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1,000 Books Before Kindergarten: February 2025

Posted about 2 weeks ago by Katie Heslop
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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, seasonal, and books you might have missed 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.

Bear Hugs! from Brown Bear and Friends by Eric Carle

In the style of of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?, Bear Hugs! shows an animal family sharing hugs together on every page. A perfect book to share with your little one in the Valentine season.

Hey! Look at You! by Sandra Boynton

In Hey! Look at You!, Boynton pairs many developmental activities that babies and toddlers love, like looking at their own reflection in animal-shaped mirrors, making animal sounds, and animal identification.

Animobiles: Animals on the MOOOve by Maddie Frost

Toddlers will delight in Animobiles as their favorite animals (for example, a lion) are combined with their favorite vehicles (like a limo)! Lion limos, tiger trains, monkey mopeds, and more make for a silly reading experience together.

Play Games with Me by Kat Chen

Alex spends an afternoon playing with Rex the dinosaur–they play hide-and-seek, blocks, and play kitchen. The best part is, they loop the reader into the story by asking lots of questions. Where is Rex hiding? What food do you want to make? Toddlers will love interacting with Alex and Rex in this playful board book.

You are Not Sleepy by Mark Teague

This story might seem familiar if one has a toddler resistant to napping. Piggy is supposed to be napping, but that isn’t happening. Instead, piggy plays with a flashlight, opens a window, dances, and does everything except nap. What should piggy do in order to fall asleep?

You Will Always Have Me by Todd Parr

in Todd Parr’s classic style, You Will Always Have Me explains in simple terms a caregiver’s unconditional love for a child. The bold, bright pictures are attractive and exciting for a toddler’s eyes. This is the perfect read aloud book to share with a child around Valentine’s Day.

Dr. Color Monster and the Emotions Toolkit by Anna Llenas

Do you have a preschool-aged child who isn’t sure how to handle their big emotions? Meet Dr. Color Monster! Dr. Color Monster has a helpful “toolkit” for a child to look through when they can’t pinpoint what is wrong. Some self-soothing techniques included in the toolkit are: blowing bubbles, coloring, hugging a friend, or moving your body. Check out the companion book The Color Monster: A Story About Emotions for a further explanation of the body’s complicated emotions.

Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed

Mae Jemison is the first African American woman to travel to outer space. From a young age, Mae’s mother told her: “If you believe it, and work hard for it, anything is possible.” This picture book biography tells her incredible story in a simplified, accessible way for young children to understand.

Miss Leoparda by Natalia Shaloghvili

Miss Leoparda loves to drive her fellow animals around town in her bus. But when the animals see a car driving around town, they all want one of their own. They leave Miss Leoparda to have their own individual cars and sit in traffic all day. How can Miss Leoparda convince her animal friends to come back to her bus?

Stomp, Soar, Dino Roar by Max Amato

Calling all dinosaur lovers! This non-fiction picture book follows Terri the Triceratops as she explores her dinosaur world and the sounds that her dinosaur friends make. The backmatter includes “Dino Details” for additional information about dinosaurs and “Sonic Science” about how scientists study the sounds that dinosaurs made.

Katie Heslop

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