We all understand the importance of reading aloud to our children from infancy: cognitive and language development, increased attention span, vast vocabulary, emotional intelligence…
The best way to do it? Start reading to your kids ASAP.
To make it easy, we’ve compiled the best books for kids so you don’t have to read about reading anymore. You can skip the research and go directly to reading to your kids.
All of these books support positivity, empathy and kindness. This list contains books without any negative connotations, inappropriate subject matter or questionable messaging so that you can feel confident picking up any of these and reading it to your young child’s impressionable mind!
All of these books are from Amazon, they all have a 4+ rating and most are available through Prime!
We start with board books for babies and toddlers, and then move on to books for preschoolers & kindergartners, so if you have kids in the older age bracket, feel free to skip the first few.
Here we go –
Editor’s Note: Also check out our gift guides!
Board Books for Babies & Toddlers
The Monster at the End of This Book
A tiny board book version but with all the same action. Get in touch with your sillier self and your child will be begging for more! An innocent Grover is trying to convince you, the reader, not to keep turning pages with a “love yourself” message as the sweet ending.
Press Here
Moo Baa La La La
Little Blue Truck’s Christmas
I Love You to the Moon and Back
The Going to Bed Book
Goodnight Moon
Very Busy Spider
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Baby University
Bright and Early Board Books by Dr. Seuss
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site & Steam Train, Dream Train
Busy Noisy Farm
A story, farm animals, simple counting and buttons to push = a toddler’s dream come true!
First 100 Words
Brightly colored with great photos, this is the ultimate way to introduce common words to your baby and toddler.
Corduroy
The Napping House
One Love
What a Wonderful World
Welcome Little One
Llama Llama Little Library Collection
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Big Red Barn
Where is Baby’s Belly Button?
Babies in the Forest
All the World
Peek-a-Who? (Lift a Flap)
Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night?
Room on the Broom
Not just a board book–there are slides, flaps and other maneuverable parts in this fun story. This is an abridged version for babies and is not the full book version.
Poke-A-Dot: Wheels on the Bus Wild Safari
Some toddlers, like mine, are squirmy and won’t sit down to read a book with me. This is the one where he WILL! Because of the snappy buttons (they pop back and forth), he loves poking as I count and read. It’s like an introduction to fidgets and reading all-in-one.
Little Blue Truck Leads the Way
A nice spin-off of the original. This is a bigger board book and the story follows little Blue in the city encouraging everyone to be patient and nice to one another.
Barnyard Dance
This book is FUN. If you have any kid from 0-5, this is a great book to read, sing and dance along to.
Nature Friends Lift-a-Flap Board Book Set
This four book set is big and the flaps are chunky so babies can be rough with them. Four nice stories about animals, bees and the high seas!
Everything is MAMA
There are only a few words in this book, and half of them are “Mama!” Mama is trying to teach baby new words, but baby just keeps calling for Mama. It’s cute with nice images, but don’t expect a story line.