The toddler phase is full of exploration and independence, and these books all help readers have fun, learn how to do new things, and giggle a lot! We hope the toddlers in your life enjoy them!
Press Here by Henré Tullet is an interactive book in which kids do things like tap the colors, shake the book, and blow on the pages to transform the images. It’s super fun and my kids loved feeling like they had some power when they were toddlers. This book is perfect for that, as well as learning colors.
There are quite a few Llama llama books, and they’re all pretty good. We love Llama Llama Nighty Night by Anna Dewdney to help reinforce a good bedtime routine, especially when toddler power struggles and big emotions can threaten that routine.
Little Blue Truck is the first of Alice Schertle and Jill McElmurry’s series of books that feature a sweet truck that helps others learn to be kind and do what’s right. My toddlers loved looking at all the animals in this one, and when they were a little older they could understand the lessons about kindness and helping others.
How Do Dinosaurs Do Their Chores and How do Dinosaurs Love Their Dogs by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague are our favorites of the books in this series as well. When my toddlers started to explore their independence, I wanted to help engineer some wins for them so they’d find success and use that independence in helpful ways. These books helped us to have some language to talk about chores that they could do all by themselves. Plus, the dinosaurs in these books are are adorable.
Can you tell my kids strugged with bedtime? Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Band is a sweet countdown to bedtime book, helping toddlers calmly get ready for bed, just like the big girl in this book. My kids loved finding the cat on each page and a bonus for learning to count down from 10!