I have always been a voracious reader, so of course I was thrilled to start reading to our little baby as soon as he was able to sit up! Thankfully, he loves to sit on our laps and read book after book over and over again, and I value that precious time we get to spend together reading more than anything.
Because our little one year old loves to read so much, I try to rotate the books out on his shelf every week so that we’re not reading the same books over and over again. I also try to only put books into the weekly rotation that are appropriate for each season. If you’re not sure which season a book is set in, just look through the pictures and it’s usually pretty easy to tell!
This is a list of our favorite books I’ve purchased, books we’ve been given as gifts, along with some of our favorite library finds and then suggestions from you at the bottom of the post! I can’t wait to pick up the books you’ve recommended from the library and see how our boy likes them. I’ll continue to add to this list as we discover new favorites!
I have used Amazon affiliate links in this post, and you can find all of these books in one place on my Amazon storefront. I’m sure you’d be able to find most if not all of these books at your local library!
Favorite Animal Board Books:
Open The Barn Door… – I loved this book as a little kid (and still totally remember it) and this is by far our farm animal loving boy’s favorite book of all!
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle – Our boy mostly loves sticking his fingers in the tiny holes the caterpillar has made as he’s eaten his way through all the food. Ha!
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle – A classic and for good reason.
Baby Animal Farm by Karen Blair – All of the repetitive animal noises are what make this one a favorite for our guy.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter – I am a massive Beatrix Potter fan (especially after visiting Hilltop Farm in England a couple years ago), and you just can’t go wrong with any of her classic stories. This is a simplified, shorter version of our beloved Peter Rabbit story!
Peter Rabbit: All About Peter by Beatrix Potter – Short and sweet. Which means you may have to read it ten times in a row before your baby is satisfied.
Your Baby’s First Word Will Be Dada by Jimmy Fallon – Jimmy is right. I was “dada” for the longest time. Love all the farm animal noises in this one!
Everything Is Mama by Jimmy Fallon – Just trying to sneak past “dada” on the baby’s first word list.
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff – Only available in hardcover, but he loves this one. One of my childhood favorites, too, along with If You Give A Pig A Pancake.
Five Minutes’ Peace – My mom used to read this one to us as kids…I think it hit a little too close to home for her. Ha! So cute.
Favorite Car & Truck Board Books:
The Little Blue Truck Series by Alice Schertle. The stories are so cute and we love lifting the flaps together! We have Little Blue Truck’s Springtime , Little Blue Truck’s Halloween, and Little Blue Truck Leads The Way. Excited to keep adding the others to our collection.
Beep Beep, Toot Toot by Emma Garcia – Anything that goes “vroom vroom” is at the top of our little boy’s list right now. He loves making all the car noises along with me as I read.
Favorite Sing-A-Long Board Books:
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Other Nursery Rhymes by Eric Carle – A great way to teach some favorite nursery rhymes! I love anything we can sing along to.
My First Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes Book – Some of these are complete nonsense but it’s fun to sing them anyways!
Favorite Realistic Board Books:
The Babies and Doggies Book by John and Molly – He can’t get enough of this one.
First 100 Words by Roger Priddy – I keep this in our church bag because he loves to spend lots of time looking at each page and finding all of the things that are familiar to him.
Seashell by Amy Sky Koster – One of the most simple and beautiful books we’ve found. I love the illustrations. I also am thinking we’ll add her book Egg to his Easter basket next spring!
My Favorite Color by Aaron Becker – How ARE we supposed to pick just one favorite color when there are so many?!
Baby Body Board Books:
This Is Baby by Jimmy Fallon – Such a cute way to learn about their amazing little bodies!
Where’s Baby’s Belly Button? – My mom reads this to him and he loves it!
Bedtime Stories:
Good Night, Baby Melissa and Doug – He loves tucking all the baby animals into bed!
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown – This is a recent favorite, mostly because he’s obsessed with balloons and there’s a big red balloon in the story.
The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin – This is only available in hardcover, but it is the most beautiful, sweet little book. It makes me misty every time we read it. Again…balloons. On almost every page. He’s obsessed.
Dream Animals by Emily Winfield Martin – Love her whimsical illustrations.
The Day The Crayons Quit – Drew Daywalt – Not a board book, but absolutely hilarious. It doesn’t really hold our baby’s attention yet but I love it!
Your Recommendations:
I haven’t read all of these yet myself, but can’t wait to try them out!