5 Books Your Young Toddler Will Love.

“You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need is a book.”
– Dr. Seuss

When I was a child, on Saturday mornings my mom and I would walk to the city library, where she would let me check out as many books as I could fit in my tote bag. In theory, these books were supposed to keep me entertained throughout the week, but in practice by Sunday night I had already read all of them. I was intrigued with the various adventures that I could go on through the pages of books. One time, I recall my dad getting mad at me because I would not put my book down while we were having a family lunch. As “punishment” he told me to go to my room. Of course, I gladly went to my room as this meant quiet time for me to continue reading my book. It took him only a few minutes to realize that it wasn’t much of a punishment for me and he gave up. Fast forward twenty something years later and I can only hope that my little one finds as much excitement and as many adventures in books just like I did.

When my husband and I found out we were expecting, we were both very excited about starting to read to our little one. This was one of the few ways we could “interact” with him while still in my belly. My husband ordered a set of Dr. Seuss books that he would read to my baby bump every few nights. Now that Nick is a year old, we continue to emphasize the importance of reading. My husband and I have our books scattered around the house in various book shelves while Nick has his own growing collection in his room. (I promise, a room tour post will be up soon!!) My husband also routinely takes him to the library and picks out a few books with him.

I’m not going to lie and say that my son sits through our reading sessions, because he does not. He is just 16 months (to the dot) so he does not sit still for a long time. However, there are a few books that I have noticed he is more likely to sit through and interact with. These are also some of my favorites to read to him, not sure if because I see he enjoys them so much or he enjoys them so much because I enjoy them. Its a never ending circle!

1. The Pout Pout Fish.
   The adorable story about a sad fish who realizes he is seeing things in the “wrong” perspective. I have this book memorized because Nick loves it so much. Also every time the fish says a certain word I tickle nick so he has begun associating certain words and he will try to tickle me as well. He also loves the “smooch” parts.

1. Where Do Diggers Go at Night?
   Nick received this book and the Pout Pout Fish through a mail book exchange I participated in last year. I loved receiving these books because otherwise I don’t know if I would have gotten them for him. This book shows various cars doing night time routines. I think this book is special because it shows your little ones about what others do, even if in reality diggers don’t rock their babies back and forth haha.
2. Como Aprenden los Colores los Dinosaurios?
   Coming from a bilingual home, I am trying to emphasize this for Nick as well. Unfortunately most of the time I cannot find books in Spanish (that I like) so I end up translating the English ones we have for Nick on the spot. We picked this book up at target for Easter and it is adorable. Maybe I am biased because its about dinosaurs but it just has dinosaurs doing silly things while teaching you about colors. I think Nick likes it when I act like a T Rex trying to reach for something far away…  You can see the English version here.
3. Friends are the Best.
   My son has been obsessed with Daniel Tiger since he was an infant. My husband bought him a couple of books for Christmas and this one was gifted to him for his birthday. He absolute loves it and will actually sit down and pay attention. It also helps that its only a few pages long so its perfect for his attention span.
4. The Magical Toy Box.
   My mom gifted Nick this book along with a dinosaur toy box for his birthday. It was perfect because while reading I try to teach him about picking up his toys and putting them in the box. (Unfortunately, I cannot find this book anywhere online to share with you.)

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I try to read a book each night with Nick during our bedtime routine, however sometimes he has his own plans and would rather run around hiding from me. If you have a little one that just doesn’t want to sit through a book reading, I would suggest you act out what is happening in the book. Hey, your child will not judge your bad acting – they’ll be your number one fan during the first few years. I also try to rotate the books that are out for Nick so that he doesn’t lose interest because we are reading the same books over and over again. I keep the “special” books on a shelf in his closet and on his book shelves on the wall, these are the books I don’t want him to destroy so I only bring them out when I read with him. The books that you see in this little shelf are the ones that are out for him to grab whenever he pleases. Sometimes he will close his room doors on us and we hear him “reading.” This is definitely something I support, even if when I eventually walk in on him the book is upside down. Also, as I mentioned above, my husband takes Nick to the library a few times a month to pick out new books and that way he gets fresh stories and characters.

Do your little ones like any of the books I recommended? Let me know if there are any you would recommend for Nick and I to check out.

XOXO – L.