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!

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!

What We're Reading Wednesday- Highlights for Toddlers

This post originated on my other blog before the consolidation...At the time, Caroline was reading Hello Highlights non-stop. Now, Molly Kate is the one loving these! :-) 

Highlights magazines always makes me think of a pediatrician's office. I loved highlights as a kid, but I had no idea they have a toddler version until my aunt ordered them for Caroline's first birthday last year.

Hello Highlights have become one of our favorite things. Caroline has had at least one of these read to her every single day for the last 9 months. She does not tire of them. And they are ALL OVER our house.

So here are some of the details:

*Geared toward ages 0-2
*16 pages
*It's smaller, has durable, wipeable pages, rounded corners
* Includes short stories, simple to-the-tune-of songs, poems, and the ole highlights "Find It" section
*Pictures tend to have lots of colorful objects for words you would be working on with your 1 year old.
*Filled with little parent tips for other ideas for using the magazine to further their language and literacy.

***Bonus, these are small and fit great in a diaper bag or purse, unlike bulky board books you normally use for toddlers. Great for traveling when you're short on space.

*****Bonus bonus, we have traveled with these, slept with them, spilled milk on them, etc. They have survived a lot, which I'm thankful for, because as Caroline outgrows them later, Molly Kate will still be able to enjoy them!

She has to sleep with one every night.

Caroline LOVES the find it page. We got the latest one in the mail last week.

She is currently 22 months. When we first got these, I would have her "point to the slide, point to the dog," etc.... Now, I just ask her what she sees on the page and she will tell me every word she knows. Now we are trying to add in shapes, size words, position words, etc. 

I think these are great for language development in toddlers. For about $40 you get 12 of these. I feel like I'm going to say this a lot on this blog, but I really think these would be an amazing Christmas or Birthday gift.

I'll leave you with a little video of my Billy Ray Cyrus Baby in mismatched pajamas. In this video she was 16 months. It is hard to tell, but she starts out "reading" a page that had a story, then she breaks into singing when she turns to the page with a song. 

I hope you all check out these awesome little magazines!