The Best First Books for Babies and Toddlers

[Hayley]

Now that Olle is 6 months old (not sure where that 6 months has gone, but 6 months it is!), I've gotten through a fair few books and thought it would be nice to have a thread of the books we think are the best ones for the youngest of readers. 

 

 

[Hayley]

My first contribution:

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

 

Even at just a couple of months old, Olle seemed to be fascinated by the pictures in this one. It has high-contrast, bright pictures and I know he's going to enjoy other elements of it (like the texture of the holes cut out of the fruit inside) as he gets older. Also a classic - I have a distant memory of loving this when I first started school. 

 

 

Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy by Lynley Dodd

Lovely and fun illustrations in this one too, but with the added bonus of really satisfying rhythm and rhyme to the story. Olle often watches my mouth when I read this to him, so I think he appreciates it too .

We actually have about five of the Hairy Maclary books and they're all great. 

[lunababymoonchild]

It’s been more than 30 years since I last bought a book for an infant but I do remember the very young looking assistant who sold it to me saying that it was so much better to read a book that you enjoyed because you’re going to read it over and over again, and that has stayed with me. 
 

From my own childhood, I absolutely adored the Ladybird series of books (I have no idea if they are available today or if they might be too old fashioned) and still have them. 

[Madeleine]

I had loads of Ladybird books, I think they're quite collectable now.  Not sure if they're still around.

[Hayley]

Yeah the older ladybird books are very much collectibles now! There are new ladybird books but they're nowhere near as nice looking. For example, on amazon: Ladybird Tales Classic Collection - Hardcover Book Box Set: Amazon.co.uk: Ladybird: 9780723281832: Books

 

Maybe I can find some originals without bankrupting myself if I look around 😅

[lunababymoonchild]

Mine are dog-eared to death and held together with sellotape!

 

There is The Gruffalo to look forward to and The Wind in the Willows (not that I’m biased ;-))

[poppy]

Babies love the Spot books ...

 

And I don't know if this one is still available, but it's delightful, packed with mischievous animals.

 

[KEV67]

Little Adrian's favourite book so far is Where the Wild Things Are. He likes Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet's books. These are very silly. I have bought three of them: No-bot, the Robot with No Bottom; Barry, the Fish with Fingers, and Norman, the Slug with the Silly Shell. Hendra and Linnet wrote the Supertato books, which have been turned into children's TV cartoons. Adrian likes Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's books. I have read him The Scarecrows' Wedding, The Gruffalo, and another one about a penguin called Jonty Gentoo, who escapes from a zoo and swims to the South Pole. I think Julia Donaldson's rhyming is very good, although I am not sure how much of these books Adrian understands. The Gruffalo has a good plot, but I doubt Adrian is old enough to appreciate it yet. I think he understands quite a bit of Where the Wild Things Are, because he does not have to understand the words to understand the story.

[France]

For very young ones Goodnight Moon and Each Peach Pear Plum - I second the Spot books, small children adore them.   Peace at Last by Jill Murphy was a huge success with my grandson at a year old and also The Tiger Who Came to Tea

[poppy]

Judith Kerr's Mog is adorable 🥰

[KEV67]

On 10/23/2025 at 5:16 PM, Hayley said:

Now that Olle is 6 months old (not sure where that 6 months has gone, but 6 months it is!), I've gotten through a fair few books and thought it would be nice to have a thread of the books we think are the best ones for the youngest of readers. 

 

 

I was not aware you had had a child. Belated congratulations.

[KEV67]

Barry, the Fish with Fingers, is another book by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. Adrian makes me laugh, because the other fish ask Barry what he can do with his fingers. While Barry explains he can cut paper chains, knit and play with finger puppets, Adrian has taken to walking across the room, because the next page says 'tickling'. This makes me think Adrian has started to recognise words, but it is possible he recognised the picture.