Hellobee

Now that Charlie is 2 1/2 and has long outgrown his book chewing stage, we enjoy reading regular books together. We still read some of our favorite board books, but he really enjoys longer stories now. Charlie really gets into the stories and has memorized many lines from most of his favorite books. He particularly likes rhyming books, and his favorite books always have beautiful illustrations.

You can find part one of Charlie’s favorite board books here, part 2 follows below, as well as a third guide on his current favorite non-board books. Hopefully our favorites will help you create your own library of beloved books! Charlie’s appetite for books has only increased with time, and that’s something we definitely plan on encouraging.

1) The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear – Charlie still enjoys the simple tale of a mouse who is trying to hide a freshly picked strawberry from a hungry bear. I think Charlie enjoys this book so much because the illustrations are so beautiful, it’s easy to follow along with the story even if you can’t read.

2) We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – We’ve had this book since Charlie was a baby, but I didn’t get into reading it until Charlie was around 18 months old because there is quite a bit of text. It’s so much fun to read for adults and kids alike, and there is a lot of repetition which is great for helping little ones learn. The adventures in this book are also fantastic to reenact. This book is definitely a classic that every kid is sure to love.

3) Goodnight, Gorilla – There is very little text in this book, but it’s beautifully illustrated. It’s fun to make up your own story about the mischievous gorilla that lets all the animals out of their cages at the zoo and leads them into the zookeeper’s bedroom.

4) Dear Zoo – This lift and flap book was recently made into a movie with Matt Damon and Scarlett Johanssen. It’s a great first book about animals for the under 2 1/2 crowd.

5) Yummy Yucky – This book by Leslie Patricelli lists something that’s yummy on one page and something yucky on the opposite page. It was surprisingly helpful in teaching Charlie what things he could and couldn’t put in his mouth. I think Charlie might be a little too old for her books now, but there are several other great opposite books like Yummy Yucky by the same author.

6) That’s Not My Monster – This touch and feel book doesn’t have that much text, but Charlie adores touching all the different textures on each page. There are many other books in this series, including That’s Not My Puppy, Pony, Monkey, Dinosaur, Train, Car, etc.

7) Peek a Who? – This book is very simple with very little text — a cut out shows a little peek of something that makes a sound that rhymes with “who.” Charlie loves the rhymes, and by now he’s memorized what’s on the next page, but he loves the sound effects I make when I read this book.

8) Eric Carle Animal Flashcards – I love to give these beautiful animal flashcards as gifts. Children are usually already familiar with the illustrations because of Eric Carle’s many popular books.

9) Baby Einstein Alphabooks – Charlie was obsessed with these books for the longest time from the age of 1 on, and they really helped him learned a lot of his first words.

10) My First Words Touch and Feel Picture Cards – We also have the animals and transportation series in these flashcards, but there are a couple of cards that overlap in the first words and transportation series. All the cards have textures that children can touch. Charlie loved flashcards much more than those my first words books because he could play with the individual cards. It’s amazing just how quickly he learned every single word on these cards!

At 30 months of age, these are Charlie’s favorite books. He requests them by name every night.

1) Olivia – Charlie is obsessed with Olivia right now. He builds sand castles like Olivia, paints like Olivia, wears stripes like Olivia. He talks about her all the time. It’s stunningly illustrated, and I would love to add more books in the Olivia series to our library.

2) How Rocket Learned to Read – This is Charlie’s favorite book right now. We received it as a gift and I thought that he might be too young for it because it’s definitely the longest book we own. But Charlie loves the story, can recite several parts of the book, adores the illustrations, and best of all, it’s a book about learning how to read.

3) The Big Book of the Berenstain Bears – Charlie loves this book perhaps because it has 5 stories in one, and he can never get enough of us reading to him. Mr. Bee said to Charlie recently, ” I’m Papa Bear and you’re Charlie Bear.” Charlie responded, “We not bears! We people!”

4) Trains, Cranes, and Troublesome Trucks – If you have a Thomas fan, this is a wonderful book. It uses a lot of repetition and rhyming, and Charlie has almost the entire book memorized.

5) Corduroy – We received this classic book from the Imagination Library, and now whenever Charlie sees a button, he says, “Just like Corduroy.”

6) 10 Little Rubber Ducks – I got this book a while back because Charlie has always loved ducks. But there is a surprise at the end of this book (a button you press that makes a squeaking sound) that makes this book extra special.

7) Read to Tiger – This is another book we received from the Imagination Library. Charlie loves the fun sound effects we make when we imitate the tiger riding a train or doing karate. And I love that it’s a book about reading.

8) I am a Rainbow – This is another Imagination Library book that teaches emotions through the colors of the rainbow.

9) Prince of the Potty – We received this as a gift, and it really helped Charlie understand wearing underwear vs. diapers and using the potty. This book definitely gets him excited about using the potty, and he calls himself the prince of the potty.

10) Llama Llama Red Pajama – We received this as well as Llama Llama Mad at Mama from the Imagination Library. I like reading this book before bedtime because it’s a story about going to bed.

As far as other classics, I bought a big batch of used Dr. Seuss books, but Charlie isn’t really into them. I think a book has to have great illustrations for Charlie to really love a book, and he can’t figure out the illustrations in Dr. Seuss’ books. I really want to add some more books to Charlie’s library because we haven’t purchased anything in the past year. The Imagination Library has really been wonderful because we receive a great age-appropriate book each month. But when I see just how much Charlie is learning from his books, it makes me think that we can never have enough!

What books has your LO been loving lately?