30 Books to read before you're 2!

The books on this list have been selected by the Better Beginnings team of children's literature specialists and are favourites of many babies, toddlers and their families.

Updated January 19, 2024
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Oxenbury, Helen
Paper Book
Beloved for more than 30 years, this award-winning classic from Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury celebrates the joys of an afternoon outdoors with family. We're going on a bear hunt. We're going to catch a big one. Will you come too? Join a father and his four...
Baby animals black and white
Tildes, Phyllis Limbacher.
Paper Book
This charming, best-selling board book introduces eight adorable baby animals, featuring high-contrast black-and-white illustrations perfect for babies from birth to age two. Research has shown that infants respond more readily to contrasting black and white images, making this book an...
Roo knows blue
Treml, Ren©?e
Paper Book
**SPEECH PATHOLOGY AUSTRALIA BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2020 SHORTLISTED** For the Little Explorers- Learn with Roo! Roo knows, Roo knows, Roo knows blue. But does Roo know about other colours too? Learn colours with Roo and Possum and...
Press here
Tullet, Herv©?
Paper Book
The longest-running picture book on the New York Times bestseller list, now in a bestselling board book! "Tullet's brilliant creation proves that books need not lose out to electronic wizardry; his colorful dots perform every bit as engagingly as any on the...
Hello hello
Wenzel, Brendan
Paper Book
In this brilliant follow up to the Caldecott Honor-winning They All Saw a Cat, best-selling author Brendan Wenzel presents a chain of animals of dazzling variety. Each one is different from the last, yet each is also linked by at least one common trait . . . some obvious, some more subtle. As...
Dear zoo :
Campbell, Rod
Paper Book
Rod Campbell's classic lift-the-flap book Dear Zoo has been a firm favorite with toddlers and parents alike ever since it was first published in 1982. Young readers love lifting the flaps to discover the animals the zoo has sent--a monkey, a lion, and even an elephant! But...
The very hungry caterpillar
Carle, Eric.
Paper Book
THE ICONIC #1 BESTSELLER * The all-time classic picture book starring the world's favorite caterpillar! Generations of children have grown up on this beautifully dramatized story of a caterpillar who eats his way to becoming a butterfly. "Gorgeously illustrated, brilliantly...
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...
Where's Spot?
Hill, Eric
Paper Book
A sturdy board book edition of the first-ever lift-the-flap book! With hide-and-seek fun on every page, this interactive classic has had children across the globe searching for everyone's favorite pup, who's gone on to sell over 65 million copies worldwide! "Spot is one of the...
Hands can
Hudson, Cheryl Willis.
Paper Book
Hands can do all kinds of things! A rhyming text with eye-catching color photos offers just the encouragement young children need to explore their world -- hands on. Hands can hold things. Hands can mold things.  Hands can catch and hands can throw. ...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.