Some of the Best Books to
Read to Your Children

Best Books for Babies and Toddlers

This list of seventy authors and their books is in no way complete. Each author may have written many titles, of which only one or two are included here. Many great children's authors and books have not been included — not because they are not worthy, but because to include them all would require many pages n this site! This list includes books and authors that are recommended by experts in the field of children's literature. Our family has read and enjoyed many of these books over the years.
The best way to learn which books your child enjoys is to read children's books — lots of them. Read not only award-winners, but also award-losers. (Some of the best-loved books are runners-up!) Read books about children's books, too.

Make the children's room of your library your second home. Get to know the librarians and ask for their recommendations. The most popular books are usually checked out as soon as they are returned, so reserve them if you can. From your computer, you can often reserve books from home. This service is a lifesaver for those who visit the library with infants and toddlers! If this service is not available to you, visit the library one afternoon or evening without toddlers in tow and spend some time getting to know the best in children's books, both old and new.

Here's the list---so far!
Ahlberg, Janet and Allan. The Baby's Catalogue; Peek-A-Boo
Bang, Molly. Ten, Nine, Eight; Yellow Ball
Becker, Bonny. The Quiet Way Home
Brown, Margaret Wise. Big Red Barn; Goodnight Moon; The Runaway Bunny
Bruna, Dick. Dick Bruna's Animal Book; I Can Count; I Can Dress Myself; "Miffy" series; My Shirt is White
Burningham, John. Mr. Gumpy's Outing
Carle, Eric. My Very First Book of Colors; The Very Busy Spider; The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Carlstrom, Nancy White. Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
Carter, Noelle and David. I'm a Little Mouse: A Pat and Play Book
Cooke, Trish. So Much
Cooney, Barbara (illustrator). Chanticleer and the Fox
Cousins, Lucy (illustrator). The Little Dog Laughed: And Other Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose
Crews, Donald. Freight Train; Truck
De Angeli, Marguerite (illustrator). Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes
De Regniers, Beatrice Schenk. May I Bring a Friend?
Demarest, Chris L. My Blue Boat
dePaola, Tomie. Charlie Needs a Cloak; Pancakes for Breakfast
Dunn, Judy. The Little Rabbit
Eastman, Philip D. Are You My Mother?
Eichenberg, Fritz. Ape in a Cape: An Alphabet of Odd Animals; Dancing in the Moon
Ets, Marie Hall. In the Forest; Gilberto and the Wind; Play with Me
Flack, Marjorie. "Angus" series; Ask Mister Bear; Walter the Lazy Mouse
Freeman, Don. Corduroy; The Chalk Box Story
Fujikawa, Gyo. Let's Eat; Puppies, Pussycats and Other Friends
Ga'g, Wanda. The ABC Bunny
Galdone, Paul (illustrator). The Little Red Hen; The Monkey and the Crocodile: A Jataka Tale from India; Old Mother Hubbard and Her Dog; Old Woman and Her Pig
Gilham, Bill. The First Words Picture Book
Goudey, Alice. The Day We Saw the Sun Come Up
Gramatky, Hardie. Little Toot
Greenaway, Kate. A Apple Pie
Hill, Eric. "Spot" series
Hoban, Tana. Circles, Triangles, and Squares; Is It Red? Is It Yellow? Is It Blue?; Push, Pull, Empty, Full
Hughes, Shirley. Bathwater's Hot; Noisy; Two Shoes, New Shoes; When We Went to the Park
Jam, Teddy. Night Cars
Johnson, Crockett. Harold and the Purple Crayon
Keats, Ezra Jack. Peter's Chair; The Snowy Day
Kraus, Robert. Whose Mouse Are You?
Krauss, Ruth. Bears; The Carrot Seed; The Happy Day; A Hole Is to Dig: A First Book of First Definitions; You're Just What I Need (formerly titled The Bundle Book)
Lansky, Bruce. The New Adventures of Mother Goose: Gentle Rhymes for Happy Times
Lionni, Leo. Frederick; Fish is Fish; Swimmy
Martin, Bill Jr. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?; Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom
McCloskey, Robert. Blueberries for Sal
McMillan, Bruce. Here a Chick, There a Chick
Ormerod, Jan. 101 Things to Do with a Baby
Oxenbury, Helen. Helen Oxenbury's ABC of Things; "Tom and Pippo" series

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