I remember in our early reading days, wondering if my crazy paper-tearing infant would ever be able to handle the paper of regular picture books. He would rip the flaps and pages of anything non-cardboard, and even board books made excellent teething toys. And somehow, without even noticing the transition, at some point after Colin’s half birthday, he stopped going into destructo-mode when faced with an book with breakable pages.
We still spend a large amount of our reading time holding cardboard, but venturing into paper books has been fun and exciting. We are tip-toeing slowly into the picture book world when it comes to purchasing, preferring the library and our current tried-and-true favorites. I avoid stories with complex plot lines, since C’s attention span isn’t always strong enough to follow complicated stories.
Here are a few of our early favorites:
1) If You Give A Moose a Muffin – When Colin was born, he received a handful of books by Laura Numeroff, and Colin loves all of them, especially this one, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Pig a Pancake. They are funny, the pictures leave a lot of room for discussion and they are a great lesson in cause and effect (or at least how the mind makes connections from one thought to the next).
2) Love You Forever – This classic by Robert Munsch was a gift, and when C was a tiny baby, I couldn’t read it without sobbing. And then, thinking about it too much gave me the creeps (um, driving across town in the night and climbing into your child’s room = a bit weird) so I shelved it. But now that I have a toddler who makes choices, this book has rejoined the rotation. He loves it, and learning that the book was inspired by his two stillborn babies makes me appreciate the sentiment much more. C loves rocking back and forth while we read it, so of course, I oblige.
3) What Does the Fox Say – C is 100000% obsessed with this song (still). We got the book, and he loves to read the pages and help me sing along. (I may sometimes hide this book when I can’t handle one more wha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chow!, but mostly it is a fun one.)
4) Steam Train, Dream Train – I am sensing a theme in C’s favorites – animals – and this one fits it. The illustrations in this train-themed book are filled with animals helping to load and riding the train, and Colin loves to point out the kangaroo, the monkeys and the giraffes. This book has become a bed-time favorite, and the ending has a cute surprise.
5) The Ants Go Marching – We love singing at our house, and this classic kids song is even more fun when you can read along and sing while looking at the pictures.
6) The Cat in the Hat – I grew up as a toddler and preschooler reading Dr. Seuss books, and while some of them aren’t my favorites to read to C (like One Fish, Two Fish or Hop on Pop, ironically two of my childhood faves), Colin is obsessed with The Cat in the Hat. He would sit and listen to this loooooong book any day of the week, often more than once. We always talk about cleaning up the messes we make when we read this. Target has many Dr. Seuss books on sale lately, but I discovered the hard way that The Cat in the Hat Comes Back is not worth purchasing. I brought this home to discover the words “shooting” and “killing” deep in the plot of the story. Yikes. But the original is still in the regular rotation and a huge hit.
7) Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library – This hand-me-down book has become a popular one in the Confetti house. Colin loves the exploits of this cute little cat, especially how he plays with the “big kids” that he totally idolizes.
8) Make Way for Ducklings – My aunt and uncle who live in Boston sent us this classic, and Colin loves to quack along. It is still a little long for C, but the story is simple enough that it’s no big deal to skip a few pages. I also love that while the daddy duck leaves for a trip, he always comes back (a good lesson at our house).
What are your favorite non-board books for toddlers?
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
N looooves cat in the hat right now – I hate it. I hate reading it, and it is so long. When she’s not looking I skip a ton of pages! She was in a one fish, two fish phase for awhile too.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
omg I need that fox book! J LOVES that song, adores it!! hahah
We’ve been slowly venturing into paper books as well – but many of his favorites are still board books. He loves “What is your language”
ETA: Oh and Press Here – he loves it!
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
Click click click just ordered the Fox Book. Though, What Does the Fox Say is now second favorite to Pharrell’s Happy.
We are now reading some paper books, too. T loves “This is Not My Hat” and “I Love You Forever” and “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!!” as well as “Llama Llama Red Pajama”
grapefruit / 4923 posts
i always welcome book suggestions! will keep this post for the future when we are venturing out of board book land (we are still firmly a resident).
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
I’ve been needing to write a book post! Although most of Little P’s favorites are still board books we have a few books with regular paper too. Although they still have to be pretty short or he will lose interest and want to pick a shorter book (or one with trucks or trains in it).
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
I am so amused at the idea of you reading What Does the Fox say to Colin complete with sounds.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Good Night Construction Site. One of our favorites.
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
Liam has been loving Harry the Dirty Dog and The Wind Blew lately. He seems to go through book phases – wanting to read the same few every night for a month, then changing it up.
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
We love Steam Train Dream Train and Good Night Good Night Construction Site. I read “regular” books to M when he was an infant and only stopped reading for a short time when he was grabby. We save the board books for when he “reads” them himself, which he’s really getting into right now.
p.s. I have a draft of the same post right now! (different books, of course)
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
I love the transition from board books!! Mostly because our board books are all gross and sticky from 2 kids’ use. Haha. I can’t believe there is already a What Does the Fox Say book!!! Hilarious!!!
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
We were just reading I love you forever last night and I started to tear up. so sweet. we read a lot of curious george, dr.suess and random authors from the library.
blogger / pomelo / 5361 posts
I have these old Sesame Street books from when I was a kid, and I can’t wait to be able to read them to the boys. They’re way too rip happy to try to read those books right now!
blogger / clementine / 998 posts
Thanks for the list!