Our Favorite Books For Toddlers
We talk about kids books here a lot and we’ve made a number of fun lists of our favorite books based on theme (nature, for hipster parents and their kids, halloween, fall themed, etc) but we’ve never made a list of our top 12 favorite books. It was a hard list to make, but someone’s gotta do it, right?! So, here it is.
Amy Wu and The Perfect Boa - This book tells the story of a Amy, a young girl on a mission to make the perfect bao. She wants hers to be as perfect as the ones her mom, dad and grandma make but it takes a lot of determination (and trial and error) to finally make the perfect one. I love the main character of the book, as well as her cute cat and there is even a bao recipe at the end of the book that we’re excited to try.
Here We Are: Notes For Living on Planet Earth - This beautiful, whimsical book about what it means to be alive on earth has become my go-to book for gifting (along with all of his other books). I also love the movie adaptation on Apple TV!
The Magical Yet - This books tell the story of a little girl struggling to ride her bike. But instead of giving up, she finds her “magical yet” which is a fairylike creature that helps her to keep trying. This is a great book for gifting or adding to your own library!
In a Jar - This book tells the story of Llewellyn the bunny, who collects memories of all sorts in jars. He then makes a friend that he collects and shares these memories with even after she moves away. Not only is the story of friendship perfect for little kids, but the design and illustrations are total stunning. The colors and the non-traditional layout of the pages make it a total standout!
Home - ‘Home’ by Carson Ellis is a long-standing favorite! The book tells us all about the different types of homes people can have (tall homes, short homes or even homes on the moon) and the illustrations are so beautiful you can proudly display it on your bookshelves.
Parker Looks Up - This book is based on the memorable photo that went viral of a young girl (Parker Curry) looking up at Michelle Obama’s portrait at the National Portrait Gallery. When young Parker sees The First Lady’s portrait she is blown away to see someone that reminds her of her mother, her sister and ultimately herself hanging along of the other wondrous images in the portrait gallery. This one is downright magical with its powerful message and effortless magical realism.
E.T - We’re huge fans of all illustrator Kim Smith’s POP Classics book series (and they are our go-to gifts for pop culture-loving parent friends) but these two are hands down our favorites and perfect for spooky Halloween reading.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Another amazing book from Kim Smith. My daughter loves this Buffy book so much she actually dressed up as Buffy for Halloween when she was two. And as a huge fan of the Buffy franchise myself, I am always happy to read this one.
Mousie, I Will Read to You - My Mom gave us this book a few months ago and it’s become an absolute favorite! 🐭🐭 The story follows the reading journey of a baby mouse whose Mom reads to him through adulthood when he begins to read to his own baby. Being a huge reader myself, I always get kind of emotional reading this and thinking about my daughter learning how to read and growing up. This is a must-have book for all little readers out there!
Hike - The story of a father and son setting out to hike in the mountains My favorite part of this book is the lack of words which invites you to create your own version of the story with your kids while reading.
The Proudest Blue - I am such a huge fan of this book! Written by Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammed (also the first Muslim American woman in hijab to compete) and S. K. Ali, this beautiful book tells the story of two sisters on their first day of school. Faizah, the younger sister, is excited because it is her older sister’s first day of hijab. Not everyone understands her hijab but the story contains my favorite few lines in all of our kids books: “Don’t carry around the hurtful words that others say. Drop them. They are not yours to keep. They belong only to those who said them.”
The Barnabus Project - This book tells the story of Barnabus, half elephant and half mouse. He and his friends, who live in a secret lab under the Perfect Pets pet store, are considered “failed projects” and dream of life outside their bell jars. To say we’re in love with this book would be a huge understatement!
Happy reading!
- Callie AKA “MiLOWE Mom”
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