There’s no better way to end the day with your little one than by snuggling up to read a story at bedtime. If you are stuck for book ideas for the coming year, here’s 135 to help you out. I was aiming for 365, one for every day of the year.. but it will take me forever!
I have categorised them to make it easy to find the kind of thing your child likes, although of course some books would have fitted into more than one category.
These are all books which have been (and still are!) read and enjoyed by my 3 children. Please do share any of your own book recommendations for toddlers with us in the comments section at the end of the post – Who knows, if you all chip in perhaps we will make it up to 365 in the end!
This is the first in a series of literacy posts over the month. Do check back if you have children learning to read too, as I will be reviewing lots of resources to help them learn.
Classic Choices
- We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
- The Gruffalo
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar
- Dear Zoo
- Guess How Much I Love You
- Peace At Last
- Owl Babies
- The Mr. Men Series
- Are You My Mummy?
- Hugless Dougless
More Storybooks
- You Choose
- Conker and Nudge
- Dot to Dot
- The Night Iceberg
- The Empty Stocking (Christmas)
- The Paper Dolls
- The Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat
- Susan Laughs
- Who’s in the Garden
- Lively Elizabeth
- Baggy Brown and the Royal Baby
- Well Done Little Bear
- Stanley’s Stick
- I Love You Just the Way You Are
- Who’s Making that Noise?
- Goodnight, Hippo.
- Copy Cat
- The Highway Rat
- Whatever Next
- Stickman
- Cave Baby
- A Squash and A Squeeze
- Big!
- Play Jokes with Cheeky Monkey
- Dr Seuss: Dizzy Days
- The Going to Bed Book
- The Tiger Who Came to Tea
- Yeti and the Bird
- Duck in the Truck
- I Don’t Want to Go to Bed
- The Jolly Postman
- Sharing a Shell
- Do You Speak English Moon?
- Billy the Goat’s Big Breakfast
- My Dad
- A Bed of Your Own
- Muffin Bedtime Cuddles
- I feel Happy
- My Mum’s The Best
- I Want to Win (The Little Princess)
Fairy Tales
- The Story of Pinocchio
- The Gingerbread Man
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- Jack and the Beanstalk
- There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly
Animals
- Peter Rabbit: The Tale of a Naughty Little Rabbit
- Walking Through the Jungle
- Everybody Loves Butterflies
- Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you See?
- Have You Heard a Lion Roar
- Wanted: The Perfect Pet
- Nanny Fox
- Touch and Feel Farm
- Puppies!
- Wakey Wakey Big Brown Bear
Transport
- Bear on a Bike
- I Wish I Were a Pilot
- Amazing Machines
- Can You Choo Choo Too?
- Things That Go
- Driving My Tractor
- Dougal the Digger
- The Big Red Bus
- Little Car
- My Big Truck Book
Dinosaurs
- Three Little Dinosaurs
- Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs Books
- The Dinosaur Games
- That’s Not My Dinosaur
- The Really Really Really Big Dinosaur
Colours
- Wobble Bear Says Yellow
- Colour Me Happy
- Hugh’s Blue Day
- Blue Chameleon
- Little Learners: Touch and Feel Colours
Rhyming and Song
- Port Side Pirates
- Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes
- The Animal Boogie
- Old McDonald Had a Farm
- Songs from the Station
Alphabet
- Thomas and Friends Amazing ABC
- ABC Animal Rhymes for You and Me
- A to Z Picture Book
- Apple Pie ABC
- Babar’s ABC
Counting
- One Gorilla
- One Two, That’s My Shoe
- Babar’s Counting Book
- Count 123
- My Granny Went to Market
- Follow Me on the Farm
- Ten Little Pirates
- One Ted Falls Out of Bed
- Pop Up Meerkats 123
- Ten in the Bed
Words and Pictures
- Look and Say Baby Brother
- Look and Say Town
- Spin and Say
- Big Book of My World
- My First Words Touch and Feel
- My First Busy Day. Let’s Get Learning
- First 100 Words
- First 100 Words in English
- First Words – Bright Baby
- Thomas & Friends Really Useful Word Book
Noisy books
Books about Popular Characters
- Thomas story treasury
- Meet the Engines
- 365 Disney Boys’ Stories (tbh, I’m sure they can also be enjoyed by girls! But there is a “girls’ version” available too)
- Everyone Hide from Wibbly Pig
- Four He’s a Jolly Good Fellow
- Postman Pat’s Secret
- The Bouncy Jumping Game (In The Night Garden)
- Babar’s Lost and Found
- Charlie and Lola Little Library
- Georgina the Giraffe (64 Zoo Lane)
- Humf and the Big Boots
- Zoe and Beans – Look at Me
- Belle and Boo and the Birthday Surprise
- Kipper’s Sticky Paws
- Elmer’s Weather
Pin the list for later?
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Let me know which ones are your little one’s favourites, and which others you recommend!
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Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.
What a great selection. Guess how much a love you is a firm favourite for me. I love how you’ve seperated them into genres. I found when my kids were little that it was best to read something that they were interested in. I know it sounds like common sense, but many make the mistake of thinking their children don’t like books, when they simply aren’t interested in the subject matter. Start the thirst early, you’ll have a keen reader for life x
Wow, that’s an impressive selection. I love books, have loved them since childhood thanks to my parents who inculcated the habit of reading early on.
Great choices, I enjoy reading The Gruffalo to my little one but he tends to enjoy the touch and feel books and picture books at the moment!
Helen X
http://www.allthebeautifulthings.co.uk
Although my children are all well past the age of toddler books, I recognise (and love) many of the ones you mention – so much so that I’ve refused to get rid of them! A very useful list 🙂
Wow! That’s some impressive list! I think 365 would have been insane – 135 is close to it. What a great resource – nice one Anna 🙂
Fab list, loads of very familiar titles there.
fab list!
As a Mum of a 1.5 year old who lives in Croatia, I did bring a lot of books with us from Austrealia, but have been thinking we need more – I have pinned this list to take a look at when teh time comes. It’s so many, I am sure I can find a few to buy.
that’s such a great round up! x
I so wish I had had this list when mine were younger – some great recommendations there!
Wow, what an amazing list! Thank you for sharing these, I will be going through and pinning my favourites!
What great choices. There are some on the classic list that i haven’t heard of so shall be looking at the library for them 🙂 We love the flower fairy books at bed time x
LOVE this list, so very helpful. Pinned to my books for children board, thank you
Wow what a long and comprehensive list! We have lots of these books already which we love!
I still haven’t read going on a bear hunt and I really want to – it sounds like great fun!
Wow, you’ve been busy! Some great books there, many that we have read but lots more we’d love to read.
This is so awesome, I’m looking forward to dipping in and out when I need some inspiration!
What an incredible list!!!! We’ve been through a lot of the classics, and I did think our two had read lots of books, but there are so many on this list that we hadn’t come across. Can’t wait to dive in!
Owl Babies is a firm favourite here. Great list!
Great post. Lots of lovely books there and some excellent suggestions. We love reading and own quite a few of these titles. You can’t go wrong with a book.
A great list! There are a few on here we shall be looking at soon. My two children particularly love, ‘We’re going on a bear hunt,’ ‘Dear Zoo,’ and ‘Each, Peach,Pear,Plum.’ They are their definite favourites. But hopefully your list will provide them with another new favourite! Thank you.
What a great list; I recognise a fair few of our old favourites in there and this will come in really handy once the new baby comes along too. Thanks for sharing.
Mine used to love Guess How Much I Love You. They still have their copies now aged 8 and 11 x x
What an amazing post. Must have taken you ages! I recognise and own a good number of these, but will check out some of the ones I hadn’t heard of 🙂
I think I might just have to work through the list to tick off what we’ve read then discover some new ones – I’m always keen to discover new books
What a great list. We buy each of our children a book every Christmas and this year still haven’t come up with one. So happy to find your list. Pinning!
You don’t realise until you read a list like this, just how many books you get through in the young life of your children. Peace At Last is one of my favourites.
There are some real classics in here and some which are new to me – I am SO going to pin this post 🙂 Thank you for linking to PoCoLo x
A great list with some fab choices! 🙂
What a fantastic list! Thank you for sharing it. Here from the PINcentive Blog Hop, and I’m pinning it too!
LOVE all of these books! Great list 🙂
A brilliant list with lots of our favourites on! We love Each, Peach, Pear, Plum and Whatever Next!
“Polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear.” And my daughter’s favorite, which is great for colors, is, “go away big green monster”
A book that I really like, and think looks really cool for kids is (gotta look it up)….is Gallop!: A Scanimation Picture Book . I think they have another one in the series too. My Mom got this for my nephew, and I wanted it for myself. It’s almost like a work of art, and is so entertaining.
The one my nephew had was Waddle!: A Scanimation Picture Book (Scanimation Picture Books). And now I see on Amazon that they have other ones…like a Santa one too.
http://www.amazon.com/Waddle-Scanimation-Picture-Book-Books/dp/B004KAB46K/ref=wl_mb_wl_huc_mrai_1_dp
This is quite an impressive list! I recognize several names on there from when my girls were toddlers. 🙂
What a wonderful resource! My preschooler still likes a lot of these.
some fab recommendations there!!! thanks for linking with #ReadWithMe I have tweeted and pinned this post x
Thanks chantelle!
Some great books here, and some of know and love (Guess How Much), and some that I hadn’t heard of and wish I had a toddler to explore with! Thanks for linking up to the Parenting Tips Linky this week.
Great list of books. Definitely one to go through one by one!
This is a great post, thanks, I love children’s literature, my son has loads of books, I wish I were as organised x