10 Favorite Books to Read With Babies // Favorite Things

Full Moon at the Napping House

books and babies

elephant and piggie

Click Clack Moo

Alice in Wonderland Baby Lit

first 100 words

snuggle puppy

from head to toe

freight train

Dog Food

b is for bear

This baby is 15 months, and she loves to read. Her first word (beside's my older daughter's name) was book. We are in the "read the first page of fifty books every night" stage. Luckily, my rule for buying books, especially as gifts, is "can you read it fifty times without wanting to vomit or secretly throwing it away." All of these books fit in this category for me.Mostly, the obsessive "pull all of the books out of the shelf and carry them everywhere" makes me smile. I'm glad she so obviously loves looking at books, carrying them around, and even "pretend reading" them (she says, rah rah rah rah rah as she turns the page. Most often the books are upside down).I thought I would share 10 of my favorite books for babies, and in return, I'm wondering what your favorite books for babies and toddlers are? 

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When I was a kid, Audrey and Don Wood came to my school and read to us, and I have loved them ever since. But even if they hadn't, The Napping House would be a favorite. Have you seen the sequel? Its was released last year--The Full Moon at the Napping House! 

Each Peach Pear Plum-- My mother in law gave this to my nine year old when he was a baby. It is a cute play on nursery rhymes, has great i-spy type pictures, and is one of the few rhyming books that doesn't make you crazy. Hilariously, this photo isn't staged for the blog post. She just loves books. And stealing her sister's necklaces.I like all of the Elephant and Piggie books. Mo Willems is a genius, and this series is our favorite. This one makes us laugh.

I'm also a big Doreen Cronin fan, but I think her first book, Click, Clack, Moo, is my favorite. I saw her Betsy Lewin, the illustrator, speak at the National Book Festival in DC years ago. They did an improv story/art storytime for the kids and I just loved it.

The Baby Lit books make me smile, you can see Romeo and Juliet in the first photo. The authors take classics, from Jane Eyre to Moby Dick and use them to teach colors, opposites, counting, etc. They are design-savvy illustrations and just a lot of fun.  

The Alice in Wonderland one teaches colors, and my daughter loves it.For whatever reason, babies seem to really like books with real photos in them, especially photos of other babies.

My daughter likes the First 100 Words one, among others in the series.

You rarely go wrong with Sandra Boynton, I think I read/sang Snuggle Puppy to my oldest 10 million times.

My baby loves the Going to Bed Book, although actually going to bed is another story.

From Head to Toe is my favorite Eric Carle book, especially for babies learning their body parts. (looking through the list, I guess I really like the classic authors. This was a surprise!)

Freight Train by Donald Crews is a ton of fun. All of my kids have loved this one.

Dog Food this one is hilarious--its part of a series where the authors photograph fruits and vegetables that look like other things, in this case, dogs! Our copy is trashed, it has been read (and carried around) so many times.

And a new addition to our library, B is for Bear, a Natural Alphabet. I bought this one at Powell's in November and I love it!Happy reading!