Suggested Reading for Toddlers

Suggested Reading for Toddlers (18 months - 3 years)

Updated October 14, 2023
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I Like Trains
Hirst, Daisy
Paper Book
Daisy Hirst's charming ode to a toddler's love of trains, featuring her sweet signature artwork Whether sending toy animals on a journey around a model track or driving a cardboard-box locomotive, this little puppy really likes trains. All aboard! But best of all is riding a real...
One fox : a counting book thriller
Read, Kate
Paper Book
Counting from one to ten has never been so thrilling in this Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor Book and recipient of the Mathical Book Prize from Kate Read! One hungry fox with two sly eyes is on the prowl . . . three plump hens had better watch out! Rich...
Leap frog
Clarke, Jane
Paper Book
What's that noise? The jungle can be a scary place for a tiny tree frog like Felix, and all the strange noises are making him a little bit jumpy. Help Felix find a safe place -- and perhaps a special someone -- so he can nod off for a peaceful sleep.
Don't worry, little crab
Haughton, Chris
Paper Book
From the award-winning creator of Shh! We Have a Plan comes a vibrantly colorful story about mustering the courage to try something new. Little Crab and Very Big Crab live in a tiny rock pool near the sea. Today they're going for a dip in the big ocean. "This is going to...
No Tengas Miedo, Cangrejita (Junior Library Guild Selection)
Haughton, Chris
Paper Book
Cangrejita is ecstatic to visit the ocean for the first time, but when she sees the huge, thunderous waves, she realizes the ocean is a bit scarier than she thought. A heartwarming story about facing what scares us! Simultaneously released in Spanish and English, world premiere book! ...
The button book
Nicholls, Sally
Paper Book
This silly and sweet picture book introduces young children to colors through humor and clever interactive elements. For fans of Hervé Tullet's Press Here. Here's a button. I wonder what happens when you press it? Follow a group of animal friends as...
A polar bear in the snow
Barnett, Mac
Paper Book
A majestic polar bear heads out on a mysterious walk in a dazzling, playful collaboration from an exciting pair of picture-book creators. Follow a magnificent polar bear through a fantastic world of snow and shockingly blue sea. Over the ice, through the water, past Arctic...
Where is the green sheep?
Fox, Mem
Paper Book
Little ones are sure to be lulled off to a peaceful, sheep-filled sleep by this cozy book from acclaimed author Mem Fox. There are red sheep and blue sheep, wind sheep and wave sheep, scared sheep and brave sheep, but where is the green sheep? The search is on in this cozy, sheep...
Everybody in the Red Brick Building
Wynter, Anne
Paper Book
A fresh, urban take on bedtime stories in the spirit of The House That Jack Built and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, from debut author Anne Wynter and Caldecott Honoree Oge Mora. Everybody in the red brick building was asleep. Until . . . WaaaAAH! Rraak! Wake up! ...
Yo Quiero Mi Sombrero
Klassen, Jon
Paper Book
¿Dónde puede estar el sombrero del oso? ¿Y si alguien lo hubiera robado? El oso pregunta a otros animales si lo vieron. Todos responden que no. Entonces, un ciervo hace una pregunta que despierta la memoria del oso... ¿encontrará al ladrón?
I want my hat back
Klassen, J.
Paper Book
A New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of 2011! A picture-book delight by a rising talent tells a cumulative tale with a mischievous twist. The bear's hat is gone, and he wants it back. Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes...
Crunch, the shy dinosaur
Dunlap, Cirocco
Paper Book
From Cirocco Dunlap (This Book Will Not Be Fun) and Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner Greg Pizzoli (The Watermelon Seed) comes a charming, giggly read-aloud that illustrates the particular art of making a friend! Crunch is a lovely and quiet brontosaurus who has...
Get out of my bath!
Teckentrup, Britta
Paper Book
Ellie the elephant loves to have fun in the bath, but she's not the only one. Her fun is interrupted when a crocodile decides to join her, followed by a flamingo, then a mouse and even a tiger! Poor Ellie's bath is ruined. What can she do? She sucks all the water into her trunk, of course! Then she...
Circle dogs
Henkes, Kevin.
Paper Book
Young readers will want to wiggle and bounce and dig through the day with the circle dogs . . . until it's time for bed! The circle dogs live in a big, square house with a big, square yard. See the dogs? See the circles? The sun comes up, the baby cries, and the circle dogs stretch...
Wiggle
Cronin, Doreen.
Paper Book
Do you wake up with a wiggle? Do you wiggle out of bed? For energetic toddlers (are there any who aren't?), here's a book that invites them to wiggle along with the story. Told in rollicky, wiggly rhyme that begs to be read again...
The Rainbow Snail
Akesson, Karin
Paper Book
A strikingly-designed early learning picture book introducing colors and a fabulous new character--the Rainbow Snail! Karin Åkesson's beautiful artwork and easy-to-read text combine to create a wonderfully interactive book to teach toddlers colors and a charming read-aloud children's book for...
Peck, peck, peck
Cousins, Lucy.
Paper Book
Comical and original, this vivacious picture book from the creator of Maisy features a lovable new character -- and a novelty element that's a hole lot of fun. Today my daddy said to me, "It's time you learned to peck a tree." Little woodpecker has just...
Is This the Bus for Us?
Ziefert, Harriet
Paper Book
Patience pays off for Leo and his sisters as they wait for the right bus to take them to the park! Leo and his family are waiting for the bus, but each one that passes just isn't the right bus for them. First a red bus filled with a hen, a cow a duck, a goat and a horse, and...

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