Caroline's Favorite Board Books 12-20 Months

This originally appeared on my old blog. I'm adding it here for consolidation! These books are still much loved nearly a year after this originally posted. :-)

1) Karen Katz: "Where is Baby's...?" Books

These books are bright, simple and have plenty of flaps to lift. (and rip) Gotta hand it to Karen Katz. She found a formula that works and added in every item under the sun including, Where is Baby's....

Valentine?

Beach Ball?

Pumpkin? 

Christmas Present?

And more.

Toddlers love these. 

2) Madeline Board Books

Madeline books are classics, and you can find just a few of them printed as board books.

You can get a little peak of the inside of this book in these pics.

Madeline Loves Animals is so cute and fun. Many one-year-olds can start saying the sounds of the familiar animals in this book.

I actually liked the illustrations in this book so much that for a while I had it displayed on a shelf opened to the page that has a picture of Madeline and her yellow lab. 

3) Les Petits Fairytales

I will always be sentimental about this book, because it was her very first favorite book. She took to it instantly, and this book was our life's obsession from months 8-13. One of Caroline's first 10 words was "girl." because of this book right here. These little board books take the old classics, and add just one to two words per page, such as "girl", "chores", "mean stepsisters", "pumpkin" etc...

They are the cutest little books. You can add on as much or as little to the story as your heart desires. 

As cute as this book is, I did get really tired of it after the 900th time. I tried to hide in many times and Caroline would crawl around the books saying "gurrrl?" until it reappeared. She also went through a phase where she had to rock with it alongside her blankie.

Eventually, we moved into other Fairytales in the series, and they're all so fun to read! These are just adorable, and would make a great little gift for the baby girl in your life!

BabyLit Art

Children's literature illustrations are hands-down my favorite type of art. I think they're magical. One of my favorite children's literature companies is offering tons of awesome prints of their artwork.

When working to decorate Caroline's nursery, and then later her big girl room, I knew I wanted to decorate with some of these illustrations. Maybe another day I'll show you some more of those pics...

(And yes, I would tear apart a book for a picture. Still cheaper than buying a print somewhere else.)

Anyways, I found these precious books from BabyLit. The BabyLit books take an old classic such as Pride and Prejudice and uses it to teach counting. Sense and Sensibility is used to teach opposites. Emma is used to teach emotions, etc.... (Truth be told, my girls don't love to read these books, but I think they are super cute!)

I fell in love with the art in all of these books, but since they were board books I opted not to cut any up to frame the pics. So, I just chose one to leave open face on a shelf:

Cutest little Pride and Prejudice book!!!

My favorite page is the very first one!

I still think the little open book is pretty cute, but if I were doing the girls rooms again, I would probably purchase some of these prints from the illustrator's website.

Aren't these so cute and whimsical?!?! And, they have all kinds of themes that would tie into almost any nursery design whether it be nautical, woodland animals, florals, jungle, travel, pirates, and so on!

I absolutely love these prints...Check out these books or look into buying the prints. Either way, you will enjoy some eye candy with these illustrations.

Favorite ABC Books Volume 1

We are always into ABC Books at our house.

This Play and Learn ABC book might be the greatest value of purchase ever made if you calculate the cost and times read. Honestly, I'm kind of tired of this book, because Caroline's been on a kick with it for 6 months.  However, some of this book's features lend itself to be done independently...

The book features a few textured pictures, flaps to lift, and includes colors and shapes. It's a pretty solid book all around for all of the words you would be working on with a toddler. 

We love our old ABC book, but this next book was too good not to share! I think your kids will love it.... A B See.... Look at that title?! Wish I had come up with it.

The letters are built from pictures of things that begin with that letter. Not only is this book super cute, but it is super awesome for identifying letters, working on words that start with that letter, or simply identifying pictures for toddlers.

And, it's textured which makes it even cooler! (and more appealing for kids!)

Caroline loves looking through each letter and finding all the items she knows. It has been a great carseat read for her. 

Now, a few of the letters have specific animals, plants or objects that were unfamiliar. Thankfully, the back has lists of what each letter is built of in case you need some help. ;-)

Both of these board books would make awesome Christmas gifts for any 1-2 year olds in your life!

Our Favorite Potty Training Books

I originally posted this on my other blog before deciding to consolidate....When I wrote this originally, we had not potty trained. I'm pleased to say that we've now survived potty training our oldest, and these books still remain some of our favorites. ;-)  The rest of the post is still written from our pre-training perspective! 

P is for Potty

Elmo's little potty book provides lots and lots of flaps to lift, which is fun. Caroline has read this book more than any of the others, and I'm glad because it has been my favorite, too. A few reasons why...

-The detailed pictures can allow you to practice identifying TONS of other day to day objects. Lots of things to practice describing under the pictures.

- Albie has an accident in the book, and he isn't shamed. I want her to be aware that accidents happen.

-Elmo appears to be fully potty trained and is successful.

-Baby Jo Jo still wears diapers, and changing her diaper is part of the book. Shows contrast between babies who need diapers, kids who are learning, and kids like Elmo who have pretty much mastered it all.

A Potty for Me (Karen Katz)

Like many Karen Katz books, this book has flaps. It also rhymes, which kids always love. Like the Elmo book, this one also describes having an accident and trying again.

Big Girl Panties

Oh y'all. I hesitate to even post this one, because it says "panties" so.many.times. And, I know what a strong aversion many people have to that word. I get it. It's not my favorite either. However, this book has probably made her more excited about potty training than any of the others. She asks to where the said article of clothing at least 6 times per day. So, if you're looking to pump them up, then this book is great. It could also be a great white elephant gift, so do with it what you choose.

*For reference, I wanted to add that all of these books are board books.

We Love Eric Carle

This post originally appeared on my other blog. I'm slowly working to consolidate the blogs. I have added some updates to the original post! 

Eric Carle books and merchandise have infiltrated our home, and I love it! I've always loved his work. I loved using The Tiny Seed when I taught second grade. I loved doing Eric Carle inspired art projects, and I really thought about doing Pottery Barn Kid's Very Hungry Caterpillar bedding in Caroline's nursery.

I thought I'd share a few favorite Eric Carle items with you!

First of all, I have LOVED The World of Eric Carle and Gymboree line. Here is Caroline sporting her Caterpillar pajamas from winter of 2014. She had mismatched pants in the first pic, but you can see the cute polka dots in the second pic! (Update, Gymboree does not have an Eric Carle line anymore, but I wish they would make more!!!)

Caroline loves this Caterpillar neck pillow.

I found this awesome Eric Carle alphabet canvas at Target. I can't find it on their website right now, but the link above is for the same one at Walmart. I have the "girl" version, but there are other cute versions out there.

So, my genius mom took an early childhood teaching ideal/principle I learned in school and applied it to Caroline's room. In the classroom it is recommended to have many literacy items such as the alphabet or a word wall down on the child's level. I had never thought to hang a canvas like this so low in a bedroom, but it totally works. As you can see below, Caroline at 18 months was already enjoying it! :-) Now, we can actually discuss the letters/animals and use a pointer to tap the peacock, letter o, etc etc. This canvas would be an awesome piece to hang down low in a hallway, playroom, behind a door, etc. (Thanks, mom!!!)

Finally, of course we LOVE to read  many many Eric Carle books! One of our current favorites is From Head to Toe. It is awesome for teaching certain actions + body parts! It is also a great book for working on verb-words with your toddler.

It is also fun to read this book with your toddler/preschooler in front of a mirror so they can watch themselves do the actions!

What are some of your favorite Eric Carle books and Products?

What We're Reading Wednesday- Farm Books!

Like many preschoolers, my daughter loves anything that has to do with farm animals. Over the last couple years we have acquired several farm books that look like this...

This Touch and Feel Farm book is super cheap on Amazon, and it gets the job done. Plus, the high- contrast colors in the pictures are really appealing to babies. 

We've loved this book, and others like it. However, the chick's feathers are getting sticky, and there is definitely spit up on the dog's fur. Also, I'm plain tired of reading it. So, I was thrilled a few weeks ago when Caroline discovered this book on her book shelf...

The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash

Published in 1992, this is an old classic now! It is full of colorful farm animal illustrations. Some of the funniest illustrations include an egg cracking on a girl's head and a pig riding a school bus. Caroline thinks those are the funniest things ever, and I'm pretty excited to be reading her a book with a plot!

I think I remember my third grade teacher using this story for a sequencing lesson, because it is told non-sequentially, and by the end you've gathered the whole picture. It is also full of causes and effects, but for now I'm just enjoying reading the story with Caroline. (Even if it is our 85th time this week. :-))

A few of our other farm-book favorites all come in board book form and are very inexpensive...

Barnyard Dance

The animal sounds are super fun, and it has great rhythm and rhyme.

Big Red Barn

By the author of Goodnight Moon, this book carries a sweet tone, and I swear it could lull me to sleep. It's just a perfect little nighttime read for a farm-loving kid.

Mr. Brown can Moo! Can You?

This old Dr. Seuss favorite is a quick and fun read!

What are your favorite farm books? 

What We're Reading Wednesday-Mickey Edition

We are all-things-Mickey over here lately. (Unless we flip our switch and become All-Things-Paw Patrol...but unfortunately we don't have any Paw Patrol books.) So, as for reading life, we are currently very into Micky Mouse. While these might not win any awards for being stellar works of literature, they hold the attention of my two year old. Here are the four Mickey books we've been wearing out...

I'm Ready to Read with Minnie

We only own one other book that plays animal sounds, but this is our only book that actually reads the whole story. I probably won't invest a ton of money in other books like it, but it is pretty cool that Caroline has figured out how to press the picture that corresponds with each page so that it will read her the story. I also hear her playing with it in her bed in the morning while I continue drinking coffee. I like that. 

Everyone Loves Mickey

This board book gives reasons why each character loves Mickey. I love Mickey, too. However, I don't like how this book yes "yup." It actually spells it "yup." But, Caroline likes it. 

Mickey's Halloween

I bought this book at SAMs right before Halloween, and we are STILL reading it regularly. It was a little cheaper at SAMS, but $8.99 on Amazon Prime is still a great deal on this book! I would highly recommend this one, because there are so many fun things to work on in this book. There are pages of shapes, numbers and colors. You can work on position words, and there are many action words you could work on describing in the pictures. The numerous flaps make it a great car book.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse First Look and Find

This is a really great first "look and find" book. Like the Halloween book, there are tons of things going on in the pictures, so there are many things to discuss and describe. This book has been very well loved!