enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

our favorite baby books

Kiddobooks

We were very lucky: my mom saved my entire baby book collection and we were gifted many beautiful books so when Ellerie was born she had a full library at her disposal.

For this post, I wanted to share some of the non-classics that were totally new to me and we are loving. I've starred the ones that Ellerie (at 9 months) actually engages in and listens to (that I don't mind reading 14 times in a row). The others are ones that I personally love because they are gorgeous/fun/sweet and have an awesome message. I know she'll grow into these in time.

Book3

Ten Little Ladybugs*

Book4

Giraffes Can't Dance*

Book9

I Had a Favorite Dress

Book2

Snuggle Puppy*

Book8

Beautiful Oops!

Book5

One

Book6

Press Here

Book7

On the Night You Were Born

Book1

Sylvie

Any other new favorites I have to add to our collection? I would love your suggestions.

*links throughout are affiliate.

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91 responses to “our favorite baby books”

  1. Jess Avatar
    Jess

    We love reading “King Jack and the Dragon”, and the “Little Blue Truck” books.

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  2. Jess Avatar
    Jess

    Yes! We love “Ten Little Ladybugs”, “Giraffes Can’t Dance”, and “Snuggle Puppy”, too! My little guy and I also love “The Little Blue Truck”, “Dig Dogs Dig”, and the Otis series by Loren Long.

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  3. Jenny Avatar
    Jenny

    “I Love You Through and Through”. Linus loves it when I get all expressive with the words. It’s a very sweet book.

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  4. Annabet Avatar
    Annabet

    “Jamberry” was a favorite board book. Even though my girls are now 16 and 14, I can still recite most of it by heart!

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  5. Suzelle Avatar
    Suzelle

    Jamberry !!!

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  6. stephanie Avatar
    stephanie

    Little Hoot, Little Oink and Little Pea by Amy Krause Rosenthal are DELIGHTFUL. We have a much loved set and I’ve gifted them several times. My son and I have Little Blue Truck memorized as well as Bear Snores On. Of late, as well, Courderoy has been high in his pick of books for rotation. (And when she gets older you will want to discover Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems – very very funny and enjoyable for the mama as well as the munchkin.).
    I can talk books for way too long. : ) Happy reading!

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  7. Hollie S. Avatar
    Hollie S.

    Moo Baa La La La is another favorite, and also a Sandra Boynton book. Goodnight Moon, of course. And 5 Little Monkeys. My daughter has re-discovered her love for Snuggle Puppy (she’s 3.5 years) and laughs when I say the last part really loud. 🙂

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  8. Kellie Avatar
    Kellie

    Jamberry for sure! If she likes snuggle puppy she’ll love the others by that author, But Not the Hippoptamus, The Going to Bed Book, and Moo, Baa, La La La…those are CLASSICS!

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  9. Jody Avatar
    Jody

    My niece had two board books that just had pictures of tons of animals. She loved them from baby stage on. She learned animal sounds. There was a spiky fish one and she’d touch it and say “ouch.”
    I think you’d like The Dot.

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  10. Sara Kiiru Avatar
    Sara Kiiru

    Where to start?!? Our favorite baby/toddler books have been (in no particular order): Owl Babies (Waddell); Bus Stop (Gomi); Sheep in a Jeep (Shaw); Night Cars (Jam); all Arnold Lobel books; The Orange Book (McGuire); Snow (Shulevitz); Noisy City Day & Noisy City Night (Anderson); Slinky Malinki (Dodd); Moon Rabbit (Russell); Flamingos on the Roof (Brown); the Betsy books (Wolde); The Bible for Young Children (Delval); all other Boynton books, but especially Belly Button Book; Freight Train (Crews); Little Blue and Little Yellow (Lionni); A is for Annabelle (Tudor); Beep Beep (Horáček); The Snowy Day (Keats); Yellow and Round (Tullet). You could also start reading the Paddington books (Bond/Banbery); the Little Bear books (Minarik); When Blue Met Egg (Ward); Many Moons (Thurber); the Frances books (Hoban); Imagine Harry (or anything else by the Klise sisters); any of Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s children’s books (I think you would like her not-children’s books, too). These are the books that my kids clamored for (aside from the ooh-look-at-those-big-tires kind). Hope you enjoy them!

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  11. Hillary K. Avatar
    Hillary K.

    I love “The Day the Crayons Quit.” It’s for children slightly older than Ellerie, but it’s written as if a little boy’s crayons each write a letter to him. It’s so cute!

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  12. Kendra Avatar
    Kendra

    ANY of the Boynton books are FAB! One of my faves when my boys were little (and theirs too) is a book called Good Night GOrilla. There are very few words. The story is told visually and we loved interjecting the story we thought was going on. This is also my “go to” baby gift.
    http://www.amazon.com/Good-Night-Gorilla-Peggy-Rathmann/dp/0590535986/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395924585&sr=8-2&keywords=good+night+gorilla

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  13. Robin Avatar
    Robin

    My daughter loved Pat the Bunny when she was that age. She liked interacting with each of the pages. We also had an animal book with different things (fur) to feel on each page and that was a hit too.

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  14. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    We love all the Sandra Boynton books too! My son now 3 reads them to me and we also love Good Night Gorilla. The Very Busy Spider is also a great one and very appropriate for you I think!

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  15. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox. Cutest ever. Ten Tiny Toes by Caroline Church is more interactive so a good choice too.

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  16. debra Avatar
    debra

    Giraffes Can’t Dance is awesome. I bought our little man a first encyclopedia and a first atlas from quite a young age, they have always been a big hit. We also love anything by Julia Donaldson but one of my favourites (even as a child) is Whatever Next by Jill Murphy.

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  17. Jennie Avatar
    Jennie

    Both of my kids STILL love this book (even at 2.5 and 8 years old!): http://www.amazon.com/Fuzzy-Boynton-Board-Books/dp/0689863632/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395926507&sr=8-1&keywords=fuzzy+fuzzy+fuzzy
    Each page has a different texture as part of the animal (a dog’s foot made of sandpaper for “rough rough rough”).

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  18. Jennie Avatar
    Jennie

    This one is another fave: http://www.amazon.com/Hooray-Fish-Lucy-Cousins/dp/1406345016/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1395926605&sr=8-2&keywords=hooray+for+fish

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  19. yours truly, melissa Avatar
    yours truly, melissa

    My 10 month old really loves touch and feel books. “If I Were a Hippo” and “That’s not My Reindeer” are both great board books that have different textures that she loves to feel. She also loves this cloth book called “Forrest Friends”, which is a peek a boo that she enjoys flipping open and shut. I have another cloth book in my Amazon cart that I plan on purchasing soon.
    It’s so fun to see when they finally “get it” and start interacting with the books that you’ve been reading to them. 🙂

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  20. Lori W. Avatar
    Lori W.

    Yes! These have been favorites of all 3 of my children.

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  21. Dawn Ritchie Avatar
    Dawn Ritchie

    Agreed, my girls love the “That’s not my…” series. There’s a fairy, a reindeer, etc. It’s a quick read with pictures and textures.
    Oh and we also love “I love you through and through”!

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  22. Lori W. Avatar
    Lori W.

    All of the above are fantastic options (we are obsessed with books here). 🙂
    I can’t tell you how much my daughter loves the “That’s Not My…” series from Usborne Books. “That’s Not My Bunny” would make a great Easter present for little E! 🙂

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  23. Lori W. Avatar
    Lori W.

    Ha! At the exact same time we were posting the exact same thing. The “That’s Not My” series is great! 🙂

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  24. Marty Avatar
    Marty

    Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton! All 3 kiddos loved it. We would dance around acting it out. So much fun. I still have the entire book memorized I read it so many times! Good memories 🙂

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  25. clare Avatar
    clare

    The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. Great message for a little girl and so fun. There is an audio version of all of the Boynton books put to song. I can still sing snuggle puppy 10 years after I last read it (kids are now 14 and 12)

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  26. Johanna Avatar
    Johanna

    I just recently discovered the illustrator Oliver Jeffers through a library book, “Up and Down” (okay, “Hoch und runter”, they didn’t have the original version). http://www.oliverjeffers.com/picture-books/up-and-down
    Fantastic.

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  27. Jasmine Ford Avatar
    Jasmine Ford

    My boys are almost 6 and 8 and Giraffes Can’t Dance is still a favorite. I remember tearing up the first time I read it, such a great story! They were also huge fans of anything by Sandra Boynton, especially the Going to Bed book. Enjoy reading with your girl, it’s our favorite time of the day.

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  28. kiele Avatar
    kiele

    Thanks! These are my 11 month old’s favorites…
    “Is your mama a llama?”
    “Owl Babies”
    “Doggies”(sandra boynton)
    “foodie babies wear bibs”
    “beach babies wear shades”
    “Do cows meow” and “Do crocs kiss” (both lift flap books)…
    “chicka chicka boom boom”

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  29. Kristyn Avatar
    Kristyn

    The Ladybug Girl books are a favorite of our 3 year old girl and we love the “local” books: Goodnight NOLA, Hello New Orleans

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  30. jakki Avatar
    jakki

    “Do princesses wear hiking boots” is one of my DD’s favorite, there’s another one “do princesses really kiss frogs” DH likes that one better with DD its more on the dad side of things. also any of the Llama Llama books, like “llama llama red pajama’s” and because we to live in SD “bats at the beach”

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  31. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    When she gets a little older 2+ “Pete the Cat” is just the best! I am personally in love with the Baby Lit books because of the illustrations and the little guy I nanny is currently digging “1 Foot, 2 Feet”, The “More We Get Together” and “You are my Sunshine” books by Caroline Jayne Church. He also really likes anything with photos of real babies, like “Baby Giggles” 🙂 I love children’s books! I am really lucky because like you my mom saved all of ours AND she’s a preschool teacher so she has her personal kids’ books library too!

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  32. Sara Avatar
    Sara

    I love “On the night you were born.” So sweet! Check out “Wherever you are”, also by Nancy Tillman. It is so beautiful and definitely made me cry.
    I am so impressed that your baby will sit still for books! Alice is 1 month behind your babe and will let me read 1 page before she starts to eat the book.

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  33. Tashia D Avatar
    Tashia D

    My kiddos love the Gossie, Gossie & Gertie, Gideon & Otto, etc. by Olivier Dunrea. They are adorable! They also love Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See and The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

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  34. Whitney Avatar
    Whitney

    The Mo Willems Pigeon books crack my kids up. Like full on belly laughs! I love it! I’ve started reserving books that are top sellers on amazon at the library and trying them out. If both me and the kids like it, onto the wish list it goes!

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  35. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    We are big Sandra Boynton fans in our house as well as Eric Carle. One of my son’s absolute favorite books (and it shows) is Cuddle by Beth Shoshan.

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  36. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    If I Could Keep You Little. (tear)

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  37. kendra Avatar
    kendra

    Awesome post! My son is 23 months and his favorite books are look and find books of any kind but my personal favorite is That’s When I’m Happy by Beth Shoshan. O wrote a blog post about it last month, I won’t link to it cause I don’t wsnt to seemspammy but Iitait’s a great book 🙂

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  38. Kirsten Avatar
    Kirsten

    Big Dog Little Dog – has a board book version, but the regular version is much better – also Bob the Dog

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  39. Megan W Avatar
    Megan W

    I’m a huge fan of the “That’s not my…” series. We have “That’s Not My Dinosaur” and “That’s Not My Elephant.” They are fun texture books. My favorite these days is “I LoveYou Through and Through.” Not sure how old this is, but I love it.

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  40. Megan W Avatar
    Megan W

    That’s a fantastic idea!

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  41. Megan W Avatar
    Megan W

    These are exactly the books I just posted! Love them.

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  42. Chrystal Avatar
    Chrystal

    Moo Baa La La La is one of my son’s (age 2)favorites, too!

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  43. jennifer Avatar
    jennifer

    Press Here is awesome! My kids also loved (and still love) anything Eric Carle, Big Red Barn was also a favorite when they were little! And, I know you’re in CA but you gotta get Snowmen at Night! 🙂

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  44. Laura Avatar
    Laura

    You would love Extra Yarn, Beautiful Oops, and The Dot (and anything else by Peter H. Reynolds)

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  45. jennifer Avatar
    jennifer

    Oh wait! A few more for when she gets bigger – an absolutely dead-on favorite at Christmastime is Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree. So stinkin’ cute! And, a Wish to be a Christmas Tree makes me tear up!

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  46. JenEverAfter Avatar
    JenEverAfter

    At that age, my girls could not get enough of the Karen Katz (def. get this one when it’s time to potty train, my kids STILL read it! http://www.amazon.com/Potty-Me-Karen-Katz/dp/0689874235/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395937391&sr=1-1&keywords=karen+katz+potty)books and the Peekaboo books by DK Publishing, this one especially! http://www.amazon.com/Peekaboo-Playtime-DK-Publishing/dp/075661144X/ref=pd_sim_b_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=0C1ZWJWMAG54F7EYHGMK
    Oh, and for beautiful pictures, you can’t go wrong with Rachael Hale books, another fave. Babies love looking at babies!
    http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Colors-Beautiful-Babies-Rachael/dp/0316044520/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=13C2W4SFD02G49F0HNX8

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  47. Amanda Avatar
    Amanda

    Anything by lynley dodd or dallas clayton. My daughter also loved julia donaldson snail and a whale and sharing a shell. Our lynley dodd and dallas clayton books are loved by both my son and daughter.

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  48. Danielle Golinski Avatar
    Danielle Golinski

    Beautiful Oops! is definitely a favorite. And also the good old classic Goodnight Moon 🙂

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  49. Constance Avatar
    Constance

    The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a children’s picture book designed, illustrated and written by Eric Carle, first published by the World Publishing Company in 1969, later published by Penguin Putnam.[1] It features a caterpillar who eats its way through a wide variety of foodstuffs before pupating and emerging as a butterfly. It is a wonderful children’s book!

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  50. Amanda S. Avatar
    Amanda S.

    Anything by Barefoot Books – they are AWESOME!! Favorites of mine include their World Atlas (GORGEOUS!) and Listen, Listen (by Phillis Gershator). They are my new go-to baby shower gift! http://store.barefootbooks.com/barefoot-books-world-atlas.html

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