Types of Books That One to Two Year-Olds Love

I’ve noticed that certain types of books are preferred more than others at different age ranges. Below you will find the types of books both of my children absolutely love to read or have loved to read between the ages of 12-24 months.

Pop up books. Books that have images pop up off of the page add so much interest and interaction for this age group. I absolutely love reading pop up books to my kids. The trick is making sure they don’t destroy them by putting them up high or out of sight if unsupervised. If for some reason they do tear them, tape works to fix most issues. I get my books for .25 cents to a dollar (find out how here). Because they are so inexpensive for me to buy and replace, when a book is damaged it does not upset me.
- Muddy Pup, Snappy Dinosaurs, House of Inventions, Playful Pets, That’s Funny, etc.

Flap books. Books that allow little fingers to find images underneath a flap are a favorite among this age group. I try to protect these books more than others as well.
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, John Deer Snow Day!, Fisher Price Let’s Go to the Zoo!, Spot Goes to School, Animal Hide and Seek, Little People Let’s Imagine on the Farm, No Biting!

Words they know and learning books. Simple object and counting books allow children in this age group to say known words, practice counting and learn to associate objects with names.
- First words books, First Concepts Colors, Double Delight Opposites, etc.

The parent’s favorite books. At this age, I’ve found that it is fun to read my favorite kid books aloud while they pay attention or play beside me.
- Love You Forever, That’s Funny!, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, The Crown on Your Head, You Are Special, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The Little Engine That Could, Where the Sidewalk Ends, What do you do with a Grumpy Kangaroo?

Books that have removable pieces. Although these types of books are hard to keep together, children use their motor skills to remove and replace pieces. My children love these books.
- Little People farm animals, Bible puzzle books

Moving Eye aka ‘Googley Eye’ books. Who doesn’t like to learn and practice the names of animals while seeing their moving googley eyes?
- Ponies, The Circus, The Farm, Polar Pals, etc.

Look Inside Books. If anyone knows the exact name for this type of book, please comment below so I can update this blog post. My kids love these books where things are peeking through a window and/or disappear as the pages are turned.
- Farm Animals, Cats and Kittens, Freddie’s Farm, Chicken on the Farm, The Zoo

Medium-sized Board Books. My kids like these board books. They are a great size for their hands and typically geared for this age bracket.
- Pajama Time, Going to Bed Book, Good Night Utah, Ladybug Girl, Corduroy’s Day, My Very First Book of Words, etc.

These next books are from the list of newborn to one year old favorites. I’ve found that for ages 1-2 the following types of books are also just as well liked as when they are babies.

- Books with count down objects that can be touched and disappear with each page—these are their all time favorites:
  - Ten Little Ladybugs, Ten Tiny Fairies, Give a Little Love, Buzz Buzz Busy Bees, Good Night, Sweet Butterflies: A Color Dreamland, Five Wishing Stars, Eight Silly Monkeys, etc.
- Books with large, bright baby faces:
  - Fruity Cutie Colors, Peek-a-Boo, Baby Faces, Hugs & Kisses, etc.
- Books with finger puppets:
  - The Dog I Love the Best, This Little Piggy, Five Little Monkeys, Mary Had a Little Lamb, etc.
- Sparkly books. This one was a surprise, but both of my kids love books with sparkly accents.
  Princess Sparkle, Starlight Ballerina, Learn Your Colors, Rainbow Mermaid, etc.
- Touch and feel books with different textures–scratchy, soft, etc.
  Things That Go, Trucks, First Words, Farm, Are You Ticklish?, Baby Animals, etc.
- Play-a-Sound books.
  I replace the batteries when they stop making noise and keep them longer. Safety Tip– The covers need to be screwed on well as button batteries are a potential swallowing hazard for this age group.
  
  Eric Carle Baby Animals, Let’s Talk, Noisy Trucks, Quack! Quack!, Construction, Thomas the Train, etc.
- Little learning books—hand size books. Little chubby hands love these books. They love to carry them around and are able to turn the pages easily.
  Baby Einstein books, The World of Cars, Disney Pixar, etc.
- Rhythm/singing books: I have them sit on my lap and bounce them up and down to the rhythm of the songs and rhymes and sometimes bounce them really high on certain phrases like “Chica Chica Boom Boom” and they LOVE it!
  - Chica Chica Boom Boom, Hand Hand Fingers Thumb, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, etc.
- Interactive books. Driving books, tool books, puzzle books (although the pieces are hard to keep track of, they are a hit):
  Tick Tock Time, Cars Welcome to the Pit Crew, etc.
- Slide a door open books. These are different than flap books. I’ve found that little fingers struggle with flaps and they start being a bigger hit around 1-2 years old. But the doors that simply slide open are easier for younger babies.
  - Brown Bear Brown Bear, Who is Sleeping? Who is Awake?, Seek and Slide in the Wild, etc.
- Squeaky, squishy, and teething books. Books that are soft and make noises are a definite favorite among this age group.