Building a Board Book Library

This post brought to you by the fact that my brother and SIL are expecting a baby this summer! So I’ve got board books and early literacy on the brain (even more than usual).

Reading aloud to and with kids is something you can do from Day 1. Start early and make it part of your day, every day, as part of the five practices that build early literacy skills: talking, singing, reading, writing, and playing. Board books are an excellent way to start: they’re small, sturdy, and designed to appeal to babies and their caregivers. Some are wordless (like Tana Hoban’s Black & White books), some rhyme, some have tactile elements that invite touch (like the “That’s Not My…” series). Whether you’re looking to build a board book library of your own, looking for board books to gift, or wondering which board books to borrow from the library, here’s a place to start.

Right off the bat, let’s assume everyone is familiar with a handful of classics: Cover image of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and Lois Ehlert

And then there is the Queen of the Board Books, Sandra Boynton. Her rounded characters are gentle and funny and her rhymes are easy to memorize. Here are my favorites of hers:

Happy Hippo, Angry Duck: A Book of Moods
But Not the Hippopotamus
Hippos Go Berserk
Belly Button Book

Developmentally, babies’ vision isn’t perfect when they’re born, so high-contrast art is good. They are also interested in faces, and especially if babies are being raised in a homogenous society, becoming familiar with diverse faces from an early age is important. With that in mind:

Tana Hoban’s Black & White books
I Kissed the Baby by Mary Murphy
Why the Face by Jean Jullien
Global Babies
First 100 Words by Roger Priddy

As babies begin to learn that their arms and hands are part of their bodies, they start to reach for stuff and explore the world that way (i.e. by putting it in their mouths). Will some flaps get ripped, will some corners get chewed? Absolutely. These board books are interactive and hands-on:

Where is Baby’s Belly Button? by Karen Katz
Peek-A-Who by Nina Laden
Press Here / Mix It Up / Finger Worms by Herve Tullet
TouchThinkLearn by Xavier Deneux (Shapes, Numbers, Colors, Farm)
Cook in a Book by Lotta Niemenen (Pizza, Tacos, Cookies, etc.)
That’s Not My… (Dinosaur, Dragon, Pony, Puppy, etc.)
Flora and the Ostrich by Molly Idle

One language is good, two (or more) languages are better! Teaching babies a few signs can be incredibly useful for communication, and helpful in reducing frustration, even if you aren’t fluent in ASL.

Alma, Head to Toe by Juana Martinez-Neal (bilingual, Spanish/English)
My First Baby Signs by Lee Ann Steyns and Julia Seal
The ABCs of Baby’s Needs by Loris Lora

A few more to know, just because! Several of these authors and author/illustrators publish full-size picture books as well, so even when babies outgrow board books, they can move right up to picture books with familiar styles.