we have Quiet, Loud and Big, Little).

Hi there

you MUST get Peggy Rathman books.. soooooooooooooo cute..
10 minutes til bedtime.. Officer Buckle.. The day the babies crawled away..
you will LOVE LOVE her books.. to this day, I have found memories of reading them to my son...
also, berenstain bears are fun and have different levels for each age...
but mostly.. Peggy Rathman.. :)

Here's a list of books my 23 mos boy loves. Some might be a little advanced for 19 mos (he's still not up for Dr Seuss either), but worth a try:

Are you my mother? by P.D. Eastman
Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson
Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman
Duck in The Truck by Jez Alborough
Life of a Car by Susan Steggal
What Do People Do All Day by Richard Scarry (he likes to look at this on his own more than have me read it)
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
Freight Train by Donald Crews
Goodnight Goodnight Sleepyhead by Ruth Krauss and Jane Dyer
Time for Bed by Mem Fox and Jane Dyer

Good luck!

the dr. seuss board books are pretty short. (much shorter than the paper versions). we also read a LOT of sandra boynton books. they are short as well & are really cute. eric carle has other books that are wonderfully decorated. my advice is to go to the library with your daughter & pick out books. go home with the ones that hold her attention & on the next trip., find other books by the same author... and the best part is ... it's FREE!

We love the "Good Dog, Carl" books (these are great because most of them don't have any written words, just great pictures that are very descriptive, so your child can "read" it to you!), all of the "How Does a Dinosaur...?" books, "Good Night Gorilla," and anything where you can peek behind the flaps, like "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" We also love Maurice Sendak - "Where the Wild Things Are" and "In the Night Kitchen" in particular, although he also wrote lots of cute smaller books like "Just Grandma and Me," "When I Get Bigger" etc.

I'd also recommend anything by Shel Silverstein. Silly, fun rhymes and simple illustrations. We really love "Where the Sidewalk Ends" but he has other great books too.

Happy reading!!

Go to the library! Ours is fairly little, but still has a couple of laundry baskets full of board books for toddlers. My little girl is a few months older than your little one, and LOVES anything with words, so we've mostly graduated to Dr. Seuss et al, If there is a book your little one really loves, find more by the same author. For example, there are quite a number of books by Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar--a fave here, too--and Brown Bear, Brown Bear). "Mama Do You Love Me" is a good one. We have a board book version of "Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel", which has gotten read a lot. Some Dr. Seuss books have been reduced to board book level. If you want to buy rather than do the library, keep an eye on such places as Marshall's, TJ Maxx, and Ross--they often have a lot for decent prices. Also, don't forget thrift stores--that's where most of ours have come from.

Go to the library! Not only is it economical, but it is a great place to go with a toddler as most libraries have free storytimes (and other programs) for young children. If you go once every week or two you will always have a fresh supply of books. Once you and your daughter discover which books/authors you truly love you can purchase those for your collection at home.
My kids had way too many favorites to list here, but I remember Dr. Suess (you don't have to read an entire book in one sitting,) Richard Scarry and Eric Carle as being the most loved.
Have fun & happy reading!!!

I would check out your library. We go and get about 10 books at a time. Ones he really loves we either borrow repeatedly or buy.

E.

As a mom of 4 and grandmom of 7, this is a common behavior. What we have done, is introduce our children to the library even when they were 6 months. When they are walking, they reach and pick "THEIR own books" Not only does this save money, it's an invaluable lesson and social outing. Most libraries have a children's librarian who can make suggestions and also a story time. We also visit Children's book stores and sit and explore, not always buying.

I posted the same question when my daughter was about the same age. If you want to send me your email I will fwd you the post. I got some great answers.
I love the Mrs. Spider books (I got a great set at Costco). You're All My Favorites is our favorite (don't know the author). I'll post more tomorrow when my daughter up and I can look in her room.

another enthusiastic vote for the local library! Our twins have been library regulars since about the age of 15 months and at 7YO are still loving reading.
Some of their favorites from the 18MO-2YO range (which they still enjoyed later);

-Anything by Lois Ehlert (Growing Vegetable Soup, Planting A Rainbow, Pie in the Sky, etc.) - bold eye-catching cut-paper graphics and both simple large-type text narrative, and then more details in smaller print.
-Ditto for Denise Fleming (Lunch, In the Small Small Pond, etc.) also combines clever graphics with short narratives or rhymes), and Nancy Elizabeth Wallace (cut-paper bunnies doing things like visiting a pumpkin farm, making valentines for their neighbors, etc.)
Jane Hissey's "Old Bear", "Little Bear's Trousers" and "Little Bear Lost" have some really beautiful illustrations and cute stories about the adventures of a family of toys - stories might be a bit beyond your 19MO's attention span right now but the picture are so lovely you could easily just show her the pictures and tell the story in fewer words.
-Eric Carle has loads of great picture books besides the Very Hungry Caterpillar - the Very Clumsy Click Beetle, the Very Busy Spider, the Very Quiet Cricket
-"Jamberries" by Bruce Degen

I'm sure there's more I'll think of later!

Dear H.,

I could give you dozens of suggestions, but what I did for my girls at that age was take them to the library and pick out dozens of books that looked interesting to me, take them home, and try them out . You can always buy your (and her) favorites, but I can assure you you'll never get bored. A couple stand out for me 25 years later: Avocado Baby by John Burningham and Under the Mushroom (author?) Libraries have programs for kids as young as yours, and they are fun destinations for an outing. One more thing...when I read to my daughters I almost always changed the main characters to females because most of them were "hes", and I wanted her to have something positive in the world of books with which to identify.

Enjoy !

My son loved:
Click Clack Moo
Barnyard Dance
Fireman Small

These books have a lot of repetition that many small children love.

Have you read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom? It is a great alphabet story about letters climbing up a coconut tree. My kids and I all loved that book.

My son is 21 months and he loves the "flap" books, where he can open the flap and get more info. Yes, at first he tore a few flaps, but now he just opens them. He likes:
Dear Zoo- Rod Campbell, CATS- Van Vleet, Bard's Rhyme Time- Baby Einstein.

Deborah

As commercial as they may seem, the Dora books are awesome. My daughter is 17 months old, and we just keep buying new ones. The "stories" are not boring, and as an extra bonus, there are a ton of spanish words in them. Good "lessons" overall. The best is Dora Goes for a Ride (a board book), but there are a bunch of good ones. Curious George has a few board books and we like those too.

Grandfather Twilight was always one of our favorite bedtime books. My daughter is six now and when she sees the real twilight sky she still says, "Look mommy, It's Ganfather Twilight!"
We also started making up our own stories, Ususally about a pricess butterfly or animal rescuer (that shared the same name as my daughter) and we would take turns telling each other what happened next!
It was our special time and she always looked forward to it be fore hopping into bed!
Enjoy your lovely family!

my son enjoyed Mama do you love me? by Barbara Jossee, any book of babies making various expressions, and his favorite? my Mom has been writing books for him where he is the star. She uses MS Word to set up the book and inserts digital pictures of him. she prints them on heavyweight paper, the cover is cardboard covered in colored duct tape and she uses the sewing machine to bind them.

Yummy/ Yucky
10 Little Lady Bugs
10 Little Monkeys
Gallop!
Any touch and feel books or find ones...USBORNE has Find the puppy, Find the duck, etc.

We love the hairy mcclary series. It is by lynley Dodd. They are very hard to find here as Dodd is a New Zealander. I think Amazon have them and boarders but you will have to order them in. There are not many board books avaliable but they are fun to read. My Daughter is 23 months old and she loves them. It is entertaining to watch her "read" them.

Good Luck,

P.

All the books by Karen Katz, such as "Where is Baby's Bellybutton?" have been favorites of my son since he was about 1 1/2. He is now close to 4 years old and he still asks me to read them to him.

I like that there is one for each holiday like "Where Is Baby's Pumpkin?" and "Where is Baby's Valentine?" She also has some in the collection about being with Daddy or Grandma and my son really likes the one called "A Potty For Me."

I have a 9 month old daughter and I just got her a Karen Katz board book called "Counting Kisses" and it came with a matching stuffed kitty that has a rattle inside; she loves it.

Have fun reading, it is the number one most important thing you can do to promote language and early literacy skills with your child, and it's fun!

My toddler's new favorite is "Ten Sleepy Sheep" by Phyllis Root. It's awesome b/c it has a rhyming scheme that kids love. It's really sweet and a great nighttime book.
We have just 2 Dr Suess books that our 21 month old has been following for 3 months.
"One, Fish, Two Fish" and "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?"
There's a new little book we are giving him in his Easter basket called "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" by Al Perkins. It's also a rhyming one and super cute and short!
Also try the books by Gerda Muller called "Spring" "Summer", "Autumn" and "Winter". They are just picture books - no words. Good for them to view alone! You can find those at Amazon.
Our toddler also likes "Everyone Says I Love You" by Nancy Tartufi
We found another great one at the library called "Hannah Duck" by Anji Yamamura

Have fun reading!

I adore the "I Am a Little Alligator" (or Panda, Spider, Bat, Giraffe, Dinosaur, etc) series by Crozat. They are gorgeously illustrated, sturdy, informative, sweetly written and can be found at any library or for pennies used on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&search-type=ss&in...

We go through the same problem in our family as well. Our daughter loves books and we've been reading to her every night since she was about 1 year old (short attention span prior to that). =)
A couple of recommendations is look on Craigslist and see if someone is selling a bulk of used books (I just bought approx. 30 books for $5). Another idea is to go to the library and pick up about 10 books then once those have been gone through return them and get new ones. This is free and they have lots of great books.
They should have a book trade store for parents. =)
Good luck!

My daughters favorite at that age was a Dr Suess book called Hand, Habnd, Fingers, Thumb. We made a game out of it and she also liked I can talk to God Anytime Anyplace.

I have an almost 18 month old daughter. Here are some of her favorites in addition to ones you mention.
These first two were gifts from the same person. I didn't think much of them at first but my daughter really likes them.
Goodnight, Goodnight Sleepyhead by Ruth Kraus. Very sweet says goodnight to eyes,nose, toes, etc. At this age fun for her to recognize things as we read along.
Hands Can by Cheryl Willis Hudson. Simple. Nice photos. She has really enjoyed this one and as she learns how to do new things she gets excited about the pictures.
The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton.
Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton. Both fun.
Jamberry by Bruce Degen
Hope that helps. N.

The Big Hungry Bear, Teeny Tiny Woman, A Fly Went By, and definitely get the classics - especially The Three Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

When my kids were little, they loved "Can't you sleep, Little Bear?" It was their favorite, I'm getting it again for my new little one, due June 29th.

"Are You my Mother?" and "Eye Spy" were a few favorites at our house.

I recommend the Elliot Moose series. My toddlers love them. You can find them on Amazon. Plus, because it is a series, you can read the different adventures Elliot has with his friends. They do entertain the little ones. Plus, I make it more fun because I give each of the friends an accent (I do believe this is a British series). Made it really fun for my older son, the younger one doesn't seem to care :)
Elliot's Emergency is my son's favorite. Here is a link to a review. I believe Amazon has more reviews: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/Elliots-Emer...

Leslie Patricelli has a few cute ones...Yummy Yucky, Big Little, and Quiet Loud are three of our favorites. I echo a few other people when I say check your library - they'll probably have a ton of cute board books. Also, Dr. Seuss has some board books that are condensed versions of his others...The Foot Book, Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb, Hop on Pop, etc.

All of the Maisy books are great!! Also, "This is how much I love you" was my son's favorite and "Piglet and the Big Balloon"
Have fun!

Check out your local bookstore for titles like "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus!", the Mama Llama series, and anything written by Richard Scarry. You may also want to try alternate language versions of her favorites- "Good night moon" is available in Spanish. Also, one of my favorites is "Where the Wild Things Are".

I LOVE the Sandra Boynton books. Moo Ba La La La, The Going to Bed Book, The Belly Button Book, One Two Three are some of my favorites but there are many I haven't yet explored. I love them so much I've basically forced them on my kid so they've become his favorites too.

It's great that you're reading so much with her!

In addition to the ones you've already named, by kids loved: Is Your Mama a Llama?, Jamberry, Piggies, It's a Bear, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and all the Dr. Seuss, Al Perkins, and Leo LeSieg books.

my husband and i and our son love only you, it's really sweet, we read it every night before bed. also, check out the cordouroy books by don freeman, about a stuffed bear and a little girl.

Hi H.,

My kids really like the Pigeon books by Mo Willems, the Little Quack books by Lauren Thompson, any books by Eric Carle (I really like The Grouchy Ladybug), and the Froggy books by Jonathan London. The Pigeon, Little Quack, and Froggy books give some kind of continuity of characters. So, each book has an old friend. Also, the Eric Carle books have incredible art.

I wish you well on your quest.

D.

My daughter loved "Each Peach Pear Plum." On each page a character is hiding and you try to find them. Also, at Target in their dollar spot are lots of cute board books- and they are only $1! We also spend lots of time at the library- our children's librarian is great and can recommend new books. And free is always a plus!

"I Stink", "I'm Dirty", "Bubba the Cowboy Prince", "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", "Chicka Chicka 123". Make sure you get into it when you read them, the kids love it. If you need more help ask the Librarian in the kids section at the library they can help. Some of these books you can also get on DVD at the library(you may have to request them).Good Luck!

LIBRARY!

We also have and like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Good Night Moon, Guess How Much I Love You, etc.

Dr Seuss does have some great board book versions of their books. 19m is still young for Dr Seuss, but you'll be moving into those really soon! ABC was a favorite of my son (and me, when he started learning his ABC's!!) when he was about 2-3. Are You My Mother?, Go Dog Go!, Hop on Pop, those were a few of our early favorites.

Good Night Gorilla is one of our (still) favorite board books, great for that age and on up. No words, it is all picture, and such a cute story!

We have a couple of "My First Word Book" "My First ABC Book" etc, by DK - they aren't stories but are great for collections of pictures and objects - if your kiddo is into heavy machinery/vehicles, there's one for that. Animals, there's a great one for that (my son loves animals), and there are others as well, whatever matches your daughter's interest.

Richard Scarry books are great! They are big (for your tot) but have so many things to look at, it is both a story and a bunch of things to learn names/words for. Great for individual looking at, or reading to, or talking about together.

My son is 6 1/2 yo and a great reader so we're obviously past the board book stage but those ones I mentioned we still have around. Others we still have that were used a lot are: Clifford's Animal Sounds - there's a set of 4 little books but this is the one we wore out, not the others. Another favorite was "When I Go To The Farm" (told you he loved animals...)

We had good luck finding books at Ross or TJ Maxx for less than list price. But really, go to the library! (esp during story hour.) It's free and you'll never get bored of the same old books and then you wont have to worry about where to keep all the books once you've got them & are adding to your collection.

I am so glad you are reading to your toddler. It is so very important and such a strong foundation for your child's reading and academic success. (No I am not a classroom teacher)

One more thought, when your daughter moves past board books into paper books, we picked up a set of easy phonics readers that comes in a box of 12 (We got Clifford, there are also other characters such as Dora and Diego, etc.) and they are just thin paper covered books but my son loved reading his Clifford books that packed up in a box. The beginners are easy reading, while the higher up in the series/program has more text to it.
Funnily enough, the ONE book that got WORN OUT from this set of books was Clifford Visits the Vet - which was interesting because my husband is a vet, but my son didnt know that as a toddler!! (Must be in his blood ;-) )