Favorite Board Books for Babies and Toddlers

In my last post, I talked about how I’m learning to recognize living board books for babies and toddlers. This can be so challenging! This post will share some of our favorite board books with you.

Or, as I’ve alternately titled this post: In which I vulnerably share our bookshelves.

This is hard for me, mamas! People have strong opinions about whether or not a book is living. You might agree with this list; you might not. And that’s okay. Different people will have different perspectives on what qualifies as a living book. These are books that we have read many times in our home.

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Classic Books

Madeline– I love that this book grew with my daughter. She loved it when she was a baby, and still loved it as a toddler. It has been passed onto E now, but he enjoys the language and simple pictures, too. You can also find this as a hardcover book for older children.

The Snowy Day– This is a wonderful winter read! Peter plays outside on a snowy day, and explores the different properties of snow. (Currently, the price of this board book is less than $4! But prices are subject to change on Amazon).

Big Red Barn– Confession: I didn’t like this book at first. It calls itself a story in the text, but there’s not actually a story. It’s more of a description of the animals and happenings on the farm. But after I got over its identity crisis, I began to appreciate the language and description.

Goodnight Moon– This book fits into the same category as the The Big Red Barn.  Once I was able to take it for the descriptive beauty it offers, I appreciated it much more. And it’s such a soothing book to read at bedtime!

The Little House– The board book version is probably a little long for some babies and toddlers, but they can grow into it!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar I resisted this book because I thought it fell into the super repetitive category that I talked about. It’s actually not what I thought. Yes, it follows a formula, but the same words aren’t repeated the entire time, and it’s an engaging, simple story. E gets really excited to see all of the different fruits (even though he calls them all “Apple!”).

Are You My Mother? – A little baby bird falls out of his nest and looks for his mother. Finally, a big, surprising helper gets him back to his nest. E likes to say “NO!” along with the animals when the little bird is on his hunt.

The Little Engine That Could– I believe that board version of this book is slightly abridged. The language and story aren’t overly dissected, though! This is a fun, classic story. There’s also so much to see in the pictures! The complete editions are only available in hardcover

Corduroy– Corduroy is  such a sweet bear, and this is a classic story of friendship.

Rhyming Books

I wrote why I am okay with a little silliness in books- and why I think Charlotte Mason would have been, too! Although these are silly, I definitely don’t think they’re twaddle!

Little Blue Truck A huge hit at our house! Miss H loved it as a toddler, and it was one of the first books that E actually paid attention to. He even had a Little Blue Truck first birthday party!

Little Blue Truck Leads the Way– There are several spin offs in the Little Blue Truck series, but the original and sequel are our favorites!

The Going-To-Bed Book– Animal friends get ready for bed on a boat. I love rocking my little guy to sleep saying the lyrical final lines: “They rock, and rock, and rock to sleep.”

Modern Board Books

Our home library has lots of classics, but I do like to add some modern books to our shelves.

Little Bear’s Little Boat– This book has a message after my own heart- getting rid of things 🙂 Little Bear outgrows his favorite boat, but he soon realizes the joy in passing an item on to someone else who can use it. The only think I don’t like about this book is the use of the word “destiny.”

Guess How Much I Love You– I have to admit that this book had to grow on me. At first, I didn’t like how the father tried to “one up” his son’s love. But once I got rid of my pessimistic view, I was able to appreciate this as a sweet story of a parent’s love for their child.

Kitten’s First Full Moon– It’s hard not to love this kitten who thinks the moon is a bowl full of milk!

Owl Babies– Both of my children enjoyed this one! Three little owls wonder where there mother has gone. I have to tell you, this one tugged at the mama heart-strings!

Found: Psalm 23– We don’t own this book, but I hope to soon! This book has the same text from the Jesus Storybook Bible, but it would make such a sweet bedtime book to finish the day with! The board book format makes it more practical for E.

I hope that gives you some inspiration for your baby or toddler’s book collection! What board books do your little ones love?