25 Books to Read To Your Kids: Infant to Preschool
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You’re sitting with your child in their room getting them ready to fall asleep and your son or daughter gets this gleam in their face of excitement. You look to see what is so exciting and see that they are handing you their favorite book (current favorite book, we all know how quickly they have new favorites).
Seeing this image and having this bonding experience with your child brings out the butterflies in your stomach that is endearing love. Do you notice patterns or themes with the books your children like? How many of those books did you read or listen to as a kid?
Let’s face it, we all to some degree have a personal bias when it comes to the books we choose to read to our kids. Those books meant something to us when we were their age and we want our kiddos to have similar experiences. In my list of books, you will find both books that are developmentally stimulating and others are there because I remember them fondly from my childhood or my husband from his.
In one post, we looked into the importance of reading. If you are interested in starting to read to your kids for the first time or more consistently I figured why not discuss what books to dive into. Here we will look into 25 books for infants to preschool age kiddos.
The reason to read
At the infant stage, talking with your baby and reading are essential. It allows little ones to explore our language, discover patterns and associations. I feel that what books you want depend on what you want to accomplished; concept books, books that contain lessons and teach values and morals.
Honestly, when my firstborn was teeny tiny, we read the Harry Potter series right before bed and as he fell asleep. At that age, he wasn’t interested in pictures just yet, he was curious about textures and exploring his toys and environment.
What was important was just read and let him listen while he did something else. We read Chronicles of Narnia, books about gardening, finance and poetry. We enjoyed the books and enjoyed time together.
[mailerlite_form form_id=3]Books more aimed at little ones:
- You’re Here for a Reason by Nancy Tillman
2. It’s Time for Bed by Mem Fox & Jane Dyer
3. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle
4. Dr. Seuss books, they are all good 🙂
5. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
6. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff & Felicia Bond
7. Little Blue Truck Beep Along Board Book by Alice Shertle
8. Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
9. Old McDonald Had a Truck by Steve Goetz
10. Old McDonald Had a Farm by Golden Books
11. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
12. Five Green and Speckled Frogs by Priscilla Burris
13. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
14. The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
15. Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh
16. Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley
17. The Family Book by Todd Parr
18. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury & Michael Rosen
19. Press Here by Herve Tullet
20. Corduroy by Don Freeman
21. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
22. I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak
23. Baa, Baa, Black Sheep by Jane Cabrera
24. Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe by Jane Cabrera (A better and kinder version)
25. Curious George Series by H. A. Rey
Final thoughts
This is a small list compared to the hundreds of books that are available to read, and there are many more out there. These are the ones we read to our kids since they were born to the present: they are four and two years old now. Hopefully this gives you a place to start.
If you have other books that were favorites for your kids please share! The more the better!
Happy reading!
Related Post(s): Importance of Reading For Families
Any thoughts? I would love to hear from you, drop me a comment or message!
