Wondering what books to read to your baby? This list features the last 20 of 40 best books for babies under 1 broken down by category. Click here to see the first 20. Check my earlier post to learn why these types of books interest babies.
40 Best Books for Babies Under 1: Part 2
BOOKS WITH IMAGES OF BABIES Continued
My First Halloween – It’s fun to have holiday books that demonstrate to your baby what the holiday is all about. This book features children in costumes, as well as introduces them to Halloween decorations and food and drink associated with the holiday.
Who Says Boo?: Baby’s First Halloween Book – This book is super adorable. It features pictures of babies in their holiday costumes—duck, cat, pig, cow, bear—and asks them what noises do the animals make on Halloween. Boo, of course! The last page has a mirror and asks them if they can say boo? This is a fun, festive book sure to make you and your baby smile.
Baby’s Christmas – This Golden Book classic features illustrated drawings of a baby with all their Christmas gifts that Santa brought them. At the end of the book, the last present is revealed—a toy box—and they learn their toys go there at the end of the day. Babies will enjoy seeing illustrations of the baby with various toys. While the book is mostly secular in nature, there is a page where it mentions that Jesus was born on Christmas day.
Touch-and-Feel Books
Pat the Bunny – A fun interactive book that grows with the child. At first, the baby will need help performing the actions—patting the bunny, rubbing daddy’s scratchy face, playing peek-a-boo with Paul—but as they get older, they will enjoy doing the actions themselves.
Books Featuring Songs
The Wheels on the Bus – An illustrated book of the children’s classic song, The Wheels on the Bus.
If You’re Happy and You Know It – A fun book that you can sing with your baby, while doing the various activities illustrated. For example, pushing down blocks or shaking a rattle.
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes – This is currently my daughter’s favorite book. She wants to read it over and over again and never tires of it. The book comes with a free download of the song, but she prefers when I sing it to her (though it was helpful to listen to the song to learn the beat). The art is really well-done and teaches the baby about colors.
Interactive Books that Make Noises
Lamaze Classic Discovery Book – This book is great for young babies to touch and feel. It crinkles, rattles, squeaks, and has various textures for them to explore. It was a life-saver in the car.
Board Books
My Very First Book of Colors – This is for older babies who seem interested in colors. The top half of the book features pages with blocks of color and the bottom half features illustrations of common items that are that color. The goal is to match the corresponding color with the object below. For example, the yellow square goes with the yellow lemon. Obviously, they’ll need help with this, but it’s a fun way to expose them to different colors and objects associated with those colors.
Books Babies Can’t Destroy
Jungle Rumble – Babies are hard on books. My daughter loves to read, but she’s definitely damaged some books, especially paper books that tear easily. Having a book that she can’t destroy by ripping, biting, etc. is a godsend. This one features majestic images of animals in the jungle.
Baby Books Featuring Animals
Desert Babies – This is the first book my husband and I ever bought for our daughter; I was pregnant at the time and we were vacationing in Zion National Park. We love animals and this book features pictures of desert babies in their natural habitat.
They All Saw a Cat – This 2017 Caldecott Medal award-winning book features illustrations of a cat from various animals’ perspectives. To the mouse, the cat looks like a terrifying monster. To the fox, the cat looks like a plump treat. It’s creative and the words repetitive. It’s a book Holly wants to read again and again.
Daddies and Their Babies – Many children books feature mamas and their babies. It’s nice to have a book that features daddies. While the book isn’t always scientifically accurate (it shows a daddy caterpillar and his baby caterpillar, which of course, the daddy caterpillar would be a butterfly), I do think it is age appropriate. A baby isn’t going to understand that a toad and a tadpole are the same animal. Overall, I think it’s a sweet book and my husband enjoys reading it to our daughter.
Let’s Find Momo!: A Hide-and-Seek Board Book – Most babies have an interest in dogs—it was my daughter’s third word. This book is all about a dog named Momo in different settings—a library, a gym, a kitchen, etc. Babies will find it amusing when you point out where Momo is hiding.
Books for Nighttime
Little Owl’s Night – Divya Srinivasan has written and illustrated a book that captures the magic of the forest at night. It’s beautifully composed and captures the nighttime animals with love. It’s a fun bedtime book celebrating the night.
Goodnight Moon – Some books are nostalgic. You read them to your child and your reminded of your own childhood. Goodnight Moon is one of those books for me. It’s a simple story about a bunny saying goodnight to all the things in their room. It features both color and black-and-white images.
Daytime Nighttime – Babies aren’t born knowing the difference between night and day. This board book helps them understand some of the differences.
Books you Enjoy Reading
Note: this section is highly subjective and keyed to personal interest and likes. Everyone will have different subjects/books they’re interested in and want to share with their child.
Frog and Toad Storybook Treasury – This book is for much older children; it features long, text-based narratives; however, we’ve been reading it to our daughter since she was a baby. It’s a book that we read as a family—my husband reads Frog’s voice and I read Toad’s. Holly likes hearing our different voices and looking at the illustrations. We like the humor in the book and the relationship between Frog and Toad.
C is for Cthulhu: The Lovecraft Alphabet Book – Lovecraft fans need to buy this book. It introduces babies to the Lovecraft universe. It’s definitely not for everyone and does feature some scary imagery, but Holly enjoys looking at it.
Tuesday – This picture book is from my childhood. My husband and I have an affinity for toads. This book is all about a random Tuesday when toads gain the power to fly on their lily pads. It won the Caldecott medal in 1991.
What’s your baby’s favorite book? Is there a book that they want to read over and over? Leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
