Eric Carle books are well-known and beloved, with good reason. Beautiful illustrations, catchy rhymes, and easily understood plotlines make them perfect for toddlers. Eleanor particularly loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
because she's really into colors lately, and enjoys yelling out the names and colors of the animals. I don't mind reading it repeatedly either, because the sing-song words ("Brown bear, brown bear what do you see? I see a red bird looking at me. Red bird, red bird what do you see?...") are easy to say by rote, not requiring a lot of thought from a sleepy mom.
Good Dog, Carl
by Alexandra Day is another popular board book in these parts. Mostly because her cousins have a big, black dog named Zeus, and she excitedly says, "ZEUS! ZEUS!" on every page. There are only 12 words in the whole book, but the gorgeous illustrations show the adventures that Carl and the baby get up to without any need for words. Now if I catch Eleanor trying to ride Zeus, I'll know where she got the idea!
My favorite board books are the ones by Sandra Boynton. I can still repeat The Going-To-Bed Book
by heart from reading to to my youngest brother so many times, and Eleanor and I read a lot of them -- One, Two, Three!
, Opposites
, and Moo Baa La La La
are all popular. But she really likes the Belly Button Book. I've yet to meet a baby who didn't think belly buttons were hilarious and Boynton capitalizes on that perfectly, with funny text about hippopotamuses who love to show off their bellybuttons.12/4 UPDATE: The winner is commenter #5 Cnsandersaz who loves The Going to Bed Book! Stay tuned for an email from me! And thanks to everyone who commented -- there are some great recommendations for board books in the comments, including some Eleanor and I haven't read yet, so we're going to be keeping an eye out for them.
WIN IT! One lucky reader will win all three of these board books!
To enter, leave a comment telling me your favorite board book.
This post contains Amazon affiliate links. I purchased these books myself, and am giving them to you because they are books I love and want to share!
