Best Books for Toddlers & Preschoolers

It’s needless to say how important reading is to our children. It would come as no surprise to many that toddlers and preschoolers who are read to every day enjoy many advantages and benefits. Along with improving the child’s vocabulary and helping them better understand how to read and write, reading stories play a vital role in their growth and development.

While choosing books for children of this age, select a variety of topics to keep them interesting- if your child loves dinosaurs, nature, princesses or trucks, find more books with stories having those kinds of characters. While you can buy more of what your child is interested in, selecting books from award-winning and familiar authors is also a great idea.

Top Books for Toddlers & Preschoolers

Here are the best toddler books that encompass some of the essential topics for preschoolers that are a favorite among many parents:

1. The Gruffalo

The Gruffalo is a popular children’s book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It narrates the story of the protagonist of the book, a mouse, taking a walk in a European forest. On its stroll through the woods, the mouse meets a fox, an owl and a snake that all plot to eat him. Therefore the mouse invents a Gruffalo; a scary monster with terrible tusks, teeth, claws, and jaws to scare off the predators. The Gruffalo book has sold over 13 million copies and has won several prizes for children’s literature. It is written for children of ages 3 to 7 with rhyming couplets and repetitive verses that have minor variations.

Why Will You Like This Product?

The Gruffalo is one of the best toddler books to read to your child as it balances the length of the stories with important details that is just enough to maintain the attention span of toddlers. It’s fun reading the characters in a variety of voices to distinguish each of them. The book also has a short animated series which help kids better visualize the characters and understand them deeper.

2. Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever

This book by Richard Scarry features everything from grocery stores to airports and is a fun-filled book with hundreds of labeled objects. The Best Word Book Ever is one of those books for toddlers that are a must-have in your child’s library to help them build their vocabulary. First published in 1963, it became a bestselling children’s book that is looked upon fondly by many of today’s parents who are taken back to their childhood years when they had their very own Best Ever series. Seven million copies of the Best Word Book Ever have been sold around the world and have made learning fun to all.

The book is designed to be entertaining while simultaneously teaching words and numbers to children.
It is divided into a number of subjects ranging from houses to football in each pair of pages. The pages have just enough explanatory text and often challenge children to find things on the pages.

Why Will You Like This Product?

The beautiful drawings and pictures in the book stimulate discussion about everyday things with your toddler. It is also great for families who are unfamiliar with English and are getting their children to learn.

3. The Snail and the Whale

This is another children’s picture book by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Axel Scheffler which is a favorite among parents and children alike. This ranks among those storybooks for toddlers that are beautifully written with precise illustrations. The storyline involves an unlikely friendship between a snail and a Humpback whale and their travels to-off lands. When the whale gets breached by a retreating tide on one of their adventures It’s up to the snail to save the whale’s life. The book received several awards over the years and had also been adapted into a play.

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The story has a touching plot involving adventure, creativity and thinking beyond the confines of one’s limitations. The illustrations are wonderfully vivid while the rhymes and the prose gel seamlessly. It is sure to be a favorite bedtime story for your preschooler.

4. National Geographic First Big Book of Dinosaurs

This bestseller book is the third title in the series and is ideal for 4 to 8-year-old children who love dinosaurs. The book brings the prehistoric world of the dinosaurs back to life with stunning illustrations of dinosaurs of all types and sizes. Filled with age-appropriate information and fun facts, each page features a different dinosaur, along with easy-to-grasp explanations that are suited for children. The interactivity included in every chapter is fun and will be loved by both the young dino fans and their parents.

The book is authored by Catherine D. Hughes who has a degree in early childhood development. The illustrations are by Franco Tempesta who is a specialist in the depiction of dinosaurs and many other primitive creatures.

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The book along with information on the dinosaurs also tells you the phonetic translation of the names. That means you can perfectly pronounce names such as “micro-pachycephalosaurus.” The book also makes a perfect gift for preschoolers fascinated with paleontology and dinosaurs.

5. ABC’s for Boys

This one-of-a-kind ABC book is designed with young boys in mind and all the things they find interesting, such as; cars, airplanes, trucks and more. The book combines alphabets with pictures of objects that are particularly appealing to young boys, for example, A is for Airplane, B is for Bulldozer, C if for Car and F is for Firetruck. The book’s thicker sheets are a little resistant to crumbling and can take the handling of a 2 to 3-year-old making it one of the best books for toddler boys.

Why Will You Like This Product?

Parents of toddler boys will love this as the book is durable and has attractive pictures of machines that boys love. Although the book is centered on boys, it is just as a great a book for girls who love vehicles, machinery, and animals.

6. Today I’ll Be a Princess

If your little girl enjoys watching animated movies of princesses and wants to be one, this sparkly book will indulge all her fantasies. However, it also has a gentle reminder that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. The book’s brilliant illustrations are a delight for toddler girls and encourage hours of imaginative play. The girl in the story thinks of all the advantages of being a princess until she gets to know that princesses don’t get to play outside in the mud. She finally abandons the tiara in favor of outside playtime.

This princess book is perfect for little girls who are just beginning to read as it combines bright and colorful pictures with simple text to keep them interested in it.

Why Will You Like This Product?

The book is full of illustrations and sparkling pictures of spectacular things that are in a princess’ life that can be of great talking points with your little girl. This is one of those books for toddler girls that involve both imaginative play and an insightful message.

7. School Zone – Big Preschool Workbook

This bestseller from School Zone is one of the ideal learning books for toddlers involving over 300+ colorful exercises that children enjoy indulging in. The bright colors and illustrations keep the preschoolers in their comfort zone as they learn without feeling overwhelmed. The learning curve is gentle, and the lessons work on reinforcing the must-know basics such as colors, shapes, alphabets, some basic phonics, early math and more.

The activities are set in increasing order of difficulty so the preschoolers can build skills before moving to the next one and stay challenged the whole time till the end. The workbook which has plenty of writing activities, as opposed to typing on a keyboard helps with better focus and retention of what is learned.

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The workbook acts as a yardstick to measure your child’s progress in their readiness for preschool. When the workbook is completed, a certificate congratulating the kids on a job well done can be filled out and hung on the wall or the refrigerator.

8. From Head to Toe

If you’re looking for fun books for toddlers, then this book is definitely one you need to check out. Written by Eric Carle, the New York Times bestselling author, From Head to Toe is an energetic and fun-filled book that will have your toddlers stomping their feet, clapping their hands or wriggling their toes.
The activities are quite simple; your toddler emulates the movements of animals. Monkeys can wave their hands, donkeys can kick, and giraffes can bend their necks and so can you. The goal of the interactive book is to copy their antics from head to toe.

As the children go through the simple instructions of the book, not only are they having fun but they are also learning important skills such as listening, performing specific movements and taking on new challenges.

Why Will You Like This Product?

It’s great to have a fun filed bonding time with your toddler while you teach them to look at simple pictures and copy what is being done.

Why do we recommend these Products?

Your toddler’s books are their first linguistic window to the world around them, although they eventually grow out of the simple language in these books, they look back on them as a reminiscent source of joy. Books with great illustrations are not only fun and stimulate imagination, but stay in your child’s memory as an associated image to words and concepts for years to come. Stories with deep value are much needed for the psychological and emotional development of children to build their personalities. Therefore when you choose toddler books for your child’s library, ensure that it:

•  Helps in language and learning
•  Relaxes your toddler with soothing stories
•  Develops their imagination with fantastical plots and narration
•  Builds their confidence levels
•  Develop creativity and artistic skills

Besides this, read to them and enjoy bonding with your child over reading a great book!