My toddler loves books. She only says a handful of words so far, and one of them is “Bou!” (book). She carries books around the way some kids carry security blankets. She turns her board books around in her hands and carefully turns each page while pointing at interesting pictures. We keep books in her room, in the kitchen, in the living room, and in the car because when you’re 1 year old and you’re not the one cooking, cleaning or driving, why not have a book handy everywhere you go?
Naturally, our bedtime routine involves plenty of reading. If she could talk more adeptly, I bet she’d request 5 books and a bedtime song they way Tim does in Boss Baby. (And if she lined up wine glasses filled with milk, I wouldn’t complain!) We always read a few books in our jammies before bedtime, and during the past couple of months she has picked out the same books for us to read her over and over again. That’s not surprising – most toddlers like familiarity. However, the books she picks aren’t classics like Goodnight Moon or The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Instead, she prefers shorter books with interactive pages. Because she’s a squirmy 15-month-old, these interactive books do a great job of keeping her entertained long enough for my husband and me to enjoy quiet snuggle time with her without wrestling to keep her in our laps.
Do you have a busy toddler, too? Here are our five favorite interactive books for toddlers. Each is no more than 11 pages, and each has tactile, audio or visual points of interest baked in that make reading these books a short but fun adventure.
Our 5 Favorite Interactive Books for Toddlers:
1. Duckling and Friends
By Ellie Boultwood, Hannah Cockayne and Amy Oliver for Priddy Books
Duckling and Friends is a touch-and-feel book that introduces farm animals like ducks, cows, and goats in rhyme form. Each animal illustration is enhanced with soft fabric that mimics fur, feathers or hair for your toddler to touch while you read. The book also encourages you and your child to repeat the sounds each animal makes which is great fun for a toddler.
2. Pop-Up Peekaboo! Farm
By Dawn Sirett and Sarah Davis for DK Publishing
This book also explores animals on a farm but in a different way: Each page set features a flap that opens to reveal chicks, horses, geese, dogs, and even the farmer himself. The text prompts your child to “find” the hidden animals or “look behind the door” to discover what’s making that noise. Each pop-up animal is accompanied by text that mimics the sound the animal makes, giving your child another chance to practice fun sounds and words.
3. Panda Bear, Panda Bear
By Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle, Priddy Books
If you’ve had a child under the age of 4 at some point, you’ve likely read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? so many times you know the exact order of animals AND their colors in the book. Panda Bear, Panda Bear is the cooler, more worldly cousin of Brown Bear. Instead of cats, dogs, and goldfish, you’ll see spider monkeys, macaroni penguins and black panthers. The slide-and-find version we have features a small square on each page with a cover that slides open to reveal the next animal that is the answer to the never-ending question, “What do you see?” As with all of Eric Carle’s books, the illustrations are fantastic and the text is simple enough that it keeps toddlers engaged. But what my daughter really loves about this book is the ability to slide those little squares open and reveal the hidden animal. It’s kind of like the toddler version of a game show that hides the prizes, and “What do you see?” is code for “Let’s see what’s behind Door No. 1!” At 11 pages, this book can feel a bit long but the slides keep her sitting still and hungry for more.
4. The Paper Bag Princess
By Robert Munsch, Annick Press
This is the same author who wrote “Love You Forever,” but this little tome is not at all a tearjerker. The Paper Bag Princess, tells the story of a princess named Elizabeth who chases down and outsmarts a dragon that has carried off her prince. It’s a small yet straightforward dose of GIRL POWER I love reading to my daughter. This book isn’t interactive in itself, but it’s easy to create your own sound effects for the dragon and inject some enthusiasm and sass into Elizabeth’s lines. Try substituting your child’s name for “Elizabeth” as you read to pique your toddler’s interest even more. The short length of the text makes it ideal for toddlers who lose interest in a story after a few minutes.
5. Snuggle Puppy!
By Sandra Boynton, Workman Publishing
Oooooo, this is one of our absolute favorites! If you like Sandra Boynton’s cheerful, zany books, you’ll love Snuggle Puppy! This book is written in the voice of a parent telling their child how much they love what they are and they love what they do. It’s a fun, positive affirmation of a parent’s never-ending love for their child that involves kisses and a tiny bit of howling. Snuggle Puppy! has been translated into musical form by Eric Stoltz, and that’s how we “read” this story to our daughter – that is, we sing it to her right before we lay her down in her crib. When she hears us start singing “Snuggle Puppy,” she knows this is the grand finale to story time.
Which books do you love to read to your toddlers? Which books do they request over and over again?
