1,000 Books Before Kindergarten is a nationwide initiative to encourage reading to babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. To learn more about how to start the program, visit the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten page on our website. It can be daunting to try to find books that your child will love. The following book recommendations are meant to highlight newer and seasonal books in the collection that are high interest and appropriate for different developmental ages. For more book recommendations, check out RPL’s Bookologist service and our Storytime at Home blog series.
Babies (0-18 months)
A Day in the Snow with the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Megan Roth
What better way to celebrate the beginning of winter on December 21st than with the Very Hungry Caterpillar? Explore a variety of winter views (an icy pond, snowman, etc) with TVHC and his forest friends.
Big and Little: A Book of Animal Opposites by Harriet Evans
A clever lift-the-flap book to introduce your little one to opposite vocabulary. This board book includes common opposite terms such as “Big and little” and “Quiet and Loud”, but also less common pairings such as “Alone and together” and “Awake and asleep”. In addition, each pairing is represented by a variety of animal types.
Toddlers (18 months-3 years)
Chicka Chicka Ho Ho Ho by William Boniface
A fun Christmas companion book to Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Chicka Chicka Ho Ho Ho has all the letters climbing up the Christmas tree! In addition to letters, there are also presents of different shapes under the tree. The glossy pages of the book make it extra appealing to toddlers.
Dot! Scribble! Go! by Hervé Tullet
From the author of Press Here and Let’s Play! comes a new interactive book to support your toddler’s creativity! Each page offers a prompt for your toddler to follow. Turn the page to see the magical colors and patterns they’ve created.
Floof by Heidi McKinnon
Spend a day in the life of Floof. Floof is a cat with a very busy schedule of playing with yarn, playing with friends, eating, meowing, and avoiding the dog. The simple text and clear illustrations will have every toddler falling in love with Floof.
A Pinecone! by Helen Yoon
While a young girl and her father are out for a walk with their dog, she decides to collect as many pinecones as she can carry. Every caregiver who has been on a nature walk with a toddler will be able to relate to the dad’s frustrations of hundreds of pinecones turning up in the house, along with the tiny creatures that come with them!
Preschoolers (3-5)
10 Things I Love about Dinosaurs by Samantha Sweeney
Every dinosaur loving preschooler will LOVE this book! Of course many children love dinosaurs, but why do they love them? This book lists 10 reasons that dinosaurs (and learning about them) are awesome and includes lots of fun facts along the way.
I’m Going to Build a Snowman by Jashar Awan
A young boy wakes up early on a snowy winter morning eager to go outside and build a snowman. He has high expectations of what the snowman will look like, but in reality the snowman looks droopy and lopsided. A perfect story to teach how to be content with certain outcomes even when they don’t turn out how we’d like.
Knight Owl and Early Bird by Christopher Denise
A sequel to the Caldecott honor-winning Knight Owl, Knight Owl and Early Bird is just as charming as the original. Early Bird looks up to Knight Owl and wishes to be a new member of the night watch…but Early Bird keeps falling asleep! Is there still a way for Early Bird to become a Knight?
Mr. Fox’s Game of “No!” by David LaRochelle
How do you play Mr. Fox’s game of “No”? You have to answer every question with “No”, even if the questions are “Do you live on Earth?” and “Are you stronger than a baby?”. Preschoolers will be very entertained by this silly game which is great for discussing questions and answers.
