30 Best Toddler Books to Stock Your Library

Mem Fox is one of those authors whose catalog is so vast and wonderful that it’s hard to choose just one book. This one is about the search for a little green sheep, but first you’ll have to examine a whole herd of swimming, playing, clowning, and bathing sheep.

This is the story of one boy’s adventure in his Brooklyn neighborhood that has been covered with a blanket of snow. Keats has a wonderful understanding of what it feels like to be a child understanding snow for the first time.

It almost seems silly to recommend The Very Hungry Caterpillar, but it also feels silly to have a list of books for little ones without it! This is the story of a very hungry caterpillar and everything he eats through the course of a week.

My goal for this list was to make sure that these books were short enough for a toddler’s short attention span, and this one might just push that limit, but it’s perfect for an older toddler who is starting to enjoy more complex stories! It’s the story of a department store bear who loses his button and finds a home.

Introduce your little one to nursery rhymes and fairy tales with this rhyming story from husband and wife team Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

Whose toes are those? This is a silly, interactive book that will have you counting toesies and sending little piggies off to market with the best of them.

It’s what it says on the tin: this is vegetables, all sorts, wearing underwear, all sorts. Jared Chapman’s playful illustrations display vegetables in all shapes, sizes, and colors wearing undies of all kinds. (This makes a great addition to your potty-training library, by the way.)

Would you love me if I were an alligator? Would you love me if I were a super-smelly skunk? Of course you would! This is a sweet book disguised as a silly one.

This book will get you and your toddler dancing! When a young girl goes to the park, she’s overtaken by the music in the world around her: street performers, butterfly wings, everything. As she starts to dance, the world dances with her.

Four friends head off into the woods to try to catch a brightly colored bird. Shh! They have a plan! Except their smallest member might just have a better plan. The monochromatic illustrations are a stunning backdrop to the simple, silly story.

These books are all about the poke-a-dots, little clicking dots, sort of like eternal bubble wrap. The stories that go along are really just a bonus, but I like this alphabet eye-spy one!

This was one of the first touch-and-feel books, and it’s still one of the best! Simple words accompany gentle actions in this classic.

This is part of a series of books that explore the worlds of different vehicles, but I’m partial to the garbage truck book! (As are some of your kids, I am sure.) This book features real, rolling wheels, and three pull-out stories that teach your little one about a day in the life of our sanitation heroes.

I mean this sincerely: I have never seen a board book with this many flaps, pull tabs, wheels, and more. This “very busy” book is perfect for keeping in your car or for pulling out on those days when you really need to keep someone busy for more than a few minutes. Also in the series: Pirates and Narwhals and a Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood book.

This is the only book on this list that doesn’t have articulating parts, but, through the power of your child’s imagination, it will seem as if it it does! As they press the “buttons,” they’ll see the pages transform.

This is a lovely little bilingual book featuring very simple Spanish words. Everyone wants to give besos to baby!

This is a celebration of African American girls and their wonderful curls. With just four words on each page, the author writes a poetic ode to Black girl hair, and the accompanying illustrations just glow.

“Little you / little wonder / Little wish / gentle thunder” This is a very simple, very tender book about a parent’s love for their child. You’ll love the muted, lovely illustrations from Julie Flett.

While this story is written about a baby’s first few days in the world, I think it’s perfect for a toddler who likes to look back at their baby photos or talk about when they were small. This is a gentle story about a mother comparing her new baby to a scared little rabbit, or a baby kangaroo, or a lizard.

“Squishy cheeks and sparkly eyes / pure delight and perfect size.” This is a tender, sweet ode to a little baby from their parent and is perfect for snuggle time. I think “sweet pea” is the cutest term of endearment!

Follow a year of Cherokee celebrations as these characters express gratitude for traditions, natural resources, their ancestors, and more.

What is light? It’s the smile on your face when you see a friend, the sparkles in a star, the feeling of giving a hug. This thoughtful book shows little ones how to spread their light.

What is kindness? It’s helping, cheering, giving a boost. Katie Beer’s cheerful, diverse illustrations give life to her simple, inspiring text.

This gentle, thoughtful book teaches children all the ways that people can show kindness, or hold each other up. The illustrations, in a sort of folk-art style, show families singing together, comforting each other, and learning together.

Count all the wonderful ways that there are to be in a community. The striking illustrations show urban farmers, chalk drawings on the sidewalk, community bands, and more. Be sure to find the duck on each page!

This lovely little book is a poem written by Inuit throat singer Celina Kalluk. Each spread shows arctic animals bringing gifts to Kulu, the sleepy baby main character.

While the title seems to imply that this is a good-morning sort of book, it’s really about exploring the blessings of the wide world, and then going gently to sleep in a warm bed. This is a sweet, loving, faith-based way to tuck your little ones in for the night.

The night is not just black and white! This soothing poem explores the colors of the night world: red neon signs, yellow headlights, silver trains, green-eyed glows. This is perfect if you’re looking for a way to make the dark seem friendlier and not so scary.

What mother can’t relate to the mother in this story? It’s time for bed and, just like always, her child beats the word “no” like a drum, hisses his disagreement like a snake, freezes like a fawn, and leaps back up like an antelope. Soon, all the creatures (and the little boy) are ready for bed.

You didn’t think I would get through a list of books for toddlers and not include Queen Sandra Boynton, did you? Boynton’s cheerful, happy illustrations and rhymes depict a group of animals onboard a cruise ship as they all get ready for bed together.