Last year I put together a list of tried and true favorites for one-year-olds. That list could have been titled “Lily approved books” because she is considerably more picky than Jackson was (or the other two-year-old children I’ve nannied) about which books she does and doesn’t like. And that “discerning taste” continued into her second year (Evan would like me to add here that I personally have a rather amazing ability to “happen” to select the finest aka most expensive item out of a lineup, so not sure if this is being passed on to Lily. Fortunately, I don’t also have a strong desire to buy said item — and kids books from the library are free). In any case, Lily has no qualms about protesting that something “is not a Lily book.” So these books have been hand-selected for the picky two year old in your life.
A lot development takes place between 24 and 36 months, and the books that I could read to Lily when she was a new two year old were much shorter and simpler than the ones she loved at two and half, and again the complexity and length increased as she neared three. She still really loves those simpler and shorter books, and we frequently read books from 15 of the Best Board Books for One Year Old but they don’t have to be the entirety of our reading life now.
Also, in my experience, new two year olds have times in their day when they can sit through a longer book (especially before and after nap and bedtime), but most of the time shorter books capture their busy attentions: big pictures with lots to look at and a sentence or two per page, rhyming text is a bonus. We often use books to help coax Lily to eat her food, and these are the books that were interesting enough to get us through dinner. Also Jackson at age 5 still enjoys these books as well. And, also importantly, Evan and I like reading them. Lily would love for us to read her Clifford and Elmo books often too, but we can only handle those two big red fuzzy characters every once and a while. There are enough good books out there that kids and parents can both veto a few and find ones everyone likes.
Books for the New Two Year Old (24-28 months)
1. Mighty Dads by Joan Holub illustrated by James Dean. A great combination of construction vehicles, fun rhymes, vivid illustrations, and sweet kid-dad teams. For months, this was a daily read. (The team’s Tool School was a big hit when Lily turned 3.)
2. Picnic by John Burningham. Big illustrations with simple sentences on each page, a picnic, animal friends, a near escape from a bull, and missing items to find make this the first book for kids to love from the talented John Burningham (author of classics like Mr. Gumpy’s Outing).
3. 10 Rubber Ducks by Eric Carl. A storm tosses a box of 10 rubber ducks overboard and the wind and waves take them to far away places past various sea creatures in this lovely rhyming book. There are so many wonderful Eric Carl books to read like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar which of course Lily loved too.
4. Freight Train by Donald Crews. This seems like the perfect first train book: beautiful illustrations, a rhyming poem we like to recite when we see trains (A train runs across this track, red caboose at the back), colors, names of train cars, and blurring to rainbows as the train speeds up (Going, going, gone). Similar, simple vehicle books that are still a big hit at this age are ones by Bryon Barton like Machines at Work, Richard Scarry’s little books on the go: Cars, Boats, Planes, Trucks, and Barbara McClintock’s Vroom! — a fun and lovely book about a little girl who races around the world before bed–quick, engaging, with a tiny bit of girl power.
5. Oops Pounce Quick Run! An Alphabet Caper by Mike Twohy. This is such a clever book told using basically just 26 words, one for each letter of the alphabet. This is perhaps the ultimate large, engaging, picture book with few words per page. I will say that it’s probably not the very best for actually teaching the alphabet letters and sounds (Eye is the E word for example) but since there are many books that do that, just enjoy the Tom and Jerry like antics of the dog and mouse caper without it needing to be a phonics lesson. This is probably Lily’s favorite book about funny dogs next to Go Dog Go by PD Eastman.
6. Nursery Collection by Shirley Hughes. We have a small obsession with Shirley Hughes at our house, with nearly a whole shelf full of this beloved British author and illustrator, and this is an early favorite starring Katie and her younger brother Olly. Rhymes for Annie Rose is a collection for a similar age that stars Alfie and his younger sister Annie Rose. We still read lots of traditional Mother Goose (Mary Engelbreit’s Mother Goose: One Hundred Best-Loved Verses and Playtime Rhymes by Marc Brown are two of our favorites) and along with those traditional nursery rhyme poems, Shirley Hughes has some of the very best little poems (Especially in Out and About).
7. Old MacDonald and Other Songs by Tiger Tales and illustrated by Hannah Wood. Lily loves singing books. This is probably her all time favorite, and since she couldn’t quite manage the whole title, she’d refer to it as “Ole Donny.” Most of the songs I knew from my childhood (except, I don’t know why, “A Tisket A Tasket”, a fun song, but I would have put “Itsy Bitsy Spider” there instead) but a quick youtube search can help you with a melody if you can’t remember it. (Also This Little Piggy: and other favorite action rhymes (which does have “Itsy Bitsy Spider”) and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: and other favorite bedtime rhymes are lovely too, with a mix of songs and spoken poems.) Other favorite song books for Lily were Dem Bones and The Wheels on the Bus. Best of Wee Sing is nice too; it has actual music and little illustrations so it is helpful for actually playing the songs, but slightly less engaging for toddlers to look at.)
8. I Pray Today by Angela Isaacs and illustrated by Amandine Wanert is one of the sweetest nighttime books with a sung refrain “Lord Have Mercy.” (A traditional Eastern Orthodox Christian sung refrain.) It follows a little girl all through her day where she can pray about the various parts of it. Lily refers to it as the “Lord Have Mercy” book. Other nighttime books we love are of course the classic Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown illustrated by Clement Hurd (Illustrator), Time for Bed by Mem Fox illustrated Jane Dyer, The Going-To-Bed Book and Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton, and Goodnight Jesus also by Angela Isaacs.
9. DW All Wet by Marc Brown. We love Marc Brown’s Arthur, and this shorter book about his younger sister DW captured Lily’s heart. She has the whole thing memorized and “reads” it to herself. I made the mistake of buying the board book version after we had checked out the paper back version a dozen times from the library. It’s not that the board book version isn’t nice, it’s totally fine, but she had already memorized the longer paper-back version and was frustrated that this one was different. So pro tip, just pick one version and stick with it. Otherwise, you’ll see that I had to add back in with a black sharpie the sentences that had gotten edited out for the board book version. Evan finds this mash up to be basically unreadable, but no matter, Lily knows it all by heart and helps him out. There are other DW books like Glasses for DW we love as well, and then pretty soon Lily wanted to read the big Arthur books. Also Arthur’s Really Helpful Word Book which is in more of a Richard Scarry or Roger Priddy First Words style is a hit too.
Books for the Two and A Half Year Old (28-34 months)
10. New Adventures of Curious George inspired by the work of Margaret and H. A. Rey. It is hard to convey Lily’s deep love for and devotion to Curious George. Good thing there are so many stories in one collection and many collections (like Treasury of Curious George which is just as good), because we read and re-read these stories so. . .many. . .times. Honestly, we got tired of Curious George, but Lily did not. The newer “inspired by Margaret and H.A. Rey” stories are shorter and more focused than the originals and easier to read to a 2 year old. (The Complete Adventures of Curious George which seems to be her favorite at age 3, can be pretty meandering with the exception of Curious George Goes to the Hospital which is probably her all time favorite.)
11. Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom and illustrated by Bruce Degen. This is such a sweet and lovely book. It has fun illustrations (from Bruce Degan of Jamberry and The Magic School Bus) and the text is so fun as it traces a little one’s day from getting dressed to having sun and sand and a bit of lunch covering Jesse Bear. This one can be read and re-read a lot without getting old.
12. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. This tale of monkey business is just so funny. Kids love the repetition, the counting and the colors of caps, and of course the crazy finger shaking and foot stamping at monkeys which leaves Lily and Jackson in fits of laughter. Plus, you know it’s going to be a great book when it was a Reading Rainbow book (In the Three Hats Day Episode).
13. Corduroy by Don Freeman. I loved Corduroy as a child, the bear, the button, and the search for belonging. My kids also think the crashing and banging when Corduroy pulls the button off the mattress is just so funny.
14. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. Again a classic that I remember from when I was tiny at library story time. The drawings, the writing, and everything about this book make it a strong candidate for the perfect children’s book.
15. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. This is a book that my mother-in-law read to Jackson (age 2 1/2) the weeks she was at our house caring for me and newborn Lily at least ten times a day. The pictures, the rhymes, the surprise visit to the hospital, everything about it captured his little heart. In my opinion, the first book is by far the best and worth owning, and the subsequent books are worth checking out from the library, but they don’t have the magic of the first one, especially for the littlest members of the audience.
16. The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. Along with Madeline, Peter Rabbit was one of Jackson’s absolute favorites around when Lily was born, and I read it so often that I had it pretty much memorized. No bother that it opens by saying that a father rabbit was killed and eaten (“put into a pie by Mrs. McGregor”) or that naughty Peter is running for his life, for almost 125 years, small children have really loved this book. It’s even better if you can get the little version for their little hands. In my experience, the rest of the Beatrix Potter canon is not as captivating to 2 year olds (occasionally, they might want to hear more about Peter Rabbit in the tale of Benjamin Bunny) so wait on the rest, and we got a treasury of all the Beatrix Potter stories that had three illustrations to a page and it was just not a hit, so get editions that have just one picture per page.
17. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. The number one book checked out of the NYC library is a beloved classic for a reason. Especially for toddlers who experience snow (and perhaps for those who don’t!). Everything about this book is charming. Again, I haven’t found other Ezra Jack Keats books to capture 2 year old’s imaginations, but this one everyone loves.
18. Emily’s Balloon by Komako Sakai. This is a story that my godson Corin at age 2 loved, although I probably should say it deeply moved him because when Emily’s balloon gets lost (for a time), I remember he got up and started weeping and running away from the book. With a gentle tone and pictures, it really captures the two year old feelings about a balloon friend.
19. A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by Erin E. Stead. When a zoo keeper gets a cold all the animals he visits and tends to everyday take a bus to come visit and care for him. The illustrations are so lovely (and won the Caldecott in 2011) , the writing is just perfection, and it helps kids connect to their common experience of having a cold and needing to change plans because of it. There are fun little details like a bird and a mouse to look for on multiple readings.
20. Olly and Me 1,2,3 by Shirley Hughes. Going through the world of Katie and Olly (from her Nursery Collection, Out and About, and of course the original Olly and Me ) this book counts as it goes and it was a daily read for a long time for Lily, and while she would sit through the longer Alfie books and the other Katie and Olly books that older brother Jackson liked as well, Olly and Me 1,2,3 was her favorite.
21. Drummer Hoff by Barbara Emberley and illustrated by Ed Emberley. This fun, little, traditional English rhyme is set with gorgeous stained-glass-esque illustrations (it won the Caldecott in 1967). (There’s a fascinating little article about the book on wikipedia). Going up the military rank (Drummer, Private, Corporal etc.), loading, and finally firing a cannon are the entirety of the book. But the rhyme is just so fun and fun to say, this one was requested many times.
22. King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub by Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood. While slightly less known than the couple’s beloved Napping House (also a great book), King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub is so quirky and funny about a King who refused to get out of the bath and insists that everything–fishing, feasting, battling, and masquerading–happen in the tub. The illustrations are so wonderful and the idea so funny, although it is also relatable to small children who also at times do not want to get out of the bathtub.
23. Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (the sequel Mighty Mighty Construction Site is nice too). This is probably the very best construction book and there are many, many construction books to choose from. Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site has cozy pictures, construction vocabulary woven into its rhyme, and a Goodnight Moon-esque spiraling, darkening, and slowing down that makes it a good goodnight book.
24. Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. Normally, I don’t love reading books to my kids in which the characters are afraid of the dark or bedtime stall because those aren’t issues my kids have (don’t worry, they have plenty of others), and I don’t want to suggest this is something that we should be afraid of. (I kind of think that happened with being outside in a thunderstorm and some Daniel Tiger Episodes, but since thunderstorms are something that a little dose of healthy respect is good for, I guess it’s not the end of the world.) But Llama Llama Red Pajama is so funny and fun to read that I don’t mind his bedtime concerns. I end up reading it with a lot of funny loud voices, so it’s probably not a great bedtime read. Also, I found out that the original Llama Llama book is by far the best of the other books that came out afterwards.
25. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault and illustrated by Lois Ehlert. A classic, fun alphabet book that everyone told me about forever, and we didn’t get around to with Jackson. It’s clever and fun, and I especially love that the art features the lower-case letters of the alphabet.
26. Hippos Go Beserk by Sandra Boynton. Sandra Boynton is a genius. We love her so much around here. (Also, she is delightful to follow in Instagram.) This is her very first book, and it’s probably the only board book that Lily wasn’t fully ready to enjoy until she was slightly older, and this might be my favorite of her books because it is so clever. But you really can’t go wrong with a Boynton board book.
27. Looking for Bongo by Eric Velasquez. This book has the relatable central challenge of locating a lost stuffed animal, named Bongo, but it is set in a lovely African-Latino household with Spanish speaking members and actual bongo instruments and a scallywag of little sister. It’s sweet and fun to read.
28. Press Here by Herve Tullet. Kids find this interactive book so silly and brilliant as they press a dot on one page and turn the page to have it “do” something new on the next page–turn a different color, multiply, or get bigger. I have found that the other books in the series are fun, but not as captivating as the original. A similar book my kids did really love was Bunny Slopes by Claudia Rueda. Of course, more traditional interactive flap books are still a big hit like classic Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill or many of the books by Matthew Van Fleet. And while I cannot handle the noise inside, my kids do love a good “button sound book” like World of Eric Carle, Around the Farm.)
Books for the Nearly Three Year Old (34-36 months)
29. Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton. Kids love books about big machines (also stopping to see big machines on walks or drives) and snow, and this is a classic that does both. Lily was crazy about this book; for months, it was something she asked for multiple times a day. We also like Mike McMulligan and His Steam Shovel and Maybelle the Cable Car. Personally, I could take or leave The Little House, which might be her most famous book, because evidently I like her take on big machines!
30. Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by Kimberly and James Dean. With its vibrant colors and fun characters, this is the first Pete the Cat book that his wife Kimberly Dean helped to write. (There are many, many Pete the Cat books including the original ones that Eric Litwin authored, as well as song books and early readers. Currently there are over 70 books. This is my favorite, but Lily is pretty willing to listen to any Pete the Cat book because of the consistently wonderful illustrations, while I find the quality of the storylines really varies a lot book to book.) Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses goes through a number of negative emotions and the cool blue magic sunglasses help the characters see the good in every day even while they are frustrated, angry, or sad. Other feeling books that Lily likes are the French book In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and illustrated by Christine Roussey and Happy Hippo, Angry Duck by Sandra Boynton. I’m sure reading about feelings helps with emotional awareness, although I’ve never seen much of a direct correlation. It seems parents have to just do that work in real-time of labeling and modeling emotional regulation, but I appreciate the attempt to label emotions in the books we read all the same.
31. Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. This book is in the running for books that I could read and re-read and never grow tired of. It’s also one of the world’s most perfect picture books. It won the Caldecott in 1942. I will say that Lily and Jackson were both drawn to the pictures before they could sit through all the words, so for a little while they wanted us to just “tell them the story” describing the pictures and plot more briefly. And then after a while, they could sit through the whole thing. Everything about this book is perfection.
32. Arthur and the Baby by Marc Brown. Our favorite book about a new baby, although fun to read even if your toddler is not expecting a new sibling. (Arthur books are really books for early readers, geared towards early grade school kids K-3rd grade, but many of them work for toddlers too. I found that previewing an Arthur book and going with slightly later Arthur books worked well, but I also didn’t mind editing out a phrase here or there to make it more toddler friendly. Some of our favorites are Arthur Lost and Found, Arthur’s Pet Business, Arthur’s New Puppy, Arthur’s Writes a Story, and Arthur Meets the President.)
33. A Piglet Named Mercy by Kate DiCamillo. I love all things Kate DiCamillo. Her Marcy Watson series is one of my favorite birthday gifts to give a three-year old, and this short picture book is a perfect introduction. Lily was firmly a fan of Mercy Watson and was happy to see her again in her pile of birthday presents. We also loved reading the more graphic novel / cartoon style book Good Rosie by Kate DiCamillo about a dog named Rosie.
34. The Story of Babar: The Little Elephant by Jean De Brunhoff. This funny little French elephant has been capturing children’s imaginations since the 1930s. Again, like The Tale of Peter Rabbit, there is a parent death in the opening pages, and mid-way through the book the king of the elephants dies when he eats a bad mushroom leaving a vacant throne that later Babar will occupy, but my kids never seemed to even notice. I will give a good warning that the rest of the books are not as interesting to most kids (they are long and meandering) and that I had to straight up tape some pages of the sequel together because of the incredibly racist depictions of African “cannibals” (although I do not understand why the elephants are worried about the cannibal part). A more sensitive adult reader probably could pick up on all sorts of strands of imperialism throughout the books, although its more subdued in the first one.
35. Busy, Busy Town by Richard Scarry . Kids just love Richard Scarry. Now the thing about Richard Scarry books is that there is so much to look at on each page, and it’s not really a book that you can just read straight through. It’s a book where you stop and talk about one thing, and find your favorite thing, and laugh about the funny way that some detail in the corner is drawn. So that is not every parent’s cup of tea, and sometimes you just want to read a book for five minutes and be done and that can be a challenge with a Richard Scarry book. Busy, Busy Town is shorter than his other classic books (Our three favorites are What do People Do All Day, Cars and Trucks and Things that Go, Best Word Book Ever) so it is a little easier to read the whole thing in one (long) sitting. Lily loves to read about Lowly Worm going to the doctor.
36. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: A Classic Disney Treasury. I’m a big fan of the original 1920s Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard and I have my mother’s copy from the 1950s, but I will say that Disney in its animated version (and this book is based on it) made the whole thing more coherent and straightforward, and generally something Lily will sit through. (In reading some original Peter Pan and Mary Poppins I think that Disney did similar things to smooth down those stories as well.) Lily loves the first story about Pooh getting stuck in Rabbit’s house the most. In a few years, she’ll be ready to sit through the charming original with a firm love of Pooh Bear already in her heart.
37. Rain by Sam Usher (or any of the Seasons with Grandad books). We picked these books up from the library on a whim and have absolutely fallen in love with the beautiful illustrations and the warm imaginative relationship between boy and grandfather. There are four in the series, and if you can manage to get all four, do, because it’s hard to pick a favorite. In each one, the boy imagines some fantastical aspect of his adventurous outing with his grandfather (pirates! Venetian gondolas! zoo animals having a snowball fight!) in beautiful watercolor illustrations. There are few words per page and huge pictures, making it highly captivating and fun to read and re-read.
38. My Apron by Eric Carle. This slightly longer and more complex Eric Carle book is about when he was a little boy and went to visit his uncle, a brick layer. It’s more in line with his Pancakes, Pancakes!, which is probably a little too complicated for Lily yet, or rather she has to be in a good mood to read it, but she likes the story of My Apron a lot. (It is similar to the biographical picture books that Tomie dePaula also made like The Art Lesson and those loved by slightly older kids like 26 Fairmount Avenue, which is a small chapter book series.) My Apron has the big, bold, classic Eric Carle illustrations and a relatable story of a child wanting to be like and help a beloved adult.
39. Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and illustrated by Pat Schories. Biscuit is a super cute dog that gets into loveable adventures. It’s an early reader book, which we originally got from the library for Jackson to practice his reading, but Lily absolutely loved. These are pretty quick, but the storybook collection can lengthen out the reading session with 10 stories that grow in length and complexity. There are a handful of early readers that 2 year olds just adore. The one heads up about reading your toddler early readers is that there is a good chance they’ll memorize them and then they won’t be super helpful as actual readers come kindergarten. But there are many early readers out there, so it’s not a big deal. Our whole family loves Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Suçie Stevenson (or their Annie and Snowball books), Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel, Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak and Dr. Seuss and friends in the collection of Big Colored Book of Beginner Books.
40. All Along the River by Magnus Weightman is such a fun look and find book. The bunny family is chasing a rubber duck down the (Rhine) river from high up in glacier capped mountains down to the sea through field and forest and waterfall. On every page (with large and whimscial illustrations), kids can spot the hidden rubber duck. But there are also a dozen other characters to follow who travel along on bike or car or on foot. It strongly reminded us of Busy Bunny Days: In the Town, On the Farm & At the Port by Britta Teckentrup which also has detailed pictures with lots of animals having their own adventures page to page. Lily really likes books where you can find things. Usborne Barn Yard Tales also has a duck hidden on each page and Cars and Trucks and Things that Go has goldbug to find in each 2 page spread. Lily even likes the original Where’s Waldo by Martin Handford, Animalia by Graeme Base, and Maps by Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinski which I would have never guessed, but are a fun Jackson-Daddy-Lily books.
If you are looking for other reading lists for 2 year olds check out ones at readaloudrevival.com, readbrightly.com, happilyeverelephants.com, elephant-books.com, momlovesbest.com, verywellfamily.com, fatherly.com, littlefunclub.com, parenthood4ever.com, parentingnest.com, experiencedmommy.com, happyyouhappyfamily.com, and heartandgratitude.com.
What a great list. My daughters loved, “Great Day for Up,” by Dr. Seuss illustrated by Quinten Blake. For a Seuss book it’s not all that Seussian.