Toddler books that don't rhyme

[expat-mama]

My son devours books which we are very happy about. He also has an insane memory and delayed echolalia and I find with books that rhyme he tends to recite much more, which is ok most of the time until it starts driving me batty. With books that don't rhyme we engage and talk together a lot more about the content of the story and it tends to expand his language better than rhyming books. The problem is so many of the best books are rhyming!  Some of the non-rhyming books my son likes: The Story of Ferdinand, Animal Family series by Jane Goodall, Percy the Parkkeeper series by Nick Butterworth, and Koala Lou by Mem Fox. We need more!

If you know of any good NON-rhyming books for a precocious 2.5 yr old (he likes books meant for his age, but also really likes books that are geared toward older preschoolers and he can sit through long stories) please let me know! 

Thanks as always! 

[Destiny33]

Although i read to my DD she's not at the age where she understands what books are yet, but 90% of the books i have for her are rhyming ones as well. I dont have any suggestions for books his age that dont rhyme, but i appreciate you naming a few. all the rhyming books kind of get to me after a while, so thanks

[baltmom]

Expat, many of your descriptions of your son remind me so much of my own, who also loves books. Lately he's been very into the Babar books (I shorten and simplify the text a little), and also the Little Bear series (author Else Holmelund Minarik). Both are meant for much older kids but he always asks for them and then pays very close attention. In general I've found that many books with the I Can Read designation are the ones that capture his interest. 

[MiddleRiverMama]

Our favorite right now is Mickey Mouse space adventure. I didn't love it on the first read but he is crazy about it and now after 100 reads, I like it!

[newmamalizzy]

My 2.75 year old also does really well with Level 1 and 2 I Can Read books.  She just doesn't really like rhyming books and prefers a prose-type story.  Another really good series are the ones by Phoebe Dunn, "The Little Kitten,"  The Little Lamb," etc.  They have gorgeous, really illustrative photos along with the story.  Other faves in our house these days....Corduroy, OxCart Man, Frog and Toad, Little Bear, the Little Critter books, various fables, many by Paul Galdone, Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal...that's all I can come up with for now.  I'll be watching this thread, though, because we go through TONS of books, and it's really hard to find the "right" ones.  Many at the right reading level for DD are of unfamiliar subject matter (school and stuff), so she doesn't like them. 
 

[mamapigeon]

Catherine Walters has some really cute stories about a bear named Alfie. I had to buy them on amazon as they seem to be a bit hard to find, but worth it!

Stellaluna might be good. It's about a bat who gets separated from her mother and lives with birds for a while.

If you have a decent library near you, it might be worth it to ask the librarian in the children's section for suggestions. I have very fond memories from childhood of going to the library and reading books I never would have known about otherwise.

[grethel]

My 3 year old dd loves stories too.  Right now she's a big fan of any Arnold Lobel book (the Frog & Toad series, Mouse Tales, etc), the George & Martha series (Marshall), the Toot & Puddle books (Hobbie), all of the "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie" series of books, everything by Mo Willems (the Pigeon books, Elephant & Piggy, Knufflebunny), and the longer storybooks by Kevin Henkes (Owen, Chrysanthemum, the Lily books, etc).

She almost always enjoys the "I Can Read" books, including some of the above, the Henry & Mudge books, Mr. Putter & Tabby, etc. She likes the classics like Blueberries for Sal, Make Way for Ducklings, etc. too (Story of Ferdinand is a huge favorite going back to my childhood!). Little Bear, Kipper, Corduroy, Paddington Bear and Little Critter also get a lot of play around here, and some of the Berenstain Bears books.

[Snapdragon]

Little Golden books!!! Go to amazon and type in little golden in books and you will see a whole list to choose from.

[mamapenguin]

There have been lots of great suggestions already - I would also vote for the Little Bear and Frog and Toad series, which both have longer, more interesting stories but are still very gentle.  My daughter loves Jan Brett books too - The Hat, The Mitten, The Three Snow Bears, The Trouble with Trolls - the stories have an interesting level of suspense, and the illustrations are really beautiful.  She's also enjoyed the Elsa Beskow books that we've tried so far - Children of the Forest, Ollie's Ski Trip, and the Sun Egg.  In search of some longer stories to read to her, I pulled out some of my old books from when I was little - so far Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (William Steig) has been the clear winner, but she's also into the Frances books.  The Leo Lionni books aren't as wordy, but she really enjoys them too (Swimmy, Frederick, Fish is Fish, A Colour of his Own, Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse).  

[Aufilia]

My 3-year-old has been into Frog & Toad books for about a year, and he also likes Poppleton the pig.  But as someone else said, really about any level 1 or 2 "I can read" type book will be ok.  Very few of DS's favorite books rhyme nowadays.  For other individual books, some of his favorates this week are "Caps for Sale", "Kitten's First Full Moon" and "Petunia", and at the moment he's interested in stars and the moon so we have some basic non-fiction books about that. 
 

[expat-mama]

So many great suggestions!  Taking note of them all. We've reached our book budget for January but next month I know what I will ordering! (no great English-language libraries here, sadly.)

Thanks again reading mamas!!! I can't wait to get my hands on some of these. 

[sageowl]

Also consider the realm of non-fiction...lots of good stuff, usually rhyme free!
 

[MsDolphin]

DS (2.5) likes The Rainbow Fish.

[Pepper44]

My 2.5 year old DD also loves Little Bear and Frog and Toad.  Henry and Mudge is another great series along the same reading level!  

[askins]

+1 for Henry and Mudge.  We are really into those right now.
 

[graciegal]

pete the cat. it kinda rhymes but it is so cool!

[nextcommercial]

Mine love "Don't let pigeon drive the bus".  (and all other pigeon books)  It's a good book about peer pressure.

They also love "There's a nightmare in my closet".