Our #kbcBookBingoJr entry post.
I wanted to share our 30 books in the Junior category, although we don’t live in India. (I do have an Indian address for submission). Our journey of reading started at the age of a few weeks when I would read to my little crying baby in the middle of the long nights to soothe him. Over months and years he grew to absolutely love books, and now bedtime and nap time is always preceded by reading and cuddling with mom or dad. Our collection has grown over the years, and our second little baby is now starting to love them as well. Thank you for this opportunity to share our journey and to read other readers’ recommendations!
- A Dino Book
Oh Say Can You Say Di-no-saur? By Bonnie Worth
Every little kid loves dinosaurs, especially when described by the charismatic Cat in the Hat! My son was just over 2 when he learned how to say some of these long names, which as the book says, can “even make grown ups feel sick!”
- A Lift The Flap Book
This Usborne book was an absolute favorite of my 1.5 year old’s, and a year later he still loves to turn the flaps and check out all the wonderfully illustrated insects in their homes. He was so obsessed with centipedes and millipedes for a while that he got his dad a “centipede” cake for his birthday! It is very educational as well.
- A Fairytale
Alice in Wonderland adapted by Pamela Bobowicz
This all time classic is retold in a format easy for toddlers or pre schoolers learning to read, or like my son, who love to snuggle at bedtime with mom reading him books.
- A Funny Book
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr Seuss
This one might be our toddler’s favorite Dr Seuss book! Whimsical creatures and funny rhymes will be sure to capture young imaginations.
- A One Word Title Book
Trucks by Bright Baby/Priddy Books
A baby board book which will keep the little ones fascinated with the bright pictures of different kinds of trucks .
- A Book on Space /Solar System
There’s No Place Like Space by Tish Rabe
A Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library, this one is a fun introduction to the Solar System and other celestial objects in the sky.
- A Book on Good Habits
Nobunny’s Perfect by Anna Dewdney
This one is perfect for the Terrible Two’s or Terrible Three’s, teaching them why it’s important to have good manners and be nice to others. It made a big impact on our toddler, although we are still working on our manners!
- A Touch and Feel Book
Words by Bright Baby touch and feel/ Priddy Books
This is one of the earliest board books we read to our babies, the large bright pictures and textures are fascinating for them. It has just a few pages, perfect for their short attention spans.
- A Rhyming book
Another of our growing Dr Seuss collection, this one is full of crazy tongue twisters and quirky characters like the Fox in Socks and Mr Knox. A great and fun way to practice words and rhymes.
- A Book by an Indian Author
This book was recommended to me by friends and on the KBC forum, and was one of our first bilingual books. From the perspective of an Indian parent raising kids outside India, it has really helped to introduce the Hindi language to our son. He loves the catchy verses and the fun tabs/flaps and pictures!
- A Picture Book
First 100 Words by Priddy Baby
This book is great for babies with its bright pictures, and also for toddlers who are learning to read.
- A Dr Seuss Book
I can’t think of a better way to teach my toddler to count, than this classic book with its funny characters and rhymes. It goes from 1 to 20, and keeps him engaged throughout the entire book.
- A Bedtime Story
Good Night, Curious George by Margret and Rey
This book is an all time favorite with both our boys. Curious George is a lovable monkey who picks up all his toys, splashes in his bath, eats his bedtime snack, brushes his teeth, reads his book and goes to bed happily. Babies love the textures and flaps in the book, and toddlers enjoy the familiar bedtime routines.
There are lots of books in the Curious George series. Many are on first experiences.
Curious George Discovers the Ocean
- A Book That Was Gifted to You
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees
This book was a baby shower present for our first child, and then another friend mailed it to me as a present for our second baby as well, so we have two copies, both gifted to us! It is a mesmerizing story about an awkward giraffe who thought he couldn’t dance but then discovered that he actually could, when he found music that he loves .
- An Informative Book
Little Kids First Board Book Space (National Geographic Kids)
This book is a great introductory book about space, and my son also loves counting the numbers on the pages !
- A Book on any Festival
Merry Christmas, Daniel Tiger by Angela Santomero
I had to include a Daniel Tiger book in our collection as our kids love the cartoon show Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood created from the older classic Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. This one is a lift the flap book, describing all of Daniel Tiger’s favorite things to do at Christmas time.
- A Sea Creature Book
Melissa and Doug’s Poke-A-Dot Who’s in the Ocean
This big and rather heavy board book can keep little ones busy with its little bubbles which pop , helping them learn how to count, as well full of colorful pictures of various sea creatures. Our one and half year old learned the concept of “convex” and “concave” by popping the bubbles!
- A Book by your Favorite Illustrator
What Pet Should I Get by Dr Seuss
Of course this one had to be another Dr Seuss book! An enjoyable book for toddlers which teaches them about different kinds of pets in a pet shop as well as teaches them how to read.
- A Book about Shapes/Colors/Numbers
Numbers Colors Shapes by Priddy Baby
This compact book is perfect to introduce to babies as well as practice with toddlers. Being a board book without any flaps or parts that can be ripped, it’s long lasting. Its size makes it perfect to carry with you on trips.
- A Book on Transport/Vehicles
Let’s Go, Rescue Trucks by Scholastic
Although we have several transportation themed books, this one has been one of the favorites for our babies as it has two large wheels that they can spin, while you read to them. Our older son managed to rip part of it, as it is made of cardboard but a good dose of scotch tape fixed it!
- A Monster Book
The Mixed Up Monster by Ximena Hastings (Hotel Transylvania series)
We found this at our local library and I was skeptical at first as our 2.5 year old didn’t really have a concept of monsters (other than Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster); but he loved this book and made me read it three times in a row right away. It introduced the concept of monsters as friendly creatures, who are actually afraid of humans, instead of the other way round. It also made him understand what a “human” means.
- A Boynton Board book
The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton
To be honest, our son didn’t really find this book interesting until he was over a year and half. It grew on him since then and now he loves it. It also has some sight words to help him read.
- A Book with a Quirky Cover
This book is an all time favorite with our toddler. The copy we own belonged to his dad when he was a little boy. The catchy lines and cute illustrations make it a great bedtime read. It is full of sight words and is a great book for introducing kids to reading.
- A Book on Mythology
Another Hindi/English bilingual book introduced to us from the KBC group, this one taught my toddler the basic story of Ramayana and its main characters in a simple, fun and colorful way. It has tabs that can be manipulated to entertain little kids while reading.
- A Sound book
Leap Frog’s Learning Friends 100 Words
A birthday present for our 2 year old, it is a great way to keep babies and kids self entertained while learning, so you can get some power cooking and cleaning done in those 10-15 minutes! Also a great way to engage with your kids and teach them words, animal noises, colors, and more! The batteries seem to last a while too.
- A Book That has Siblings
Brothers Forever by P.K. Hallinan
This book was a great way to introduce the concept of a little brother to our first born when I got pregnant. It comes in other titles too, including sister, mommy, daddy, and grandparents.
- A Book That Teaches You a Lesson
One might think this book is for older kids, I did too when I first saw it. But our 2.5 year old has read it many times over, sitting patiently through the entire long book and commenting on the characters and their dialogues on every page. The Lorax “speaks for the trees” and teaches us to respect nature and not ruthlessly cut down forests and pollute waters where the Hummingfish swim and the skies where the Swomee Swans sing. Although he is still too young to truly get the deeper message, he enjoys this book greatly.
- A Yellow Colored Book
Big Dog, Little Dog by P.D. Eastman
Another book by one of our favorite children’s writers, this one is a Fred and Ted series book which teaches opposites, and a good introduction to reading. This one is the compact, abridged version. The best use I got out of it was to reinforce to my son why he needs to sleep in his own crib while Mommy and Daddy sleep in the “big bed”, as the book tells him “Big dogs sleep in big beds, and little dogs sleep in little beds”. Ok!
- A Book about Animals/Birds
Again, as I put our collection together, I realized that Dr Seuss has it all – this one is a fun, quirky book with funny illustrations and descriptions which our toddler absolutely loves.
- A Book with Magic
Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
This one is a classic story about a witch who was chased and captured by a dragon but was saved by her friends whom she had allowed to ride with her on her broomstick before it broke. She later gets a new broom from her cauldron by uttering magic spells.
Our son loves to exclaim
“And whoosh – they were gone!”
as we read it.
ADDED BY ASHA: More gems shared by Sreyoshi reading with her boys!
Twenty Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street You can check out Sreyoshi’s read aloud of this book in the kbc fb group here!
[Note from Team Kids Book Café: For your convenience, affiliate links (MARKED IN PINK) to some of the book titles & images have been added to enable you to buy the books from AMAZON, should you wish to! A very small amount of money comes to kidsbookcafe.com when you purchase a book via the amazon affiliate link provided (at absolutely no extra cost to you!). Do let us know if you need information about other children’s books by writing to asha@kidsbookcafe.com.]
