I speak as one who has spent the last two years reading nothing but children’s books. I’ve joined book clubs, bought from her daycare, from bookstores, used books at the library. I’ve spent countless hours poring over book reviews, and browsing at stores, to find the best ones. I’ve spent a lot more hours reading them with my daughter. These are my picks, based on reactions from my daughter and myself.
(1)’10 Minutes Till Bedtime’ - A picture book written and illustrated by Peggy Rathman. The story is about some touristy hamsters, which come over to a little boy’s house to sightsee while he’s going through his bedtime routine. The little boy’s enterprising pet hamster had apparently placed an ad in the newspaper for the bedtime tour - which you will notice if you look closely at the newspaper the boy’s father is reading in the first page. The story isn’t much, but this book is full of details like this which make it delightful to look at, time after time. It teaches numbers and counting down, if you so wish. But there are very few words in the story, so you can focus on whatever you choose - follow the one small ant in every exquisitely detailed page, for example. This was a big hit with my daughter, especially at a time when she did not enjoy being read to. But it’s an even bigger hit with me.
(2)’Dora’s Storytime Collection’ - by various artists. Dora The Explorer is a popular Nickelodeon character, and probably needs no introduction to a toddler who has watched her shows. But even if your little boy or girl never saw Dora before(like me and my daughter), this story collection is likely to appeal. The drawing of the human characters is very bland. Dora has only two expressions, and you could just cut and paste those expressions in every picture in the book, for it won’t make a difference. Also, Dora has large brown eyes - her mom has large brown eyes, as do her dad, and her cousin Diego. In fact you could take Dora’s face and paste it for any other face in the book, and nobody could tell. Why then, would I put it among the five best? There is a colorful cheerfulness about the illustrations. The stories almost all start and end in the same format, but a toddler enjoys the predictability of that. The stories frequently require the toddler to interact - for example, say something, flap arms, count, and so on. The book intends to teach some Spanish words, but you could replace the Spanish words with words from your own language. Also, it is a great value compared to buying individual Dora story books. My daughter loves this book so much, and I’ve read it to her so much, that I bought another Dora book’Dora’s Big Book of Stories’. Because if I read’Dora’s Storytime Collection’ one more time, I am going to be sick!
(3)’Biscuit’ - by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Pat Schories. It’s the classic simple book about a puppy named’Biscuit’. It’s Biscuit’s bedtime, and he’s delaying it by asking for one last snack, drink, and story. I don’t know if my daughter learned from Biscuit, or Biscuit learned from my daughter, but they seem remarkably similar in their stalling tactics. The nice thing about this book - it’s very repetitive. After you’ve driven your voice hoarse by reading a few times’Biscuit is small. Biscuit is yellow. Biscuit wants a drink. Woof! Woof!’(and I gave away half the plot by quoting that), your toddler is very likely to’read’ it all by himself. I can’t describe the joy they get out of reading a book that way, or even reading it back to Mommy and Daddy. That, and the eternal fascination children have for puppies, have caused this to be one of our favorites.
(4)’Blueberries for Sal’ - written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey. This is another simple book, illustrated in monotone. A little girl named Sal goes blueberry-picking with her mother. A bear cub goes blueberry-grazing with his mother. Both young ones are so absorbed in eating blueberries, that they stray from their own mothers and follow the wrong ones. Both human and bear mothers are startled to discover a cub and a little girl following them, respectively. The parents slowly back away, and eventually find their own offspring. Sal goes home with her mother, and the cub grazes on with his. Very realistic, there’s nothing of fantasy in this one. It shows people living in harmony with nature. The mothers in the book are wisely cautious when they spot a baby of a different species, but they are not hostile. It’s the first book that I mentioned so far, with a real story in it. I think that story is what makes it interesting to my daughter. Either that, or the blueberries.
(5)’Knuffle Bunny’ by Mo Willems. It’s a picture book with real black and white photographs of New York localities, with cartoon characters drawn in bright colors over them. Little Trixie goes to the laundromat with her Daddy, and after monkeying around and helping Dad with the laundry, she realizes on the way back home that her precious stuffed’Knuffle Bunny’ is absent from their party. She tries to tell Daddy all about it - but here’s the thing. Trixie can’t talk yet. Atleast she can’t talk her Daddy’s language, and her Daddy doesn’t understand hers. After some misunderstandings, arguments, and hard feelings, they reach home(Trixie being unceremoniously carried under her Dad’s arm). Mommy comes to Trixie’s rescue with’Where’s Knuffle Bunny?’ The sheepish Dad runs down with Trixie and Mommy to the laundromat. What happened to Knuffle Bunny? Will he ever be found? Will Dad make up to Trixie for his denseness? Read the book to find out!(or read the spoiler here. Knuffle Bunny, who was dropped in the washing machine, will be found by the brave Daddy, causing Trixie to speak her first real words.) If you are parent to a toddler, there has to be atleast one time your toddler experienced Trixie’s frustration. My daughter seems to identify with Trixie’s feelings and frequently picks this to read.
We have other old favorites like the classic’Good Night Moon’ and’The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, but we rate the above books as exceptionally entertaining. Hope you give these books a whirl, and enjoy them as much as we did.