For the past decade or so, I have been doing a storytime program for babies called Babies and Books. It’s so very important to read to children, even from birth. Before a child can learn to read, they need to learn what a book is, which direction the book should be (not upside down), how to turn pages and which direction they go. These are all vital pre-literacy skills that readers of all ages do without giving any thought.

If you want to read books to a baby, please remember that babies (and toddlers) will easily rip pages, and that board books are often the best bet for lap reading. The books below may not be available as board books, but for storytime at the library they are perfect. Here are a few of my favorite picture books for and about babies.

Storytime Favorites – Board Book

Baby, I Love You by Karma Wilson

When my daughter Charlotte was about a year old, this was our favorite book. We went for a while there where I read it to her every night. The concept is simple: the child speaks to her little doggie about all the things she loves about him, but it’s also like the reader speaking to the listener. I would touch or kiss each body part as I read the book, and hugs with each I love you. “Love my baby’s little hands, love those little fingers, too. Love my baby, little one. Oh, my baby, I love you!” At the end when the book says, “Love my baby’s everything…” I would tickle all over and say, “Everything, everything, everything!” When her giggles subsided I would finish the book, “You make life complete, it’s true. Love my baby, dearest heart. Oh my baby, I love you.” It’s sweet, it’s a board book, it’s by Karma Wilson (try her popular Bear books)… you can’t go wrong.

Storytime Favorites – Author

The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz

Karen Katz is my favorite author for baby books. Her illustration style is colorful and fun, and this one takes a familiar song and gives it a few new verses. The babies are on a school bus without adults (even the bus driver is a baby), so you have to suspend disbelief for this one, but it’s really cute. “The babies on the bus bounce bumpity-bump,” for example, and when they arrive at school, “The babies on the bus wave bye-bye bus… now it’s time to go.”

I had a hard time choosing between this and another Katz book. Ten Tiny Babies counts up the number of babies doing things as they prepare for bed, and each page ends with “along comes another…” and then the next page will say what they are doing. Babies are taking a bath when, “along comes another…” (turn the page) “straight into the tub!” But my favorite part of the book is that I can show the picture on one page while continuing the sentence, because the end of the sentence is in a bookmark-sized section on the left side of the left page, so I can just peek and keep reading without fully turning the page. In the end, “all ten babies are fast asleep.”

Storytime Favorites – Game

Peekaboo Morning by Rachel Isadora

What baby doesn’t love to play peekaboo? In this book, the charming toddler narrator plays peekaboo and tells everything they see. “Peekaboo! I see…” the pages say, the illustrations hinting at what comes next. You can point out the clues and guess what the toddler sees. Then, turn the page to find out if you’re right. The toddler sees their parents and grandparents, a puppy, a bunny, and a butterfly. The toddler looks in a mirror and says, “I see me!” At the end, the child is looking right at the reader and says, “I see you!”

I know this post is about babies and books, but I want to mention something for older kids too. Rachel Isadora has illustrated many well-known European fairy tales, but switched to an African setting. Characters that are traditionally shown with light skin are instead, in Isadora’s books, shown with dark skin. I am surprised to find out, now as I write this post, that she is not in fact dark skinned herself, but she did live in Africa for almost ten years (source: wikipedia). Still, if you’re teaching big kids about fairy tales, these are a great multicultural addition to the lesson.

Storytime Favorites – Animals

Big Red Barn by D.K. Publishing

A cat is looking for a mouse all over the farm because the cat is hungry for breakfast. On each page we follow as the cat visits a different part of the farm, there are lift-the-flaps to see and hear animals like cows, pigs, and horses. The light-hearted fun carries a vague sense of impending doom, as adults and older children may fear that the cat is looking to eat the mouse for breakfast, but in the end it turns out the mouse is just cooking the cat’s breakfast. Babies love animal sounds, and when learning to talk babies love to make animal sounds, so this is a winner. Do note that the sounds, while fairly quiet, may be too loud or may startle sensitive little ears.

Check out Miss Michelle’s Book Nook

Miss Michelle shares her book recommendations each month on the In Our Homeschool blog. Find links to all of her posts here.

Miss Michelle is the sister of Kristen, who writes this blog. She has a daughter who is 10 and a son who is 5. They are not home-schooled, but Miss Michelle is super supportive and proud of her sister for doing it. She has been a full-time Children’s Librarian for over 16 years and loves to recommend her favorite books. You can follow her on Goodreads, where she keeps track of books she has read for storytime, at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/170007385-miss-michelle.