Best Board Books for Babies

We started early

Addie Belle is a book nerd and loves to read.  It's one of the things we do together at least twice a day, and it started when she was in the NICU.  Born at 26 weeks, she spent 114 days in intensive care and there were very few ways to connect.   One of the ways we connected (especially John) was to read to her for hours a day.  Each night when he'd get done work, I'd do kangaroo care while he read to us.  Her oxygen levels and heart rate were always the best during that time.  Reading and kangaroo care is some pretty powerful stuff!!  

In fact, a recent study in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics found that reading to babies in the NICU can help parents develop the same feelings of intimacy that parents of healthy newborns cultivate in the days and weeks after a baby's birth.

Adeline's wearing a bow from NICU Knits which is made by a NICU nurse. She also donates 10% to Bliss Charity for Preemies.

Bonding Time

Even if your baby isn't a preemie, reading to your baby is one-on-one bonding time.  It's a way to connect and expose your baby to your voice. Once they begin to recognize your voice, it can be soothing to them.   I think it's even more important for dads to read to their babies if their wife or partner is breastfeeding.  They don't get the benefit of the same natural bonding time that mother's do.

develop the brain

Each time you're reading with your child, you're helping their brain to develop. You're exposing them to vocabulary, words, rhythm, language and emotion in a situation that's comforting and safe for them. 

Promote Language

Children need to hear words often, which is why many of the books I recommended include books with predictable, repetitive text.  They learn words better when they are interested, so its important to keep that in mind. They also learn best when adults are responsive to them, which is ideal during reading time.  To learn more about how reading promotes language, check out how you can Promote Language with Books from the Hanen Centre. 

Headstart at Life

Children who are read to regularly starting at young age are more likely to be stronger readers, have better success at school, and have increased cognitive abilities, regardless of income of family background.

ANd Now for the list!

As a prior special education kindergarten teacher and director at an early intervention center,  I know how important reading is, starting from day one! We've continued this tradition of reading and we came up with a list of our favorite board books.

Animal Alphabet

This book is great way for kids to learn their alphabet in an interactive way.   It has sliding panels for each letter with hand drawn animals.  The best part about the sliding panels is they are durable.  There is nothing worse than an interactive flip book or sliding feature with thin cardboard that my toddler rips.  Because of the sliding panel, the pages are extra thick which allows kids with emerging page turning skills to turn them more easily.

Are You My Mother?

This book is just funny and silly as a baby bird falls out of a tree and expects these random animals to be his mother. The tension of the baby looking for his mama kind of engages the reader and makes them want to know what happens next.  This book will grow with your baby, and is a ideal for a child learning to read.  P.D. Eastman wrote his books in his own style but under the Dr. Seuss brand as his protégé and this was part of the Beginner Book Series.  This book was written in 1957 and kids and parents still love it.  The illustrations are simplistic and remind me of a comic strip and the appeal of a cartoon.

Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?

Eric Carle is one of my favorite authors, EVER! Just go ahead and buy everything he’s ever written, you won’t be disappointed.  This book is similar to the Brown Bear format but with baby bear looking for his mama.  There are so many great early concepts in this book; color identification, simple animal vocabulary, and even action words.  The predictive nature of these books also is engaging for toddlers. 

Baby Beluga

The concept of this book is pretty cut and dry, the classic signature raffi song is now in a board book format.  The illustrations are realistic in that they show the beluga in their natural world and include a variety of artic animals such as penguins and polar bears.  I cannot read this book, it just doesn’t feel right or sound right and it can only be sung aloud.

Baby Einstein - Mini-Board Books

These books have the best educational content and come in a small carrying case; counting, music, colors, shapes, animals, alphabet, and more.  Some may say theyre too small, but I find them the perfect size my daughter’s hands and the thicker pages make it easier to turn the pages.  Most of the books combine an illustration and a photo of the concept which is something I really like about them.  This is perfect for the car!

Baby Signs

Babies can learn to sign before they talk. Teaching baby sign is a great way to start teaching language, and it does not impede talking at all!  This book illustrates 13 essential signs to help your baby express their needs, wants, feelings, and can decrease frustration and tantrums.  This is a perfect supplement to Baby Signing Time DVDs.

Belly Button Book

This book by Sandra Boynton is a favorite and toddlers will love it.  The text is short like my toddler’s attention span, it rhymes and has a sing song quality, and reading “Bee Bo”, repeatedly is just funny.   I also love most of her books such as Barnyard Dance!, Tickle Time, etc.

Little Blue Truck

This book is perfect for any truck lover, and super enchanting and engaging because it is full of sound effects (animal noises and beeps).  Art is colorful and folksy and for older toddlers there is a good message about leaning on your friends to help you, teamwork, and also being kind.  For younger babies the animal sound effect and repetitive rhyming stanzas of the book will entrance them.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear falls into the category of predictable and each two-page spread has a question on the left-hand side, and the answer on the righthand side. Each question contains the color of the animal and its name; the name is repeated twice.  It is great for teaching colors, animal vocabulary, and working on making predictions.  Predictable books with basic vocabulary and simple rhyme patterns let children anticipate what word comes next. Eventually your child will begin to anticipate what is coming next and can fill in the blank or repeat phrases. 

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

I taught kindergarten for 5 years, and this is one of MY personal favorites.  It bright, has a lively rhyme, perfect to put to song, all as letters of the alphabet race each other to the top of the coconut tree.  Great sound effects and catchy repeated phrases (“skit skat scootle doot”), engage the younger ones, while letter identification and just plain silliness engages the older toddlers.

Your Baby's First Word Will Be Dada

I’m always a little skeptical when a celebrity writes a book but this one is ah-mazing! It is simple as all heck, and it has 18 words, 9 of which are Dada.  Its repetitive, illustrations are simplistic, good for building vocabulary, perfect for read alouds, and for any child who is obsessed with their daddy.

Dear Zoo

This book is over 25 years old and a perfect lift the flap book. A kid writes to the zoo because they want a pet but is sent ridiculous animals (lion, camel, etc.) until the perfect pet arrives (puppy).  Toddlers find this book endlessly funny with the peek-a-boo format. Pictures are clear, uncluttered, which makes it easy for them to focus on the main idea on each page. It’s good for basic animal vocabulary, but then you can expand it to teach animal noises, what they eat, where they live, difference between pet and zoo animals, etc.

The Feelings Book

I heart Todd Parr and have most of his books.  I love his iconic stick figure type drawings and use of bright colors.  Many of his books are inclunsive of all types of families and people.  This book is about feelings and but gives children permission to feel all the feels.  Sometimes you feel brave and sometimes you just want to lay in the bathtub all day.  Its a great message for kids and a good reminder to parents that there is a spectrum of feelings and its ok for our littles to feel them all.

Freight Train

This Caldecott Honor book is perfect for any train lover, like my Adeline.  Simple words, vibrant pictures, and is great for teaching color concept s as the train drives through.  My favorite part is that as the train gains speed, the colors start to blur which can be poetic and is also a great introduction to color mixing.  Adeline and I also talk about the train going fast and slow, add our own chugga chugga sound effects, and even day into night.  As your child gets closer to 6 years old , it’s a perfect example of colors matched with color words.

Giraffes Can't Dance

So many amazing messages in this adorably illustrated cute story.  Every animal has a special dance except poor Gerald the Giraffe so he feels bad about himself especially when teased by his peers.  With some encouragement he learns to dance to the beat of his own drum to speak.  The message is that it’s ok to be different, do not let other discourage you, and everyone can dance when they find the music that is right for them.

Good Night Gorilla

Classic must have for bedtime reading.  Its sparely worded, repetitive, with vibrant  jewel toned images that are engaging for kids.  It’s great todevelop simple zoo animal vocabulary and eventually teach them about caring for animals or the duties of a zookeeper.  It is the kind of book that is good for a baby and will follow them through toddlerhood with the humor and almost wordless text.

The Goodnight Train

This book is perfect for bedtime and combines the routine of getting ready with the rhythmic sounds of a train.   Rock-a, rock-a, rock-a, rock-a–Shhhhhhhhhhh! Shhhhhhhhhhh! Kids will love the rhythm as it speeds up getting faster and louder and slows down and gets quieter.  It will help them to calm down for the night and snuggle up! 

Goodnight Moon

It’s kind of crazy to think this book as been a favorite of parents and children for 65 years!  It’s so good because the pace is slow and calming, rhymes are simple, and repetition as the little bunny says goodnight to all familiar things in the room kind of helps to lull kids into relaxation. Pediatricians recommend creating a bedtime routine and this book sort of imitates a child’s routine before they go to bed.  They transition away from their parents and toys, and into their bed.  It helps them to understand what is happening next, the routine, and makes transition into bedtime easier.

Guess How Much I Love You

This book is perfect for cuddly bedtime reading.  It simple, kid friendly terms this book is about the unconditional loved parents have for their children. The illustrations are earthy tones and visually uncluttered which is a great effect if reading this before bed. Toddlers respond to this book because Nutbrowns’ declarations of love become more and extravagant and ridiculous all while trying to put off bedtime.

Look Look!

This book is filled with high contrast images done in black and white with red text.  When babies first learn to see, high contrast is the easiest for them.  The first primary color they learn to see is red so this is the perfect book for your infant.  There are simple images on each page so it is good to build simple vocabulary. Its a great book to get your baby to look and learn!

Love You Forever

This book is guaranteed to make you cry.  It is a perfect illustration of how timeless a parent’s unconditional love is for their child.  It’s deep with a story about life and death, and how your roles as a parent and child may shift in time.  It reminds you that you are always someone’s child, no matter how grown up you become.  This a perfect bedtime story with repetitive “chorus” and can be reading throughout the years.

Moo, Baa, La La La!

Such a fantastic board book for to help kids learn animal sounds.  Colorful art, funny repetitive and rhyming text, and oinking, mooing, baaing, will engage a baby as young as 6 months old. Comic book style illustrations are drenched in color with clean lines with enough detail that doesn’t clutter.  I love most of her books!

More More More Said The Baby

This book is a Caldecot Winner, and I love it for its use of multigenerational, multiracial, stories of love between parents and grown ups.  The text is rhythmic and musical.  It is great for teaching action words that are just part of everyday routines; lifting up the baby, hugging, tickling, etc.  The illustations are uncluttered, but filled with really bright splashy paint with rainbow lettering is very visually engaging for your kiddo.  It is also a great example of simple games that are the stepping stones for building communication.  When Adeline was first learning to talk, I would tickle her and stop, trying to get her to tell me more using sign language.  This book was a perfect supplement to that activity!

My Big Animal Book

Great book for building vocabulary.  Large photographs on familiar animals with bright clear backgrounds.  This is a book you can build upon.  At first Adeline just liked to look, then I would point and identify, then she would randomly identify animals, and now I ask her, “Where is the cow?”  My only complaint would be that there are quite a few animals on each page, which can be visually overstimulating.

On The Night You Were Born

This book is about the night your child was born, and describes how special and unique they are.  I tear up reading this book, especially the part about the wonderful miracle.  Each child will think the book is written specifically about them.  Some critics think that you shouldn't read your child a book about how they are the center of the universe.  In my house, she is, so its all good here! 

Peek-A Who?

Totally love this simple book.  The format is pretty straightforward, “peek a” is repeated, then flip the page and there is a cow (“MOO!”),  “peek a”, a green ghost (“BOO”!) and then the it ends with a mirror.  It is perfect to practice peek-a-boo, which is a form of play primarily played with babies, but toddlers still love it! Believe it or not, Peek-a-boo is actually an important state of cognitive development for infants (it demonstrates an infant’s inability to understand object permanence).

The Pout-Pout Fish

My daughter is obsessed with this book and tries to rush through the pages so can get to the kiss part at then.  Its cartoon like, bright, clean, and the main character as very exaggerated expressions which is good to teach emotions and entertaining.  The rhymes are fun, clever, and introduced you to a variety of ocean animals.  If you listen to the Youtube video of this book put to music, I promise you won’t be able to read it again without singing.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

This book was a kindergarten teacher's dream.  It provides countless learning opportunities.  This book can teach colors, days of the week, fruits, sequencing, types of food, life cycle of a butterfly, and even healthy/unhealthy eating.  This is a classic with endless opportunities for learning.

Touch and Feel Farm

DK’s Touch and Feel series are awesome! This particular book from the series has clear photography, simple text, and sensory textures.  The book is short, and children are very interested in the different tactile textures that tries to mimic the particular animal on that page.  It’s great for teaching animal recognition, sounds, and let your child learn what different animals feels like. Excellent book for kids with any sort of sensory processing disorder and or motor delays.

Where is Baby's Belly Button?

Upon first glance of this book I was not impressed.  It has a few pages and each one has flaps that when lifted reveal a different body part.  But I was wrong.  Babies love this book because it has a peek-a-boo format, and my almost 2 year old loves revealing the different body parts. And although I can’t explain it, kids love their belly button.  Its just funny and sort of weird.  Added bonus is having Adeline lift the flap herself to work on some fine motor skills.

Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You

“…I wanted you more than you’ll ever know, so I sent love to follow wherever you go.” Oh lord, I can’t even read that sentence without tearing up.  I struggled with fertility to this book spoke to me, as it will with most mothers. This is a lifetime book, that I may make Adeline take with her to college.  The illustrations are photorealism and beautiful, with fantasy-like landscapes with different wild animals; pandas, peacocks, etc.  The message is my love will be with you wherever you go, and its rhythmic, rhyming text are engaging and great book for bedtime.

You Are My I Love You

This book is simple and heartwarming.  It is about what it is to love and be loved using the simplest moments from the day. "I am your parent; you are my child. I am your quiet place; you are my wild. It perfectly describes how different you are from your child but how you are perfect together.  

You Are My Sunshine

This is a classic book that every child needs.  I sang this song to my daughter daily while she was in the NICU and it still warms my heart.  Read this book as you sing along, its quick, visually engaging with foil cover, and illustations are large and colorful.  Nothing fancy, but kids love it!

Yummy Yucky

This book was written by a mom whose one year old wouldn’t stop putting things in her mouth.  I can TOTALLY relate.  The book is simple, minimal words, and it teaches kids what’s appropriate to put in their mouth and what is not appropriate.  A bonus is that Adeline thinks this book is hilarious because of the faces I make for yummy or yucky.  We have generalized those terms into our real life so she recognizes when I use that same language.

To watch most of these books being read aloud, click above or check out our YouTube channel She Got Guts .