twentyfavoritebooksIsla is at the age where she really enjoys reading books. For many months, I felt like I was sort of forcing them onto her, but now she’ll pick them up and ‘read’ them herself. She definitely has favorites, like  Tickle, Tickle, Peter and Good Night, I Love You, and then I have my preferences too (i.e. all twenty books below). We’ve been gifted so many wonderful books, many of which I love reading but Isla isn’t quite into yet (mostly because her attention span isn’t that long!). I seriously love Eloise and Room on the Broom, and I can’t wait to read these to her when she’s a little older.

As for now, the following books are the ones we cycle through most often, but I love changing it up by grabbing a random book off her shelf too. I am dying to know (seriously, that’s why I made this post!) – what are your favorite baby books? I would love to add to our little library.

Our favorites include:

  1. Diary of a Wombat: I bought this book because we’re going to Australia in January, and I’m glad we did because it’s so cute. The story follows the life of a wombat and his new ‘pets’ (i.e. humans who move in next to him). It’s a fun read for both parents and kids.
  2. Peach Tree Farm: This was one of my favorite books growing up, and I still love it today. The story rhymes, which I adore. It includes known characters like Jack and Jill and Mary (whose lamb goes missing!). I highly recommend this one.
  3. Monkey and Me: This repetitious book is wonderful because it introduces kids to animals – Isla’s favorites being the monkeys and elephants. “Monkey and me, monkey and me, monkey and me, we went to see…” 
  4. Tickle, Tickle, Peter: Isla was gifted this touch-and-feel book for Easter, and she is obsessed. She will pet the cat’s furry back all day long. It’s a cute, short book which kids will enjoy reading.
  5. Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes: We received this book (amongst many of our other favorites) from Mara (of Hook, Thread and Tinker) for Christmas, and we read it all of the time. The story unites kids from all different backgrounds and ethnicities, pointing out that while babies can be very diverse, they all have ten little fingers and ten little toes.
  6. Snuggle Puppy: Ugh, our jam. We sing this song a lot in our house. “Ooooh, Snuggle Puppy of mine!” This book is a must if you have a dog!
  7. One Ted Falls Out of Bed: This counting book follows one ted as he adventures around the room after falling out of bed. One ted, two eyes, three mice, four cars, etc. It’s one of my most favorite.
  8. Good Night, I Love You: This is our book. We read it every single night, and Isla starts to laugh when we open it. It’s my favorite thing ever, and I hope it never ends. We have it memorized, and even named the girl and boy – Caroline and James.
  9. I Love You Through and Through: This book is by the same author as Good Night, I Love You, and as it progresses, you’ll read a loud all of the things you love about your little one – their inside, outside, head, eyes, nose, etc. The illustrations are too cute.
  10. The Very Hungry Caterpillar: A classic that all babies will enjoy. Isla loves putting her finger in the caterpillar’s food trail!
  11. Doggies: This is another must-have for families with dogs. Isla laughs when you ‘Ruff, ruff’ and this book is filled with different doggie noises.
  12. God Gave Us You: I pray that Isla will come to love Jesus one day, and I want her to know how grateful we are that God gave her to us. This book is a perfect way to help describe this gift.
  13. Dear Zoo: This is another classic, and it’s a great way to go through all of your zoo animals!
  14. Five Little Monkeys: We were gifted this book, and I want to gift it to everyone else. Those five mischievous monkeys just love to read late at night when they’re supposed to be sleeping and keep getting scolded by their mom, until… Well, you’ll have to read it!
  15. Round is a Tortilla: My mom bought this shape book in Durango, and it’s so Texan (or Tex-Mex). It’s an easy to read book with good illustrations.
  16. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: This book starts off by instructing the reader not to let the pigeon drive the bus – then involves you as the pigeon begs and begs for your permission. I probably like this one more than Isla does at this point, but I know she’ll love it as she gets older too.
  17. We are in a Book: Similar to the above book, this story involves the reader as the two characters find that they can tell the reader what to say. Sasha finds it very weird and doesn’t enjoy reading it, while I enjoy the humor. Mo Willems is a genius.
  18. Stop Snoring Bernard: Poor Bernard is a snorer, and the other animals don’t like that about him. He keeps moving to stay away from them, but continues to get complaints. I love the illustrations in the book, and it’s a sweet ending too.
  19. Oh, Baby! Go, Baby!: I love Seuss. Like, a lot. So this book is one of my favorites. It has moving parts, which may or may not have been torn off by Isla (whoops). But it’s a good inspirational read for your little ones.
  20. Pantone Colors: Maybe this is more for me because I’m obsessed, but I think the Pantone Color book is great to read to kids because it lets you tell your own stories and point at all of the pretty colors.

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10 Comments

  1. I adore pretty much all of Sandra Boynton’s books for little ones. I love how they’re all sing-song-y and repetitive. They help with rhythm and sequences. I’ll have to check out some of those other books!

    • AileePetrovic Reply

      Aren’t her books the best?? We have a whole stack of them. I love singing along. Only I imagine you sound a whole lot better doing it!

  2. I have read so, so many of these books as a babysitter to two of my favorite little girls. You have great taste! One of my girls’ favorites was “Shoe-la-la” around Isla’s age. It’s singsongy and fun, and *spoiler alert* the end of the book promotes craftiness and creativity, which is a win in my book. Another fun series of books by Mo Willems that I loved (and so did they) were the “Knuffle Bunny” books. There’s an organic fabric line coming out based on the illustrations in those books!

    • AileePetrovic Reply

      Ohh, I’m going to buy Shoe-la-la and Knuffle Bunny!!! Thank you!! I love your expert babysitter opinion!! AND I want to see that organic fabric based on the illustrations. How cool! xoxo

  3. We love so many of these books!! I’m definitely going to add some of these to our library, i’ve been wanting to find some new books for us! YAY!

    Our favorites right now: The alphaprint ABC & 123 books( Livi loves all the animals in both of them.), That’s no my kitten, That’s not my princess, Brown bear – brown bear, Peekaboo Kisses, Guess how much I love you, Goodnight moon, Olivia the fairy Princess, The very busy spider, Mr. Brown can moo, can you? 🙂

    • AileePetrovic Reply

      Ah, this is exactly why I wrote this post!! All of these amazing suggestions. I am literally copying and pasting the names into Amazon and buying them! Thank you!!! We DEFINITELY need the Olivia book!! xo

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