[cyclamen]

<p>My daughter will be 18 months soon and she has just really gotten into books.  She likes to read them several times a day.  We want to get her a few books for Christmas.  What are your favorite books for toddlers, especially ones which are as fun for adults to read as they are for kids to enjoy?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She loves <em>Freight Train</em> by Donald Crewes, and <em>Let's Play!</em> and <em>Baby Animals</em> by Gyo Fujikawa.  She also loves <em>The House in the Night</em> by Beth Kromme and Susan Marie Swanson, and <em>Baby's House</em> by Gelolo McHugh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I am also interested in finding realistic picture book about reptiles and sea life (she's super into snakes right now because she and her dad have been watching snake and sea life videos together on youtube).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To be honest, I don't really enjoy reading Dr. Seuss and she seems to get bored with the length (a relief!).</p>

 

[foodymama]

<p>A favorite book here is Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson.  And I know you wanted a realistic sea life book but this is hands down DD's favorite book, Under The Sea (Push-Pull-Turn and Lift series). <span style="display:none;"> </span> <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Under-the-Sea/Staff-of-Igloo-Books/e/9781848526396" target="_blank">http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Under-the-Sea/Staff-of-Igloo-Books/e/9781848526396</a>.  Maybe your DD will like it too!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sorry you don't like Dr. Seuss.  DD really enjoys The Foot Book, Dr. Seuss's ABC book, and There's A Wocket In My Pocket.  They are shorter than the traditional Dr. Seuss books which keeps DD's attention.  DD has just started liking the traditional Dr. Seuss books such as One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and Oh, The Places You'll Go but she quite a bit older than your DD.</p>
<p> </p>

 

[cloudbutterfly]

<p>Here are some of my favorite books to read to my son:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Philly Joe Giraffe's Jungle Jazz</em></p>
<p><em>Haiku Baby</em> by Betsy Snyder</p>
<p><em>Monkey's Super Smoothie</em> by Mike Berry</p>
<p>Any of the World Snacks series by Amy Wilson Sanger, especially <em>Hola Jalapeno!</em> and <em>First Book of Sushi</em></p>
<p><em>Cat</em> by Matthew Van Fleet</p>
<p><em>Bumble's Sweet Surprise</em></p>
<p><em>The Going to Bed Book</em>, <em>Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs!</em>, <em>Snuggle Puppy</em> and <em>Barnyard Dance</em> by Sandra Boynton</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The text in all of those has enough rhythm and style to really get into "performing" them, which makes it a lot more fun for me!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We have a lift the flap under the sea type book with fairly realistic drawings, but there's a page with some pretty scary sharks on it.  I'm not sure if my son understands that they're scary yet, but they bother me!  The other pages are great, and there's a cute little fish hidden in all the pictures behind a flap to find on each page, so I've thought of just taping the pages together so I don't have to look at the sharks for a year or two.    It's in his room with him where he's sleeping or I'd look for the title.</p>

 

[pianojazzgirl]

<p>Pretty much all of the Sandra Boynton books are great.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We also love The Gruffalo and other books by that author (I forget her name... Julia something I think)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For young Toddlers the Usborne board books are wonderful (touchy/feely and super strong/durable)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We love Dr Seus books... esp Mr Brown Can Moo, The ABC book, Go Dogs Go</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There are some good lift-the-flap books called something like "Baby's Bellybutton" (and others by the same author, including a good potty learning book).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harold and the Purple Crayon</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh gosh, we have sooo many great toddler books.  Ds is 3 now and we're moving past some of them so I've forgotten what they all are.  I'll take a look upstairs and post more ideas later.  </p>

 

[crunchy_mommy]

<p>Awww we love Dr. Seuss here!!! Green Eggs & Ham, What Was I Scared Of?, One Fish Two Fish, If I Ran the Zoo, Hop On Pop... everything Suess really.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>DS is 21mo and some of the books he enjoys most right now (besides Suess!) are:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Brown Bear Brown Bear (Bill Martin/Eric Carle... and any other books by either are a hit too)</p>
<p>I Can't Get My Turtle to Move (Elizabeth Lee O'Donnell)</p>
<p>I Love You As Much (<span class="ptBrand">Laura Krauss Melmed -- and I love that this shows a mama & baby cosleeping!!)</span></p>
<p>Red Stop Green Go (PD Eastman)</p>
<p>Hand Hand Fingers Thumb (Al Perkins)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That's all I can think of right now, I guess we've been reading more Seuss than anything else lately actually...</p>

 

[ellemenope]

<p> </p>
<p><strong>3 minute attention span board books:</strong></p>
<p><em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Is your mamma a llama?</span> </em>  ~"Is your mama a llama," I asked my freind Rhonda.  "No she is not," is how Rhonda responded.</p>
<p><em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Bear Snores on</span>  </em>~In a cave in the woods in his deep dark lair, through the long cold winter sleeps a great brown bear.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Quick as a cricket </em></span>  ~I'm as brave as a tiger.  I'm as shy as a shrimp.  I'm as tame as a poodle.  I'm as wild as a chimp.</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Chicka Chicka Boom boom</em></span>  ~look there's a full moon.  A is out of bed and this is what he said:  "Dare double dare, you cant catch me.  I'll beat you to the top of the cocunut tree."</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>The little mouse, the red ripe strawberry, and the big hungry bear</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>We're going on a bear hunt</em></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>10 minute attention span:</strong></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Caps for sale</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Harold and the purple crayon</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Horton hears a who/hatches an egg</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>The butter battle book</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Little Bear</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Frog and Toad</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Mrs. Brice's Mice</em></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>20 minute attention span:</strong></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Tiki Tiki Tembo</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Skippyjon Jones</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>The complete tales of Winnie the Pooh</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Zen shorts</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>The Fire Cat</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Stellaluna</em></span></p>

 

[Bjen614]

<p>I second Sandra Boynton.  Anything by her is great...esp Snuggle Puppy and Pajama Time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My son always begs me to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin & Eric Carle severeal times a day. </p>

 

[Chamomile Girl]

<p>My kid is an Eric Carle addict.  His two favorites are <em>Where's My Cat</em> and <em>The Grouchy Ladybug</em>.  The latter of these is fun to tell with different voices and such for all the characters.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And of course he also loves, loves, loves Goodnight Moon.</p>

 

[CherryBombMama]

<p>my ds LOVES Moo, Baa, La La La by sandra boyton, and i actually love to read her books as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>his other favorites are Love and Kisses by Sarah Wilson ("smooch and smack! you kiss your cat. your cat may kiss a cow. The cow may kiss a giggling goose. the goose, a fish - somehow!")</p>
<p> </p>
<p>and Jamberry by Bruce Degen ("one berry, two berry, pick me a blueberry.Hatberry, Shoeberry, in my canoeberry.")</p>
<p> </p>
<p>theyre board books and fairly short.</p>

 

[ASusan]

<p>DS liked I Spy board books at that age.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He also liked simple lift-the-flap books.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He liked the Seuss board books  and others in the series (Are you My Mother?; Hand Hand fingers Thumb). We have the longer, hardcover versions from my childhood, but he didn't have the attention span until about 24 mos for them. At 24 mos, he figured out they were the "same" books and he liked to hold the board book while I read from the big book. Now, at 36 mos, he likes to compare the two versions to see what pages are missing from the board books.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He didn't have the attention span for anything longer than a board book until 30 mos.</p>

 

[AndtheStars]

<p>A second vote for CAT (really great pictures and interactive flaps, fuzzy parts and push/pull tabs).  I'm going to get DS DOG for x-mas.  He likes Goodnight Gorilla, the ABC Book, Are you my Mother?, The Foot Book, a board book of nursery rhymes, and Sesame Street's animal ABC.  He also likes to look at all the toy/kids clothes catalogs that we get.  We tell stories about what the kids are doing in the pictures.</p>

 

[crunchy_mommy]

<br><br><div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>ellemenope</strong> <a href="/community/forum/thread/1279691/what-are-your-favorite-books-for-toddlers#post_16049561"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a><br><br><p> </p>
<strong>20 minute attention span:</strong>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Tiki Tiki Tembo</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Skippyjon Jones</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>The complete tales of Winnie the Pooh</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Zen shorts</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>The Fire Cat</em></span></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><em>Stellaluna</em></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p><br>
Ohhh I forgot about Winnie the Pooh, we don't have the whole thing but we have a couple of the stories & DS loves Winnie the Pooh & the Bees. It's not a picture book though (well there are maybe 3 pictures in it...)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I remembered a couple more, The Beginning of the World (<span class="ptBrand">Masahiro Kasuya) -- has beautiful illustrations, don't know if you're religious but DS has really been enjoying simplified Bible stories like this! Also Night House Bright House (Monica Wellington) which is like a rebus with pictures embedded in the text so he gets to 'read along'.</span></p>

 

[lach]

<p>The Dr. Seuss books are designed for early readers, and I agree that they don't make great toddler read alouds.  They're much too long, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We love the Sandra Boyntons, Brown Bear Brown Bear, and the Biscuit books.  Also Peepoo and Each Peach Pear Plum, by the Ahlburgs.  Oh, and Corduroy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Books that both of my older kids have loved "reading" to themselves are any title in the Usborne "First Words" series that have little clay illustrations.  These books keep them happy for ages.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At that age, DD was obsessed with Ox Cart Man, which is a little random.  She called it "the book where the daddy takes a walk."  I guess it was a combination of her two favorite things... Daddy and walks!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For something slightly different, we got a subscription to the magazine Babybug when DD was a baby, and it's just wonderful.  DD is usually sleeping with a few issues in her bed at any given time, and DS  has recently been carrying an issue with a story about elephants in it around.  It's like getting a new book with lots of poems and very short stories in the mail every month.  The illustrations are beautiful, too.</p>

 

[bodhitree]

<p>We are huge Sandra Boynton fans in our house. <span><img alt="thumb.gif" src="http://files.mothering.com/images/smilies/thumb.gif"></span></p>

 

[Summersquash]

<p>DD went through a HUGE fish phase a few months ago.  Unfortunately none of these have any realistic pictures of sea life but all involve fish as the subject or part of the book.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hooray for Fish by Lucy Cousins is a cute book with fish as the subject.  </p>
<p>Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish is a sweet 4 page board book.</p>
<p>Get Off My Tail Little Whale by Ronne Harris</p>
<p>I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean and I'm the Best Artist in the Ocean both by Kevin Sherry</p>
<p>Goodnight Ocean by Mark Jasper and Cooper Kelly</p>
<p>Goodnight Beach by Adam Gamble and Cooper Kelly</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Also, not a book, but fish window clings provided hours and hours of entertainment here.  In fact, we are moving on from the fish phase but there are 4 fish on my window right now.  <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.mothering.com/images/smilies/smile.gif"></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Have you looked at or national geographic magazines (or any kind of marine life magazines maybe?) for pictures?  They don't really even need to be geared toward children if your kid is interested in focusing on the photos and discussing what is in them.</p>

 

[candelaria80]

<p>I just wanted to share this link with everyone.  It is a great site I discovered. I make a wish list every now and again solely made up of their "Bargain Bin" titles, many of which are mentioned in this thread.  I just ordered 7 books for $21.35, free freight! </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.betterworldbooks.com/childrens-bargain-bin-books-H10946.aspx" target="_blank">BetterWorldBooks</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>PS. Sorry if this is old news, I just got super excited! <span><img alt="orngtongue.gif" src="http://files.mothering.com/images/smilies/orngtongue.gif"></span></p>