Are you looking for the perfect book to gift parent to be? Children as young as one (or younger!) can develop a love for books if the right ones are put before them. When my second daughter was born I knew I wanted to grow our little library and what better curators than dozens of teachers. From my own book loving findings to the picks of many parents and teachers we’ve compiled a list of board books even the littlest readers will adore.

Classics:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Martin Jr.; Bill and Eric Carle

Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book by Random House Books for Young Readers: A simple, seussical ABC book kids young and old are sure to enjoy.

Love You Forever by Firefly Books: This classic brings the beauty of life and loved ones before the reader with grace and love. A sweet tear jerker that belongs in every library.

Characters we love:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s abc by Eric Carle: This is a very simple and beautifully illustrated abc book. It has the same whimsical style as Carle’s other books and teaches lowercase letters as well as a picture to go with each sound.

Llama, Llama Nighty Night by Anna Dewdney: Oh so simple and full of rhyming fun. This is the perfect story to reiterate a bed time routine. It’s just a sweet read for just before lights out.

Potty Time! (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) by Scarlett Wing and Cottage Door Press: Mr. Rodger’s adorable fuzzy character Daniel Tiger teaches little ones about the process of going potty. Simple and catchy way to teach kids to stop and go, followed by tasing and getting out of the bathroom.

The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen: This sweet story follows the pout-pout fish through a journey of discovering differences and understanding himself. A very fun read.

Flip Flap & Other Engaging Features:

Peek-a- Who by Nina Laden: This sweet little book is all a play on the phrase “peek-a-boo!” It’s a fun, short read that little ones will love.

First 100 Words by Roger Priddy: Simple and relevant pictures will have babies pointing to their favorite things and trying to say new words.

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins and Eric Gurney: Silly and fun, this Seuss-like story is full of rhymes word play that will have the littlest readers giggling and moving. I read this is much to my oldest daughter that we memorized the words and turned it into a tickle game that we still play!

The Feelings Book by Todd Parr: If you haven’t heard of Todd Parr, you are missing out on some seriously adorable and important books for kids. His stories teach about feelings and emotions in a whimsical and oh so colorful way.

Where’s Spot by Eric Hill: Our family has loved our way through 3 copies of this adorable little puppy hide-and-seek. An excellent resource for teaching basic prepositions to your little one.

Open the Barn Door by Christopher Santoro: This cute farm book is highly engaging for little readers and includes common farm animals.

My Very First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle: As with any Eric Carle book, this sweet numbers book does not disappoint little readers. Open the cover to discover it’s or only a colorful book to teach numbers and counting, but also a game to engage little learners. Children will have fun matching numbers with colorful fruits. A great choice that will be fun for small babies and engaging into the preschool and kindergarten years.

Wash, Wash, Wash by Scholastic Books: This is a must have for all little ones. Tots are notorious for touching everything and constantly having their hands in their mouths making hand washing so important… not to mention it’s a life long good habit! This sweet book will have children rhythmically singing their way through washing their hands. Perfect to make hand washing fun and keep kids washing for the right amount of time. (There’s also a brushing teeth book).