I’ve been reading to Noah for quite some time, and noticed that he has certain preferences when it comes to his reading materials, and thought it might be useful to share some of his favourite board books here. Personally, I find board books a lot more suitable for young ones, because they are sturdy enough to withstand the inevitable rough handling, and perhaps even the occasional gnawing.
Noah loves to lift the flaps in this book, which probably helps with his fine motor skills, especially since not all the flaps open in the same direction, and he has to figure out how to open each new flap. The text is simple and repetitive, which helps to hold his short attention span, and he enjoys looking at the animals under the flaps.
Noah discovering the elephant under the flap
I’m a huge fan of Sandra Boynton, because her illustrations are oh-so-cute, and her rhymes are so catchy. I found myself being able to recite the books after a few readings with Noah, (those years of memorising quotations for Literature essays sure have come in handy!) and Noah seems to really enjoy them. In fact, The Going to Bed Book was his favourite story for a very long time, and if he started getting cranky while we were out, I just had to start reciting it, and he would calm down immediately. The Little Pookie series is also really adorable, and we first started on it after a friend gave him a copy of Let’s Dance, Little Pookie
. There are many other Sandra Boynton books that we love reading, such as
,
,
, and
, and you can even get them in boxed sets like
, which are cheaper.
For some reason, Noah loves the Letterland series, even though there isn’t actually a plot at all in these simple board books. He loves pointing at the different things on the pages, and getting me to name them for him. I also ended up memorising the text in these two books, though these days, he prefers to look at the other details in the book, rather than listen to the text itself. It helps that the pictures are so colourful, and I must say that the characters created are pretty interesting too.
This is Noah’s first sound book, and he absolutely loves it! He loves pressing the buttons, and can sit quietly by himself for some time if he has this book with him. We got this for him because of the small Elmo soft toy, which he hugs and kisses quite a bit. I think sound books are quite entertaining for children, and I plan to get a few more sound books to keep him occupied.
Rhymes are generally good for engaging the little ones, because of the natural rhythm, and this book has been very popular with Noah. He will drum happily on the table, floor, or whatever other surface he can get his hands on, whenever I read this book with him.
I admit that I was quite sceptical about these ‘high contrast board books’ as I thought these were more suitable for babies aged below six months. To my surprise, Noah enjoys looking at the pictures in them, and can flip to the right pages when we ask him to look for images such as ‘helicopter’, ‘bus’, ‘car’, ‘happy’, ‘asleep’, ‘hat’, and ‘glasses’.
A friend gave us this book, and it’s one of the first books I read to Noah. As an infant, he was intrigued by the moving ladybird puppet, and his eyes would follow its movements closely. As he grew older, he would reach out to grab it, and liked it when I touched his head with the puppet.
This classic needs no introduction, I’m sure. We received a pre-loved copy of this book, and I read it to Noah quite frequently when he was a baby. Maybe this is why he likes butterflies so much now! I like the tiny holes on the different pages, and often encouraged Noah to touch them as I read to him.
Reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar in his bouncer
We recently borrowed this book from the library, and Noah was very amused by my fingers sticking out from the pages. Like Press Here
, by the same author, Herve Tullet, there are very few words on each page, but personally, I find this easier for young ones to understand and enjoy.
This is a tabbed book, which allows Noah to find the pages that he likes, all by himself. I like that it uses pictures instead of drawings, and it covers the main farm animals. It has quite a lot of information that is probably too difficult for a child below two or three to process, but that also means that you can get quite a few years of use out of it.
There’s an entire series of Usborne Touchy-Feely books, such as That’s Not My Puppy
,
, and
, which introduces various textures to a child. This particular one ends off with a mirror, which is lots of fun for a baby, because they love looking at themselves in mirrors.
15. Bear Snores On
This one takes some getting used to, and babies with very short attention spans might not enjoy it as much, as there are quite a lot of words on each page. Noah used to flip the book shut after the first few pages, and would hand me a different book to read instead, but as he grew older, he was better able to appreciate it. I tried to make it more interesting for him by reading it a bit faster and in a more exaggerated manner, and I think that worked. Personally, I like the illustrations quite a bit, and will probably invest in more books by the same author, when Noah is a bit older.
16. Pouch!
I talked about this book earlier, as Noah learnt a new word (‘bee’) through our frequent readings, and is trying to hop like the kangaroo in the book. He also likes to point at the mummy kangaroo on the different pages, and says, “Mama.” each time he spots her. The text is simple enough for very young children to understand, and the illustrations are simply adorable. For slightly older children, I think they can relate to how the baby kangaroo was initially afraid of the world, despite being very curious, and ultimately, he makes a new friend, and explores the world bravely with him. This book might also help parents to encourage their children to become more independent and adventurous.
The short, simple rhymes in this book are catchy, and full of actions that a young child can easily perform. Because Noah can’t jump or hop yet, I simply lift him up in the air when he’s supposed to do either action, which he finds very amusing. He does all the other actions happily, and especially enjoys getting a hug from me right at the end, when the llama gets a ‘big hug now’ from his mummy.
This is another lift-the-flap book, and there are also other similar books in this series, such as Peek-a-Baby
, and
. As I mentioned earlier, lift-the-flap books are always fun for little ones. These flaps are quite big, which make them easier to lift, and less prone to being torn off the pages.
I used to love reading this Spot the Dog series as a child, and bought a few for Noah. These are also lift-the-flap books, and other popular titles in this series include Spot Loves His Mommy
,
,
, and
. Do note that there are hardcover and paperback versions of these books too, so do double-check before placing your order. Board books are definitely more suitable for very young readers, as they can turn the pages easily, which gets them involved in the reading process. The text on each page is simple and short, though some of the flaps can be a little small, and might be ripped off, if you have a very determined toddler.
20. Goodnight Moon
I hesitated before including this one, because even though it is supposed to be very popular, C claims that it’s the most boring book he’s ever read, and I think Noah doesn’t seem all that interested in it either. However, some of my other friends have told me that their kids love it, so I guess it’s really a matter of personal preference.
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I hope that you and your baby will enjoy reading the books listed here as much as we do! I started reading with Noah when he was a few months old, because I wanted to inculcate the habit of reading in him from as early as possible, and now that he’s older, he will often ask me to read to him by bringing books to me. Once in a while, he will sit quietly by himself, flipping through some books and looking at the pictures, which is why board books are better suited for little ones, who tend to be more rough with books.
Reading The Going to Bed Book with mummy
PS. For your shopping convenience, I’ve linked these books to Amazon directly, so all you have to do is click on either the title or the image of the book, and you can read more reviews of the books there. Some of these books are also available at The Groovy Giraffe, and you can get a further 5% off the listed prices by using the discount code GWTT.
PPS. I’ll be coming up with more posts on our favourite reads, so do check back frequently!
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PS: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you buy the item after clicking on the links, a few cents from the sale goes to Noah’s book fund, at absolutely no cost to you.
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