2024 Babies Need Words Every Day: Talk, Read, Sing, Play by the Association for Library Service to Children

In 2024, the Association for Library Services for Children updated the book list, Babies Need Words Every Day: Talk, Read, Sing, Play. This resource was created to help bridge the 30 million word gap by providing parents with proven ways to build their children's literacy skills. This list contains the books the Sussex County Library System owned and can be checked out at any of our branches.

We encourage you to explore this list to find resources that may match or spark your children's interest.

Updated July 8, 2025
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Sussex County Library System (NJ)
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The Belly Song
Moon, Mother/ Giles, Leah (ILT)
Paper Book
Sing along in this joyful celebration of your baby's perfect belly. Named one of the Best Books of 2024 by Chicago Public Library! "As the pages celebrate many different kinds of human bellies, they simultaneously model a wealth of loving connections...
Curls
Forman, Ruth
Paper Book
A joyfully poetic board book that delivers an ode to African American girls and the beauty of their curls. Me Morning Mirror Smile Shine big hair love This simple, playful, and beautiful board book stars four...
What will fit? /
Lin, Grace.
Paper Book
Caldecott Honor winner Grace Lin celebrates math for every kid, everywhere! A fall-ready favorite for any autumn reading list. Take a trip to the farmers' market in this playful story about spatial sense. Olivia is searching for something just the right size to fill her...
?Daonde estaan los huevos? =
Lin, Grace.
Paper Book
¡Libro de cartón grueso ahora disponible en español-inglés bilingüe! La ganadora del Honor de Caldecott, Grace Lin, celebra las matemáticas para todos los niños, ¡en todas partes! Now available in bilingual Spanish-English! Caldecott Honor winner Grace Lin's beloved board books...
Tummy time friends /
Brisson, Pat
Paper Book
Featured in Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's 2021 Best Books for Babies list! Tummy Time Friends has been selected by Raising Readers-a nonprofit organization of pediatricians and early-reading specialists-to give to every Maine infant at the four-month-old wellness check. Infants...
How we play /
Mitchell, Dolisha,
Paper Book
Play is powerful! Play is creating, exploring, sharing, and caring. Whether it's inside or outside, quiet or loud, alone or with friends--there are so many ways to play. Featuring beautiful photos of all the inclusive ways kids and families play (like using imagination, creativity, adaptive...
I See You, Baby!
Flowerpot Press (COR)
Paper Book
I see you, baby! I see you reading, smiling, playing and so much more! Enjoy all the exciting baby can do in this delightful board book filled with bright photographs of adorable babies. About the Baby Firsts series: The Baby Firsts series from Flowerpot Press is the perfect introduction...
Go, grandpa, go! /
Plourde, Lynn
Paper Book
Perfect for all the grandpas who steer the stroller, splash in puddles, and love their grandchildren dearly, this charming board book celebrates the special relationship between grandfathers and their grandkids. Zig! Zag! Zip! Zoom! Go, Grandpa, go!<...
Me and my family tree
Sweeney, Joan
Paper Book
Following the successful model of Me on the Map, Sweeney demystifies an abstract concept by presenting it from a child's point of view. In Me and My Family Tree, a young girl uses simple language, her own childlike drawings, and diagrams to explain how the members of her family are...
Marta! big & small /
Arena, Jen
Paper Book
Marta, a curious, science-loving girl, explores the world of opposites and animals in this Spanish bilingual board book, illustrated by bestselling artist, Angela Dominguez. ¡Hola, Marta! Marta is una niña, an ordinary girl . . . with some...

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