Books to Keep Children Coming Back for MoreAge-Appropriate Read Aloud BooksReading with your babies, toddlers, and preschoolers helps their brain development, prepares them for school, and fosters special family time. Children respond to different types of books at different stages of their development. These titles and reading age groups are a good place to start; they are a general guide. All children have different interests and individual experiences, so be sure to experiment with your children to have the best reading experience and the most fun.
Book Recommendations
Types of Books Babies LikeShort books with simple, large, familiar images (babies, balls, bottles, people) and bright colors hold babies’ attention best. Babies want to grab, touch, cuddle and mouth books, so be sure to choose books that can stand up to hands-on infants.
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| Yes, Yes! A Box of Board Books (Leslie Patricelli) Young toddlers can’t wait to get their small, sticky hands on these familiar, stiff board books. link |
Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown) Saying goodnight along with Bunny to familiar objects in the bedroom makes bedtime much better for little ones. link |
Good Night, Gorilla (Peggy Rathmann) Lights out will never be the same again. Little ones tiptoe along with Gorilla and his animal friends home to bed with an unsuspecting zookeeper. link |
Types of Books Toddlers Like
Toddlers like to read the same books over and over, especially books with patterns and rhymes. They are learning more and more words and begin to “read along” with adults.
- Books that tell simple stories
- Simple rhyming books children can memorize
- Bedtime books
- Books about animals, vehicles, food, and families
- Pop-up books, pull-the-tab books, touch-and-feel books
- Silly, funny books
Suggested Books for Toddlers
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| Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See (Bill Martin) A brown bear, a red bird, and a blue horse are a great start for toddlers learning colors. link |
No, David! (David Shannon) Toddlers delight in David’s mischief: broken vases, stolen cookies, flooded bathrooms, and clothing mishaps. link |
Where’s Spot? (Eric Hill) Children find eight different animals hiding in the house (behind flaps). Surely one is mother dog’s little, lost puppy. link |
Types of Books Young Children Like
Kids at this age like short stories about day-to-day activities with text they can memorize (or even read). As they get ready to enter kindergarten, longer books with more new words and detailed pictures hold their interest.
- Sturdy, pop-up and pull-tag books (to help coordination)
- Stories with repetitive, catchy phrases, rhyming and nonsense words
- Stories about other children (similar and different)
- Books about the ABCs, counting, colors, and shapes
- Books about brothers and sisters
- Non-fiction books about dinosaurs, garbage trucks, trains, animals, flowers, tools, and cooking
- Books about everyday events, like going to the doctor or making friends
Suggested Books for Young Children
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| Mouse Paint (Ellen Walsh) Three white mice, see how they run, in jars of red, blue, and yellow paint. link |
Owl Babies (Martin Waddell) Three wide-eyed baby owls worry when Mommy goes out for the night. link |
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Bill Martin) Imagine what happens when the whole alphabet climbs a coconut tree. link |
Types of Books Preschoolers Like
As they get ready to enter kindergarten, longer books with more new words and detailed pictures hold children’s interest and help prepare them for school. Once children start school, choose books about school experiences and books they already are reading at school.
- Stories with repetitive, catchy phrases, rhyming and nonsense words
- Stories about other children (similar and different)
- Books about the alphabet, counting, colors, shapes, and sizes
- Non-fiction books on topics matching a child’s interest, such as various vehicles, animals, and plants
- Simple folk tales
- Stories that can be acted out
- Books about everyday events, like going to school and getting along with siblings and other children
Suggested Books for Preschoolers
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| Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (Mo Willems) Oh no! Trixie has lost her favorite toy at the Laundromat, and she can’t yet talk to tell her daddy. link |
Abuela (Arthur Dorros) Children soar with Rosalba and her Abuela as Rosalba imagines flying high above the sights of New York City with her grandma. link |
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Judith Viorst) Gum-in-his-hair Alexander, like many children having a rough patch, thinks running away, say to Australia, may fix the situation. link |
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Our book suggestions are available at your area branch of the Pima County Public Library (except the baby books, which can be found at most bookstores and discount stores). Check back often as we’ll add new book suggestions regularly.