Toddler Picture Books
[1]
Nothing
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
It is amazing that someone could write a book about nothing. A rich woman who has everything, walks into a store and asks what is for sale. The owner, having exhausted his inventory, replies that 'nothing' is for sale. The rich lady is thrilled and buys 'nothing.' Soon, like our current fashion rages, the whole towns is buying 'nothing' until...
[2]
If You See A Kitten
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
A cute book for a really young toddler, or infant. It goes over the different sounds one should make when observing different animals, like when you see a kitten, say 'ah.' The ending is pretty funny.
[3]
It Was You Blue Kangaroo
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
Poor Blue Kangaroo. Every time Lily does something bad, she blames it on her stuffed animal, Blue Kangaroo. Throughout most of the book, Lily does progressively more and more bad things, all the time blaming them on Blue Kangaroo. In the end, Blue Kangaroo gets punished and Lily, upset, must go to bed without him. But in the end, Blue Kangaroo takes matters into his own hands, and makes everything all better.
[4]
Big Al
illus. Yoshi
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
A nice story about a mean and scary looking fish who has a big heart. Poor Big Al, all he wants to do is make some friends. But all he succeeds in doing is to scare away all of the little fish. Of course, as in many stories, he doesn't succeed in gaining the little fishes' trust until he saves them from harm. The pictures are amazing and really add to the story. It teaches a good lesson: don't judge people by the way they look.
[5]
Click, clack, moo: Cows that type
illus. Lewin, Betsy
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
Farmer Brown's cows demand electric blankets (they are cold at night) and when they don't get them, they go on strike. Very witty.
[6]
Llama Llama Mad at Momma
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
Baby Llama is back and this time they are off to the Shop-O-Rama. Baby Llama gets a little tired of sitting in a shopping cart, and starts trowing a tantrum (a Llama Drama). Your two year old will love this book.
[7]
Llama Llama Red Pajama
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
This is a great, simple, rhyming book that will sound fresh even after reading it many, many times. The rhythm is clever and catchy. Baby Llama is in bed, and he wants his Momma. When she doesn't come fast enough, he gets scared and starts yelling (a Llama Drama). It is a perfect book for a two year old.
[8]
Guess the baby
illus. Rawlins, Donna
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
Everyone brings in ones baby picture to school and the class plays guess the baby. The funny part of this book is when the teacher's picture pops up.
[9]
Nikolai, the Only Bear
illus. Liwska, Renata
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
Beautiful book about a Russian orphan whom no one wanted. Finally a couple from America adopt him. Based on a true story.
[10]
Green as a Bean
illus. Iwai, Melissa
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
This book is made up of one poem, with superb, soft pictures. If the poem and pictures were separated, each, on its own, would stand well. But together they are much, much more than a sum of their parts. I have read this book roughly one hundred times and I am not yet sick of it.
[11]
Why?
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
This powerful wordless picture book teaches the futility of war to an absurdly young child. A frog sits on a rock, enjoying a flower he picked. A mouse comes up from a hole and sees the frog. Even though there are plenty of other flowers around, he steals the frog's flower and takes his rock. Slowly the fight builds in intensity when more people get involved, and before long there is full blown war. Popov's inspiration comes from his first hand experience as a World War Two child. There are no words, so you and your child will have to construct the narrative.
[12]
The Wizard
illus. Dorman, Brandon
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
A poem about an evil wizard set to extraordinary pictures. The poem (Prelutsky is a well known poet) is also excellent.
[13]
When You Are Happy
illus. Valerio, Gerealdo
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
'When you are sad, I will hold you. I will let you cry. I will catch your tears in a blue cup and water the yellow flowers and they will grow more beautiful.' A delightful poem, with wildly imaginative pictures, that tells how a parent responds to a child's various emotions.
[14]
The Red Lemon
read-aloud toddler and up highly recommended
Farmer McPhee is a lemon farmer. He throws away a bad (red) lemon that grows into a grove of trees. The illustrations are superb, portraying many objects with perfect circles. The text is in verse, and is excellent. The story has a deeper meaning. The red lemon represents a new idea, and good old farmer McPhee fears it. The writing reminds one of Dr. Suess 'It's red as a stop sign! It's red as a rose! I can't have red lemons where yellow fruit grows! Imagine a world where lemonade's red? Where once-yellow cupcakes are crimson instead?'
[15]
I miss you every day
illus. Taback, Simms
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
A wonderful book that can be enjoyed by toddlers, adults, and everyone in-between. A little girl misses her unspecified parent/grand parent and sends herself in a letter. The book is written and illustrated in the style of a child's work, but though the verse is simply written, it is quite good.
[16]
Imagine a Day
illus. Gonsalves, Rob
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
This book contains clever pictures that are full of optical illusions. For example, imagine a picture of a sand castle. When looked at from one side, it looks like a regular sand castle. But on the other side, because of how the perspective is rendered, it looks like a full size castle. The idea is that the child builds the small sand castle and imagines it is real.
[17]
Imagine a Night
illus. Gonsalves, Rob
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
This book contains clever pictures that are full of optical illusions. For example, imagine a picture of a sand castle. When looked at from one side, it looks like a regular sand castle. But on the other side, because of how the perspective is rendered, it looks like a full size castle. The idea is that the child builds the small sand castle and imagines it is real.
[18]
Duck at the Door
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
Duck comes to stay in an animal loving, warm home.
[19]
McDuff Moves In
illus. Jeffers, Susan
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
'...Suddenly the wind came up. It blew the clouds and rain away. And the moon smiled full on the world...' McDuff is a stray dog who escaped from the pound. For the first time in his life, he meets someone who is nice to him. The book is simple, but sophisticated. Wells's books are great for really young children (they mostly have only a few lines of text per page) but they are also entertaining for the adult reader. This is the first book in a series, but I like this one the best.
[20]
Noisy Nora
illus. Wells, Rosemary
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
A catchy rhythmic poem that tells the tail (pun intended) of a middle mouse-child. You will enjoy reading this book many, many times.
[21]
Peabody
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
Peobody is a little stuffed, toy rabbit who becomes real when he is loved. Basically, the story is a simple variation of The Velveteen Rabbit, suitable for really young listeners.
[22]
Shy Charles
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
A little boy (actually a mouse) is very shy. The story shows how the parents, unsuccessfully, try to force him to be more social. As in most of Wells's books, the text is a clever rhyming poem.
[23]
Bubble Gum Bubble Gum
illus. Huliska-Beth, Laura
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
A heavily rhythmic text about a bunch of animals who get stuck in bubble gum.
[24]
Waking Beauty
illus. Monks, Lydia
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
A funny, rhyming version of sleeping beauty. The prince does everything except kiss the sleeping beauty.
[25]
Here's A Little Poem: A Very First Book of Poetry
Yolen, Jane; Peters, Andrew Fusek
illus. Dunbar, Polly
picture book
read-aloud toddler and up
highly recommended
A collection of simply rhyming poems by various poets. The illustrations are simple, suitable for young children. The nice thing about good poems is that the adult will almost never tire of reading them (assuming, of course, that the adult likes poems).