Read This (for Kids): Board Books

My friend Jaimee asked me today about our favorite kid’s books. He’s 18 months old so I picked the books we love and that are helping support skills he’s learning at the moment.

1. Horns to Toes by Sandra Boynton, NY: Little Simon, 1995 is great for teaching body parts. We read this the other day and Cavanaugh could point to body parts (feet, fingers) I didn’t realize he could identify.
2. I Like It When by Mary Murphy, USA: Red Wagon, 2002 illustrates a sweet parent-child relationship with activities a toddler will recognize. Cavanaugh likes to dance and pretend to splash when we get  the “I like it when you dance with me” and “I like it when we splash about” pages.
3. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Eric Carle, NY: Holt, 1996. So the text of this book is not the most exciting, but we use the illustrations to make animal sounds, show colors, recognize animals, and now to make animal signs using An Alphabet of Animal Signs, Eugene: Garlic Press, 2002.
4. What’s Up Duck? by Tad Hills, NY: Schwartz & Wade, 2008 is our favorite book of opposites. Cavanaugh loves ducks and almost all of the opposites are concepts we can demonstrate as we read.
5. Dr. Seuss’s ABC, NY: Random House, 1991 is great even though we’re not ready to teach the alphabet. I’ve got this one memorized. The refrain of letters and illustrations keep Cavanaugh pointing to the objects, trying to find his ear, pointing at his chest on the B page when we ask “Who’s the baby?” I got to take quite a few showers because I could recite this while I shampooed and Cavanaugh ran in and out of the bathroom.
6. Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton, NY: Little Simon, 1995 is short, fun, and teaches animal sounds.
7. The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton, NY: Little Simon, 1995 lets us pretend to scrub, splash, brush our teeth, walk up and down stairs, point to pajamas, and introduce the idea we’ll be turning off the light.
8. Over in the Meadow (Classic Books with Holes) illustrated by Michael Evans: Child’s Play International, 2002 is one of many song books Cavanaugh loves. I guess our theme for the evening is animals. This one’s great because we can sing, see the animals in the holes of the book, and make motions for all of the action.
9. Hide & Seek Pets illustrated by David Crossley, HMG, 2007 is a lift the flap mini board book. There are other titles in the series (ocean, polar, forest, pets, jungle, and farm). This book is great because it’s small so it’s easier for Cavanaugh to hold, the flaps don’t tear off easily and they’re oriented in various directions so lifting the flaps is a learning experience. The pets hiding in the pond, shed, behind the slide etc. are fun to identify and yes, to make animal sounds.
10. Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw, illustrated by Margot Apple, NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Mike says this is his new favorite book and everyone (with or without kids) should own it. I laughed out loud when I read it in the store. The rhymes keep Cavanaugh engaged. The action verbs are a blast to act out, and the story is hilarious.
11. *Bonus non-storybook: Fingerplays and Songs for the Very Young illustrated by Carolyn Croll, NY: Random House, 2001 has illustrations for all the hand games from my childhood plus quite a few I didn’t know. It’s great for teaching the rhymes, lyrics and movements for Pat a Cake, Cobbler Cobbler, Wheels on the Bus and many others. Cavanaugh gets this book from his basket and points to his feet so we can do footplays too.

Please give your suggestions in comments.