Hey bookworms! I feel like this past month or so have been a really fun month of reading for Riley and I. She’s 20 months right now and really INVOLVED in the reading. She remembers details of books, she asks me to read certain books by name (a word or two of the title or that describes) and she will sit by herself and “read” and actually say some of the real words on the page that remembers. It is SO fun. It is one of my greatest joys of my life right now — further proving that my reading life (while different) has just been more rich lately!
Hopefully these will helpful for any of you with little ones or anyone in a position to read or gift books with little ones. We are always happy for any recommendations. And if you want to know what books Riley already loves and has read, check this list of her favorites.
[Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links which means that if you click on a link and purchase something I’ve talked about or recommended, I’ll receive a very small percentage of the sale. Please see my disclosure policy for more info.]
Butterfly Colors & Counting by Jerry Pallotta
Riley is really fascinated by counting AND butterflies right now so I grabbed this book from the library! There’s no story — just really all about counting the colorful butterflies so if your kid is into counting or colors right now this is a good one! She is getting really good at counting even though it’s not something we formally work on — just something we do when a book calls for it. She wants to do it all the time! I hear her practice counting when she’s reading all the time. She likes to skip the number 4 though but I love that she loves doing it and I keep trying to provide fun books to keep that going!
I just love books with real pictures and so does Riley so I try to always add one or two of those books on our library list. Riley thinks this book is so fun and shows all sorts of practical life things that she herself does. I also love how diverse the children are in the book! Definitely recommend for your toddler!
I went on a Spring picture book theme kick at the library and I LOVE THIS ONE. I think it’s a little over Riley’s head at the moment but she did sit there for the whole thing. It’s a cute story about a little boy he just wants spring to come and while he’s waiting he decides to plant a garden..and he waits and he waits for signs of his garden/Spring. I love this book. Related: I did a post about books for Easter baskets and this book was definitely on it! It’s perfect!
Lately Riley has been on an owl kick — she started really pointing out the owls in other books we had with various animals — so I decided to get her this one. It’s SO CUTE. These baby owls wake up to find their mother isn’t in the nest and they are nervous and wondering where she went. This is a great book to talk through separation anxiety for toddlers to be honest. It’s ADORABLE and we have been loving this one!
Related: Heartwarming Picture Books That Melt My Heart
This was supposed to go in her Easter basket but ALAS…might just have to get a different one. We really like this one! It’s in the vein of We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, and while I don’t love it as much as the original, I really liked it and think its a great Easter book for toddlers!
This one is definitely one of my FAVORITE Sandra Boynton books! It’s about FEELINGS and EMOTIONS and that’s one thing I’m really trying to be teach Riley as best I can early on and letting her feel safe to express those. It has probably the BEST line at the end that I literally wrote down because I love it so much!
Riley has become super obsessed with Old MacDonald (the song) and also everything farm animals (she loves this barn we got) so I snagged this on Book Outlet for her! I love watching her “read” it by herself and do all the sounds!
Related: Bedtime Books For Babies & Toddlers
This is a fantastic book if you are looking for gardening books for toddlers or preschoolers! I have zero green thumb but my sister gardens quite a bit and Riley is over there a lot so I wanted to get a book about it! I love the illustrations so much! Riley doesn’t really get into it but I hope the more she gets into the gardening with my sister maybe she will. She does say FLOWERRRRRS a lot when we read it haha.
This book literally makes me hungry every time we read it. Riley REALLY loves this one and I’m not quite sure WHY — I mean she is an adventurous little eater but we’ve never taken her for dim sum yet so I DUNNO. But I find her reading this one a lot solo. I’ve been making it a point to try to have a diverse collection of books so she sees the world reflected as it really is so I snagged this on Book Outlet when I saw it!
Oh these books are so sweet and have made such a splash in our bedtime reading routine. She always loves these ones! We just LOVE Karen Katz over here!! Riley really gravitates to her books!
This is a cute lift the flaps board book — very simple and perfect intro to gardening for a toddler to learn some of the aspects of gardening!
Have you read any of these with your kids or any kids in your life? What did you think?! Any of these going on your TBR? Tell me what you’ve been reading with the kids in your life!
PPS. I’ve GOT YOU if you need some adult reading and are in search of new adult fiction books to read in 2019!
Pin for later for ideas with books to read with your 18-20 month old (or toddler in general)
Jennifer says
You just made me very nostalgic! My daughter ( she is 13 now) loved Planting a Rainbow when she was 2 or 3. We must have gotten it from the library every time we went for a year or more.
Erica Metcalf says
These all sound so cute!