Whether you’re looking for a gift for a little one, or just something to make bedtime run a bit more smoothly, here are some of our favourite toddler books that have been tried and tested by TDS’ resident little bookworms.
The best educational books for toddlers
As parents we just can’t help sneaking in a few educational books onto our kids bookshelves and these three by Sweet Cherry Publishing are some of our newest faves:
“Mula and The Fly” 3 Book Collection
These three beautifully illustrated books follow Mula the lion and her friend Fly as they learn all about having fun with yoga and pick up a couple of friends on the way; the Unsure Elephant and the Snooty Monkey.
My son’s nursery actually teach yoga (didn’t have that in my day!) so he was more than happy to join in with the breathwork and poses! As well as the gorgeous, colourful illustrations we also loved that the back of each book showed a few different yoga moves to try out if your little one’s are new to it, and on the inside cover was a QR code to scan for a free audiobook. Such a nice touch! It meant at bedtime I could just press play and settle back, turning the pages as we went and letting someone else do the funny voices for a change!
“Favourite Nursery Rhymes 20 Books Box Set by Wendy Straw”
Before we started reading these books together I wouldn’t have thought of nursery rhymes as educational but since we’ve been reading a few every day my son has started singing to himself and picking up new phrases.
They’re only little books and the glossy pages make them really lightweight so he finds them easy to carry by himself when we go out. I’ve been packing a few in his backpack and for car rides as the colourful pictures really seem to capture his imagination.
I’ve also found that he’s been singing the songs when he sees characters in real life such as ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’ when we see a clock and ‘The Cow Jumped Over the Moon’ when we go past a field of cows. I actually forgot just how many nursery rhymes there are until we got this box set!
“Explorer Collection – Numberblocks, Alphablocks & Colourblocks – 3 Books Collection Set”
As big fans of the CBeebies ‘blocks’ series it’s taken very little encouragement from me to get my son to open these books. He will happily grab them off the shelf and go through his colours, letters and phonetics to my absolute delight! Little does he know the books and I are sneakily getting him ‘school ready’…
These books are noticeably great quality with thick, glossy board pages that can withstand plenty of sticky fingers. There’s also different types of learning on each page for littles who prefer pictures, words or coloured backgrounds.
I’m pretty sure these books will be a big hit with both parents and toddlers so if you’re thinking of a present for pre-school kids definitely consider these!
The best Julia Donaldson toddler books
Starting with the author of The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson, who is (in my opinion) the queen of writing engaging and fun toddler books, with almost all of her titles going down a treat with my little one, (and thousands of others across the world.)
It’s hard to pick just a few favourites from her collection, but let’s give it a go shall we…
The Gruffalo
It seems almost too obvious to include, no toddler’s book collection would be complete without *something* Gruffalo related. This famous title, that’s since been made into a BBC short, is a must have in any little bookcase, and a great way to teach kids to be brave and believe in themselves
Room on the Broom
Perhaps my own personal favourite toddler book to read of all time; Room on the Broom. Is a sing-song story that tells the story of a kind witch who invites a curious collection of outcast animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her grumpy cat.
Superworm
My little girl is *obsessed* with digging up worms, she’ll happily just sit talking to them for hours while I do the garden – so this new one from Julia and Axel was a no brainer for us.
It’s a really cute story of friendship and loyalty, but I’d also recommend it for any of you who have little one’s with an insect aversion to help try and nip it in the bud.
The best board books for toddlers
If you’ve got a little one that loves nothing more than ripping their books to bits, these hardback board books are the perfect toddler choice.
Axel Scheffler’s Flip Flap Books Collection
Is your little one tired of the same old natural history books? Would you like to share the wonders of the seas, skies, deserts, jungles, countryside and more besides with your child in a fun new way? Scheffler makes learning funny and interactive in these wonderful volumes.
Each spiral-bound hardback book contains twenty-two pages, each split down the middle. On the right-hand side, there’s a drawing of an animal in Scheffler’s much-loved style. On the left, there’s a little two-verse rhyme about it, one on each half, and its name is written vertically across the split. Each book has eleven animals to entertain your toddler, as well as teaching new animals to budding young readers.
“BOT And The BEASTIES 3 Book Collection Set” by Sweet Cherry Publishing
If you have kids who are as obsessed with CBeebies as my three year old boy is, you will have heard all about B.O.T. also known as a Beastie Observation Transmitter. He’s a little robot who travels around five different worlds collecting sound and picture data from the Beasties who live there and brings it back to his spaceship. It’s created by the same people who came up with Teletubbies and In the Night Garden so as you can imagine it’s been a bit hit with age 2-4 crowd!
The three board books in this collection include an interactive bedtime story, a ‘can you find..?’ story and a hide and seek story with felt flaps. Each one encourages conversation and interaction and the pictures and pages are colourful and high quality. An all round winner in our house!
“I love you to the moon and back” by Little Tiger Press
This gorgeous board book is beautifully illustrated by Tim Warnes and follows a big bear and their little cub showing their love for each other at each point of their day.
You little one will love the gentle little rhyme as the pair splash together in the water, climb mountains, and watch the Nothern Lights glowing in the shimmering sky.
I’m not crying, you are.
“A Weekend Trip” by Cynthia Cliff
This oversized picture book follows various families and friends as they get ready for a weekend away, travelling by car, train, bike and bus and arriving at hotels, campsites and cottages ready for a weekend of swimming, fishing, boating and much much more.
We loved this book because the characters are so diverse and my son really enjoyed looking out for the same characters on each page to see what they had got up to as the story progressed. As a three year old with a speech delay I find these kinds of picture books really encourage and improve his speech and imagination as he gets to come up with the story and narrate it to me which he thoroughly enjoys doing! The pictures are bright and colourful with lots to unpack in every scene; every time we read it there was something new to spot!
Available from good booksellers. For stockists visit prestel.com
“What are stars?” by Usborne
This is such a cute little board book for curious toddlers who’ll enjoy lifting over 30 flaps to find the answers to questions like; “what exactly are stars?” “Which one’s the nearest?” “Can humans visit a star?”
With easy-to-understand answers and gorgeous illustrations by Katie Daynes, this one is an education for parents as well as kids!
“Little feminist” board book collection by mudpuppy
Mudpuppy’s Little Feminist board book collection came into my life because I was SICK of how many toddler books were about ‘him’ rather than ‘her’ – so, I can’t recommend these enough.
With illustrations by Lydia Ortiz and words by Emily Kleinman, each of the four mini books, (which are a perfect size for the baby bag) is full of colourful illustrated portraits of real women who have made historical impact on the world: Pioneers, Artists, Leaders, and Activists.
“Peep Inside…” collection by Usborne
Usborne books are known for being amazing for sensory development, (you’ll probably already know the ‘that’s not my…’ series they do) but their ‘Peep inside’ collection is brillaint for curious 2-4 year olds.
In ‘The Forest’ and ‘The Garden’, written by Anna Milbourne and illustrated by Simona Dimitri, your toddler can lift the flaps and peep through the delicate laser-cut holes to discover a whole host of butterflies, birds and bees, caterpillars, squirrels, frogs and other nature.
Funny toddler books for little ones
“Hettie the talking Yeti” by Joanne Hutchinson
When it comes to toddler books, I’m a sucker for anything that rhymes – and this imaginative book for little ones by Joanne Hutchinson has my little one absolutely enchanted with its bold, bright and colourful illustrations and cute main character.
The story starts with a little boy discovering a mysterious box on his doorstep. He opens the box and discovers a fluffy furry ball inside called Hettie the Yeti. Hettie talks about all the amazing adventures she’s had but talks incessantly day and night, leaving her host tired and worn-out.
So, in desperation he leaves the box with Hettie inside on a friend’s doorstep, but the friend brings him round to show him off the next day and the whole cycle starts again!
AB to Jay Z and 123 with the Notorious B.I.G (from My Little Homie Toddler Books)
Designed for the next generation of hip-hop lovers, these educational titles are guaranteed to be a hit with littles ones and their parents alike.
You can’t move for books ready to teach toddlers about apples, balls and cats… but who is going to teach them the realest alphabet? Who’s going to teach them about Queen Bey and Marshal Mathers? Who is going to make sure their rap game is strong when they start school? You are, that’s who.
Scouse mouse has lost his house
This colourful paperback is the perfect choice for any little scouse explorers. Illustrated by legendary local wall artist Jazz Stan in her signature style, Scouse Mouse takes your little one on an exciting picture tour around Liverpool, visiting The Royal Albert Dock, the cathedrals, The Cavern Club, Anfield, Goodison Park, The Liver Building and many more along the way as we help him find his way back home.
The Incredible Peppa Pig Collection – 50 Books
Peppa Pig is a cute and loved bossy little pig that is loved by young children all over the world! She is a four year old and lives with Daddy Pig, Mummy Pig and her younger brother called George.
The Peppa Pig Incredible collection features 50 amazing Peppa story books from everyone’s favourite pig. Join Peppa Pig and friends on many adventures including Babysitting, The Fire Engine and George’s Friend. This collection is perfect for Peppa Pig lovers.
Jen is our resident wellness and features editor here at The Daily Struggle. You will probably find her on the beach, painting her house or writing about magick and motherhood.
