My brother Peter and his wife have an adorable 14 month-year-old and we’re constantly getting her books. Thankfully, they love reading to her. Peter wrote up the following introduction and compiled the lists below (while at Med School!). It gave me lots of ideas for the next holiday…

Building Your Baby’s Library
Story telling is one of the great cultural universals, a part of the human condition wherein ones role evolves within a lifetime. Perhaps the most important form of storytelling today is reading with children. Reading, particularly goodnight stories, to your young child is a bonding experience that creates a positive bedtime ritual, but more benefits are becoming clear. Starting with books the day they leave the womb is shown to improve language, literacy, and overall cognitive development, prompting pediatricians to prescribe a daily dose of books and initiatives such as Head Start and Reach Out and Read. If you are beginning this journey with your baby, read this resource from the American Academy of Pediatrics. For those lost on where to start building their baby’s library, or for those that don’t want to show up to the next baby shower with the third Where the Wild Things Are gift that day, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite baby books.

*Denotes a Caldecott recipient

Classics
The Snowy Day Ezra Jack Keats, 1962*
The Little Island Leonard Weisgard, 1947*
The Story of Ferdinand Munro Leaf, 1936
MadelineLudwig Bemelmans, 1939
“Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” in The Jungle Book Rudyard Kipling, 1894
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Virginia Lee Burton, 1939
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Bill Martin Jr., 1967
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses Paul Globe, 1979*
The Berenstain Bears (series) Stan & Jan Berenstain, 1962
Just Me and My Dad (Little Critter Series) Mercer Mayer, 1977
A Fish Out of Water Helen Palmer, 1961

New Classics
“More More More,” Said the Baby Vera B. Williams, 1997*
Zen Shorts Jon Muth, 2005*
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Bill Martin Jr., 1989
Barnyard Dance! Sandra Boynton, 1993
This Is Not My Hat Jon Klassen, 2012*
Prince Peter and the Teddy Bear, David McKee, 1997
Stone Soup Marcia Brown, 1997*

Bedtime Stories
Goodnight Moon Margaret Wise Brown, 1947
Sleep Like a Tiger Pamela Zagarenski, 2012*
Night-Night, Forest Friends Annie Bach, 2013
Good Night Lake Adam Gamble, 2008

Too Bizarre, Surreal For Parents (Perfect for Kids)
In the Night Kitchen Maurice Sendak, 1970*
Histoire de Babar Jean de Brunhoff, 1931
George and Martha James Marshall, 1974

Next time: Between the World and Me

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