Favorite Infant Books

With a new baby arriving in the fall, I have been thinking back to Elliot's favorite baby books. He is now enjoying longer books with a plot and more text, so I've stored away some of our favorites, but they'll be coming back soon. Here is a long list of books he loved during his first year. Many of these should be available at your local library if you want to check any of them out. 

When and how do I read books in the infant stage (first year)? 

I read whenever it seems like he was interested. Sometimes during nursing sessions as he became more alert, other times during tummy times, while traveling in car or plane, and really, anytime he grabbed a book, we'd enjoy looking at it together. I tried to remember to read slowly since babies cannot track fast-paced conversations (and I am a fast-talker). If it was a book based on a song, I would sing the song (Youtube was helpful when I wasn't familiar with them. Sometimes I would point to familiar objects and repeat the name a few times. 

Where do I store books in the baby stage?

I had a basket in his play area that was in his reach with about ten board books. Books that were out of rotation were kept in a bookcase in his room. I kept paperback and lift-the-flap books out of reach until he understood how to use these books with care, which was after one years old. These books I had on a higher shelf of his bookcase in his room and I would read them to him, then return them to an out-of-reach area to protect them in the mouthing/ripping stage of exploring books. I usually had one small book in a travel bag. We had a basket of bedtime books beside the rocking chair where I'd nurse him so I could easily read to him at bedtime and nap time. 

What criteria did I use for this list of favorites? They are mostly board books (more durable for little hands and teething mouths), short text (usually just a sentence or a few words per page), and large, engaging illustrations. 

Have You Seen My Duckling? (Nancy Tafuri)

Who Says Woof? (John Butler)

Farmer Will (Jane Cowen-Fletcher)

Art series by Julie Merberg & Suzanne Bober (Dancing with Degas and A Picnic with Monet are our favorites)

Gossie (& other books in Gossie & Friends series by Olivier Dunrea)

Eric Carle (From Head to Toe, Brown Bear Brown Bear, 123 to the Zoo, The Very Hungry Caterpillar)

Blue Hat, Green Hat (Sandra Boynton)

Kelly Hill's Anne board books (Anne's Numbers, Anne's Colors)

Books Based on Songs

Over in the Meadow (Olive. A. Wadsworth)

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Micheal Rosen)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat, The Bear Went Over the Mountain, and any other sing-along books by Jane Cabrera

Down By the Station (Jess Stockham)

Mockingbird (Allan Ahlberg)

Baby Beluga (Raffi)

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (Sylvia Long)

Jesus Loves Me! (Tim Warnes)

Tactile Books (texture, lift-the-flaps, pop-up, sound)

Feely Bugs: To Touch and Feel Book (David A. Carter)

The Wide-Mouthed Frog: A Pop-Up Book (Keith Faulkner)

Eric Carle's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Other Rhymes: A Lift-the-Flap-Book

The Happy Little Yellow Box (David A. Carter)

Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap book (Rod Campbell)

Spot Goes to the Farm and Where is Spot? (Eric Hill)

Hear Bear Roar: Howling, Hooting, Barking, Buzzing(sound book) by Eric Carle

Bedtime Books

I Love You Through and Through (Bernadette Rossetti)

Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book (Rod Campbell)

Good Night, Gorilla (Peggy Rathmann)

The Napping House (Audrey & Don Wood)

I Love You, Mouse (John Graham & Tomie dePaola)

The Very Cranky Bear (Nick Bland)

You’re My Little Sweet Pea (Kit Chase)

Bunny Roo, I Love You (Melissa Marr)

Owl Babies (Martin Waddell)

Mem Fox: Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and Time for Bed

The Going to Bed Book (Sandra Boynton)

Sleepy Bunny (Pat the Bunny): Cloth Book (Dorothy Kunhardt)

Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown)

Christian

Baby Believer series by Danielle Hitchen: Psalms of Praise, Let There Be Light, Jesus Heals, From Eden to Bethlehem, Holy Week

This Little Light of Mine (Darcy Pattinson)

God’s Great Love for You (Rick Warren)

Sally Lloyd-Jones board book series: Found, Loved, Near

Ellie Holcomb: Who Sang the First Song and Don’t Forget to Remember. Pairs great w/her children’s music albums, Sing: Creation Songs and Sing: Remembering Songs

Read Aloud Bible Stories (five volumes) by Ella K. Lindvall

What are your favorite books for the infant stage?