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Favorite Books for the Under Two Crowd


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It's my third toddler, you'd think I'd be set by now, uh? I just realized I spend SOOO much time reading aloud to the older two, that Bit misses out more then she should. :( Help me out with my next library run. What are your favorite picture books for two and under? She's a big book worm and will sit for some length, so "short" and "not to short" but "not too long" is what I am looking for! Favorites right now are The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Goodnight Moon and Mr. Brown Can Moo.

 

Thanks!

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Sheep in a Jeep

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear

 

were some of the favorites around here... Not that I can remember those years any more... ;)

 

(Though my oldest made a truly horrific, toddler-quality disaster of a mess this evening involving his quest to see what kind of pie I'd made and put in the fridge to "set" this evening... Chocolate pie filling on the floor and walls of my brand new kitchen, all over him, all over the fridge inside and out... Good gracious.)

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Goodnight Moon, Pat the Bunny, all of the Eric Carle books for the younger set. Don't be afraid to stretch them a bit! The listening comprehension of most children usually surpasses their verbal abilities. I read all of the Madeline books to my girls over and over, and they had them memorized at a very early age.

 

"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines

Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines."

 

I still cannot read Love You Forever by Robert Munsch without crying. Cannot do it! For some reason I start tearing up every time I read that book! :(

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Our favorites are:

Counting Colors...it's great for learning colors, counting, and vocabulary. There's no story in it. It's made up of 2-page spreads for each color. Each set is covered with pictures of various things that are usually that color. Around the margin, it tells you what is in the picture (ie. 1 frog, 2 dump trucks, 3 leaves, 4 purses, 5 green beans...up to 10). Then you hunt for the listed items. It's my toddler's favorite right now.

Fisher Price My Little People Farm...it's a lift the flap book based on farm pictures. One page deals with colors, another counting, another shapes, another opposites, etc. It was my toddler's favorite but overuse has killed it so I have to replace it now. They also have several other ones like the Let's Go on a Class Trip. It has a dinosaur page that teaches colors and is my toddler's favorite page. We don't have the others but I'd like to get them.

 

He also likes Dr. Seuss books, anything Elmo, and any other lift the flap book.

 

My toddler also joins us for our nightly read aloud, not that he understands any of it. But it is teaching him to sit quietly because if he doesn't, he has to go downstairs with dad when he'd much rather be with us.

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We've always had the board books at access level and the little ones bring what ever they are interested in at the time to me. Having had three in a row (I've been either pregnant or bfing for the last 6 years) we've rarely gone long without one into the toddler books. At our library the board books are also in a special section where they have easy access.

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Abbey is right on with Sheep in a Jeep. I think that is my all time favorite board book. I've read it many, many times, and it still makes me giggle.

 

Or, it might be Slinky Malinki by Lynley Dodd. There are so many good ones to choose from! Lynley Dodd books are WONDERFUL, and I think Bit would love them, but I'm not sure how many are available in board version.

 

I also advocate Sandra Boynton books. We LOVE them. Even dh likes them. :) My favorites are But Not the Hippopotamus, Barnyard Dance, and Hippos Go Berserk. DH likes Pajama Time and The Going to Bed Book.

 

We like Brown Bear, Brown Bear too, because the kids like the animal noises - I like to add sound effects. :D

 

One of Isaac's favorites is Panda in the Park. It's an Usborne book - one of the ones with peek-through pages. My girls *loved* it when they were 2. Emma's preschool class would have me read it over and over, and they guessed the snake for the tiger's tail EVERY TIME! They were so funny! I love this book. I bought a copy for everyone I knew in the last year having a baby - just ask Brigitte.

 

Is Your Mama A Llama? is a good one.

 

The Monster At The End of This Book is a lot of fun, especially if she likes Sesame Street.

 

Time for Bed by Mem Fox is my all-time favorite bedtime book.

 

There are just so many good ones! I could go on and on.

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Definitely do not miss the aforementioned Going on a Bear Hunt board book (I believe it's by Helen Oxenbury)! DD's first word was "Maisy," not Mama, so I can vouch for those as favorites around here. One thing I love for that age is a section our library has set aside for concept books that focus on letters and numbers. We are big fans of the Metropolitan Museum of Art ABC book and Kim Golding's Counting Kids.

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Guest Alte Veste Academy

#1 favorite: Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever. It's name held true here for my littles. It is my 2 year old's favorite book period. In fact, the only way I can get him to listen to any other book at this point is to PROMISE that "Goosies" will follow.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Scarrys-Mother-Little-Golden/dp/0307155781/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235019873&sr=8-2

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Sandra Boynton books - Pajama Time, Birthday Monsters, Barnyard Dance...

Stomp your feet, clap you hands, everybody ready for the barnyard dance?

 

Definitely Boynton books.

 

A cow says "moo". A sheep says "baa". Three singing pigs say "LA, LA, LA..." No, no, you say, that isn't right. The pigs say "OINK" all day and night!

 

(Oh, yes. Grocery store banter when mine were little. Good times.... but not the hippopotamus.)

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Our favorites -

Are You My Mother?

Ask Mr. Bear

Baby Bop’s Counting Book

But Not the Hippopotamus

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom

Freight Train

Good Night, Gorilla

Goodnight Moon

Guess How Much I Love You

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb

Hippos Go Berserk!

I Am a Bunny

In the Tall, Tall Grass

Max’s Bedtime

Max’s First Word

Mommy’s Best Kisses

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?

Pat the Bunny

The Runaway Bunny

Ten, Nine, Eight

Time for Bed

Where’s Spot

Whose Mouse Are You?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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My ds loved...

 

Richard Scarry books (he loves detailed illustrations)

Good Night, Gorilla

Ten Minutes Until Bedtime

The Runaway Bunny

Goodnight, Moon

Jim Arnosky books have lovely illustrations of animals

Guess How Much I Love You

those Usborne books where you have to find the duck on each page

 

Wendi

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I would agree with many that have been mentioned. Plus, I would like to add: I Spy board books (or big ones, too.), Harper Collin's Treasury of Picture Book Classics (This has Goodnight moon and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and George Shrinks and many more great books in it.), 20th Century Children's Book Treasury (This one has some great stories for now and some for later.), and for our ds - lots of books with machinery and trains! He has also enjoyed Peter Rabbit and Stellaluna and some Margaret Wise Brown books.

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