favorite reads for the first year

Olivia is a little bookworm. The first thing she does in the mornings when she wakes up is sit in her crib and read books. Between a basket of toys and a stack of books, the latter always wins. She so sweetly turns page by page, talks to herself and giggles. I love imagining that she is reading aloud for all to hear. 

One of our favorite things to do during the day together is spend mornings in cozy little book stores looking through all our favorites and finding new ones too. So I wanted to share a list of our favorite reads for the first year. In many of her books, I write a letter inside the front cover to her, sharing a memory, my thoughts or just reminding her what I love most about her. 

A child will never outgrow a story and books will always be in style. Clothes get worn, colors fade; toys may become boring and obsolete. But books, they are always treasured. I still have books from when I was a little girl and love how worn the covers are, how each page sparks a memory of mine from childhood, and how stories and words bring imagination and creativity to life. For us, they are always worth they investment & I especially enjoy shopping at tiny book stores and supporting small businesses.

firefly july | flora and the flamingo

Olivia’s Favorite Picture Books

Flora the Flamingo

Hooray for Hat

Sparky

Gaston

The Day the Crayons Quit

Please Bring Balloons

The Quiet Book / The Loud Book

Tea Rex

what will hatch? | little pear tree | in my tree

Books for Spring

Outside Your Window

What Will Hatch?

The Country Bunny

Marshmallow

Green

Just Ducks!

Inch by Inch

Make Way for Ducklings

Mama Built a Little Nest

outside your window | little owl lost

Books for Summer

Stuck

Ribbit!

The Curious Garden

Firefly July

If You Want to See a Whale

Our Favorite Classic Children’s Books

Madeline

Goodnight Moon

Dear Zoo

Bread and Jam for Frances

Olivia’s Favorite Puzzle + Bath Books

Innovative Kids Soft Shapes Books

ducks | animals | ocean

My Mom gave us "Soft Shapes: ANIMALS" when I found out I was expecting back in September 2012. The Soft Shapes series is made for the bathtub, but Olivia loves them outside of the tub too. They are hands down her favorite books/toys. Each has four shapes inside that fit into a puzzle of sorts with one per page. She loves to take them out and put them back in. After seeing how much she loves them, we gave her DUCKS for her 1st Birthday and then I picked up OCEAN last week. These are so much fun!

Our Favorite Board Books:

Baby Lit Series [TheJungle Book, Anna Karenina, Moby Dick, Romeo & Juliet]

Little Owl Lost

Brown Bear, Brown Bear,What Do You See?

Moo Baa La La La

Each Peach Pear Plum

Jamberry

Best Books for Learning + Interaction:

TouchThinkLearn [by Xavier Deneux]: colors, numbers, opposites, shapes*

1, 2, 3 to the Zoo

Orla Kiely: Colors, Numbers, Shapes, Creatures

Planting a Rainbow

Follow the Line [Counting]

Poke-a-Dot: Old Macdonald's Farm [Counting] 

Little Pear Tree - flaps to lift, simple words

Countablock

numbers | shapes

*I just recently came across these fabulous board books last week and fell in love. I started with numbers and then after seeing how much Olivia loved paging through it and touching each page, I got her shapes. They are filled with raised die cuts that fit into cut outs to teach a child all about each topic. The illustrations are phenomenal & they are unlike any book I've ever seen. V enjoys them so much that I plan to get opposites & colors soon. They are so modern and simple but seem to really get a baby thinking and exploring. Olivia sits in her chair and flips through these and just has a hoot!

Favorite Alphabet Books:

Adventures with Barefoot Critters

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

The Sleepy Little Alphabet

Eating the Alphabet

Alphablock

gaston | adventures with barefoot critters

Our Favorite Bedtime Books

Dream Animals: A Bedtime Journey

Goodmorning, Goodnight! [Touch & Feel]

A Book of Sleep

Little Owl’s Night

Owl Babies

The Cat at Night

What are your child's favorite books?