If there’s anything we do, it’s a lot of research. This list of 21 must own baby books has been curated after days of scrutiny. We combed through our personal collection, read countless Amazon reviews, talked with other parents, pulled from library shelves (a great resource!), sourced teacher recommendations, dug through blogs and forums.
In short, if you own these 21 books – or even half of them – your babies’ library is off to an excellent start.
Is every book listed here perfect for everyone? Maybe not. In fact, we included one book that drives us nutty. But, since everyone else seems to love it we wanted to squash our harsh negativity and give you the chance to love it too. (We’ll let you know what book it is below.)
When possible, we have linked to the Board Book version being sold on Amazon.com.
So, here they are, MostRoyal’s 21 Must Own Baby Books:
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Let’s be honest, as a parent you are required to own this one. This is a no brainer. It defines the entire genre and with good reason. The story has a nice flow, the illustrations don’t grow tiresome and best of all it works great as a bedtime book. I personally like all the little details. For example, check out the clock. According to the watch face it takes this kid two hours to fall asleep! …I can relate to that.
Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
A story that relies heavily on its illustrations, and doesn’t disappoint! The rambunctious gorilla sneaks away the keys from his zookeeper and silently releases the other animals of the zoo from their cages as he says goodnight to each. All of the animals then follow Mr. Zookeeper home for the night. This is a book that is wonderful to share with your newborn and your toddler.
Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? A Lift-the-Flap Book by Karen Katz
This is a cute lift-the-flap book for toddlers, helping to teach body parts and concepts such as “behind the cup.” As with most lift-the- flap books our son loves to be involved in lifting the pages to reveal the babies’ belly buttons and mouths, etc. The illustrations are colorful and cute, and our son loves to find our belly buttons now and point his out too. I look forward to him growing with this book for many more months.
Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book by Rod Campbell
This book is really cute. It’s about a child looking to find his perfect pet, so he writes to the zoo and they keep sending him different animals. Some are too big, some are too tall, etc. Finally they send him the perfect pet that he decides to keep. Someday maybe our son will get one too!
Guess How Much I Love You by by Sam McBratney
Okay, this is the one book we can’t stand. To be fair, the story is super cute and the illustrations are very well done. My complaint is in the author’s decision to write out the characters names in full each time they speak. Saying “Big NutBrown Hare” and “Little NutBrown Hare” doesn’t roll off my tongue. (My mom also can’t stand it and had to switch to a different book midway.) That said, this book comes up time and time again in lists, reviews and discussions of great baby books. It came up A LOT. So, maybe it’s right for you. Just not me.
Pat the Bunny (Touch and Feel Book) by Dorothy Kunhardt
This is the classic interactive touch and feel book for kids. Main characters Paul and Judy can do all kinds of things, and they invite your little one to do the same. Children love the interactive nature of this book and enjoy doing the activities along with Paul and Judy. One word to the wise, it is recommended that you do not purchase the plastic comb bound version of this book, as children can very easily pull it apart. Why anyone would bind a children’s book with a plastic comb binding is beyond me… This is a cute book for kids and a must have for any library. Your children will be playing with it for a long time.
Peek-A Who? by Nina Laden
A colorful and surprising peek-a-boo book for little ones, this colorful book has an animal hiding behind cut out pages allowing your little one to anticipate the turn of each page. With colorful illustrations and rhyming text, this book will keep your child entertained every time you read it, and for some that could be multiple times a day!
A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
Really cute and straightforward illustrations are paired with a wonderful story of four creatures who start out having a bad day. Everything turns around for the characters and in the process they learn that life will get better. Essentially a, “Don’t cry over spilled milk” message that kids can easily understand.
Black on White by Tana Hoban
No words. Iconic images. Simple, strong, and oddly interactive as the work is on you and your child to point to the illustrations, talk together and bond as a family. The others in the series are very popular too, but this one stands out as the best after researching the general consensus.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle
Iconic illustrations by Eric Carle are paired with a nice rhythmic text from Bill Martin. This book is part of themed series, each starting with a different bear (Baby Bear, Polar Bear & Panda Bear). We find Brown Bear to be the strongest of the set. This book is also a good reason to do some research before buying. We had picked up another book by Eric Carle assuming it would be just as good. Nope! So it’s best to stick with this series and one other listed below.
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
Everyone needs a good counting book. “Five Monkeys” provides that with a nice lyrical text, charming illustrations and a great ending. In short, the story is that Momma tries to put the monkey children to bed, they start to jump on the bed when she leaves, someone falls off and hurts themselves and she tries all over again. I won’t give away the ending but it’s very cute.
I Kissed the Baby! by Mary Murphy
Much like Black on White, this book is filled with illustrations utilizing contrast and well placed color. As a result this makes for a great infant experience. The story builds as the barnyard animals all ask about the newly born baby duckling. This one is filled with a sweet tenderness that parents and children will enjoy.
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
This one will give you a serious case of “The Feels.” The tender text starts with, “”I’ll love you forever. I’ll like you for always. As long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.” This book may put a lump in your throat and tears on your shirt as you think about your own parents and begin to understand how the love you feel for you own child was first felt by them for you. Highly recommended.
Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton
Selecting a single book by Sandra Boynton is a difficult task. Her works come up all the time in “best of” lists. You can’t go wrong with Moo Baa La La La. Beyond this perennial favorite we personally like the silly Hippos Go Berserk!, the beautiful message of Happy Hippo, Angry Duck and our bedtime standard The Going-To-Bed Book (read our full review).
On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
This book articulates many of the emotions a parent feels for their child without becoming too saccharin. There is a great magical quality to the illustrations – although sometimes the “composited in photoshop” look feels a little strong for me. This book makes a great present for new parents and would make a fantastic addition to any baby shower gift. Another popular Tillman book is The Crown on Your Head, for which we wrote a full review.
Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett
A delightful book tacking concepts about shapes, colors and sequences. The entire text is made up of only 5 words (4 in the title) so you can imagine the creativity involved in telling this story. A very clever book that will make you laugh.
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Design! OMG. The design and illustrations are just fantastic. The text lives up to the challenge with a great rhythmic pulse and playful vibe telling the story of a young child waking up to find freshly fallen snow and his adventure exploring. This book was also the 1963 Caldecott Medal winner.
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury and Michael Rosen
One of the best parts of researching this article was finding this book. I had never heard of it before. I know what you’re thinking, “Well this can’t really be about a bear hunt.” Nope, it is. The story is based on an old camping chant/song and it’s a playful romp as a father and his four children go trekking through vistas in search of a bear, find it, and then get chased all the way back home. A great read-aloud book.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
This is the most popular book by Eric Carle and there is little question why. The very hungry caterpillar eats his way through the pages of the book in bright bold colors. Also, kids seem to love butterfly metamorphosis stories. So, start with the best.
Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? by Dr. Seuss
You need to have some Dr Seuss! This board book has an excellent text that’s full of silly sounds. This will be something your child will want you to read for many years and eventually they will want to read it out loud themselves. A classic.
Munch! by Matthew Van Fleet
Yes! Yes, just buy this one. We love this book so much we wrote an entire review about it. Our kid loved this the first time we read it when he was just a few months old. Not only has the story held up, but his enjoyment continues to deepen as he has grown older and begins to explore the tactile elements. Of all the Matthen Van Fleet books (and they are all worth owning) I also think this one has the strongest writing. Great rhythm to the words and a super fun read!