One year old is such a fun age! At one baby is mobile and always on the move. They are starting to learn words and understand more of what you say, even if they can’t articulate it back yet. They like to discover objects and point to things, “What’s that?!”
At one year baby is discovering his or her favorite books and wants to read them over and over. Repetition is great for speech development, so this is the right time to snuggle up together and read. Here are my favorite books that my daughter and I enjoyed at age one!
The Best Children’s Books for One-Year-Olds
Press Here by Herve Tullet
Press Here is a newer book (February 2019) but it’s on its way to becoming an instant classic. Press Here holds the title of longest-running picture book on the New York Times Bestseller list, and it’s easy to see why! According to the publisher:
“Press the yellow dot on the cover of this interactive children’s book, follow the instructions within, and embark upon a magical journey! Each page of this surprising touch book instructs the reader to push the button, shake it up, tilt the book, and who knows what will happen next!”
What draws children to this book is the interactivity. It’s not just mom or dad reading to you, the child and the parent really get to interact with the book and each other. It’s appealing as it incorporates playtime with book time. This book is great for older toddlers as well, but I would recommend the board book version for any child under two.
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
Guess How Much I Love You is such a popular book right now. Since it was released over 20 years ago it has been translated into over 57 languages and sold over 47 million copies worldwide. This is a classic that every child should have on their bookshelf.
“The tale of the Nutbrown Hares competing to measure their love for one another, and Big Nutbrown Hare’s heart-warming declaration to Little Nutbrown Hare, ‘I love you right up to the moon – and back’, has helped this story become a way of saying ‘I love you’ all over the world.”
The story is heart-warming, but the gentle and calm watercolor illustrations by Anita Jeram really bring the book to life. This is a great bedtime read due to the sweet and quiet illustrations, and small nutbrown hare happily falling asleep by the end of the book.
Hoppity Frog: A Slide-and-Seek Book by Emma Parrish
Ah, Hoppity Frog, my personal nemesis! I am not a fan of most “interactive” slide and seek type books, not because they’re not great books, but because I’m constantly having to rearrange my hand placement on the book. I know that sounds ridiculous but it’s a pet peeve. Reading should be relaxing, not hand gymnastics!
However, I couldn’t leave Hoppity Frog off this list because of how much my daughter adores it. The book leads the reader on a search for Hoppity Frog as they push and pull sturdy sliders on each page. Children love pulling the sliders and uncovering new creatures on their search for Hoppity Frog. This is one of those books your child will want to read over and over (hence the nemesis comment.)
For a more in-depth review of Hoppity Frog, check out my husband’s review from A Dad’s Perspective.
Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss
Fox in Socks was a hand me down from my sister when my nephew outgrew board book style books. It’s a Dr. Seuss book that I hadn’t heard of and I was a little skeptical if my daughter would enjoy it at such a young age. I love Dr. Seuss, but I’ve tried reading his other books like One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and The Cat in the Hat to her, and they were just a little too long and advanced. I assumed that all Dr. Seuss books would be out of her age range until she was 2 or so. Not Fox in Socks! It’s a board book that’s on the medium-small size, perfect for small hands to grasp, and is filled with the lovely rhyming prose that we love Seuss for. The book is pretty nonsensical but the sheer ridiculousness and silly rhyming words are what children love. It’s a tongue twister and a mini-competition between me and my husband who can read it without stumbling! Here’s a snippet from the publisher:
“Dr. Seuss’s Fox in Socks has been troubling tongues—and garnering giggles—since 1965. Written specifically to be read aloud, it features a tricky fox in socks and the progressively more difficult tongue-twisting games he plays on his exasperated friend Mr. Knox. Now available for the first time in an abridged, sturdy, board book edition, this beloved classic will have babies of all ages laughing with—and at—their parents as they struggle, like Knox, to blab such blibber blubber as muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle!”
Goodnight Moon by Margaret wise Brown
A classic bedtime book and childhood favorite! Something about the bright green colors of this book make me feel nostalgic for my childhood. A great visual book, all set in a bunny’s bedroom, but with so many little details and variations on each page. My favorite detail is how the room progressively grows darker page by page as the sun sets and the moon comes out. By the end of the book the moon has fully risen and everyone is peacefully sleeping! A detail I never noticed as a child is a mouse hanging out on every page, looking out the window, warming up by the fire, etc. Once we noticed the mouse it became my daughter’s favorite activity to find the mouse on every page.
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother TOo? by Eric Carle
A baby book list would not be complete without a book from Eric Carle. I love reading this book to my daughter. I’ll ask, “Does a kangaroo have a mother too?” She replies, “No!” (because isn’t that every toddler’s favorite word?) I turn the page and we both say, “Yeeeeesss! A kangaroo has a mother too!”
I like this book for small children because it introduces so many animal mothers and their babies. The end of the book has a little guide about the proper name for each baby animal too.
On the NIght You Were Born by Nancy Tillman
I bought this book because I liked the book cover. It’s two polar bears dancing in the moonlight. Once I read it I discovered it’s an award-winning book and a great story all about the night your baby was born, and how all the world celebrated. There are a couple of instances in the book where you can bond with your child and make the reading more personal (counting fingers and toes, saying their name out loud). This is a good book for ones as they are starting to become self-aware and love reading about themselves.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.
The book is about alphabet letters racing up a coconut tree, trying to all fit on the tree at the same time. What drew me to this book were the bright and beautiful colors. The simple illustrations and cheerful style are very appealing to small children and adults.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is recommended for children ages 1-4, although I would expand that to 0-6. It’s a great way to introduce the alphabet to young ones and start familiarizing them with letters. You can check out a more in-depth review of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom here.
While these books are my recommendations for the best children’s books for one-year-olds, I also want to add that all of them have held up to the test of time and are still in rotation on our bookshelf today. My daughter is almost three and still loves reading her “baby” books!
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