Ten First Books for Babies

Looking for high quality first books that babies and toddlers (and parents too!) will truly love? Here are ten tried and true favorites. All board books because– well, you know what babies are capable of when it comes to paper pages. Any to add? Put them in the comments below!

Ten Wonderful First Books for Your Littlest Loves

1. Found: Psalm 23

This sweet book makes a perfect baby shower gift– Jago’s illustrations are poignant and beautiful (babies especially seem to love the baby lamb!) and the message of hope is just right for sharing with both the littles and the grown ups too, even when things don’t turn out as planned.

2. Global Babies

Stunning photographs of babies all around the world with country names and a simple statement that bears repeating, that babies everywhere are special, beautiful, and loved.

3. My First Baby Signs

Babies love pictures of babies, and these books are great for learning signs to communicate before your baby can talk, and for learning to read words later on.

4. PEEPO! by Janet & Allan Ahlberg

Looks like the American version is called PEEK-A-BOO! but I’m used to PEEPO! A classic– and while babies may not let you read all of the words at first, they’ll love you calling out the catchphrase again and again and sticking their little fingers into the peepholes– while the text gives them room to grow.

5. Where is My House? A Hide-and-Peek Book by Simms Taback

Simple illustration, fun flaps, different animals and houses… add your own animal sounds and the little ones will have you reading it over and over.

6. I am a Bunny by Ole Risom and Richard Scarry

If you do not own a copy of this essential picture book then I must insist that you stop reading immediately and drive to the nearest vintage bookshop (or click the link) and get it for your shelf now. See you soon.

7. Moo Baa La La La by Sandra Boynton

Surely it’s a well known fact that little children and babies alike love their readers making silly sounds, and even the littlest listeners get the humor in this one!

8. Where Is Baby’s Mommy? by Karen Katz

So simple and sweet like all of her books, this one is fun (hide and seek!) and relatable (searching for mommy) and it’s great for fine motor skills and language development too.

9. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury

The illustrations are dreamy and the text is lyrical– chant it or sing it and it’ll be a favorite adventure.

10. Tiny Bear’s Bible

This one takes the board book to a new level– it’s soft and fuzzy, a book you can snuggle! Inside, diverse children and adorable teddy bears and simple truths.

Loved: The Lord’s Prayer

I’m so excited about this new companion to FOUND, another paraphrase from The Jesus Storybook Bible with all new illustrations by Jago. The landscape in the book is based on a place that’s near and dear to my heart and his too (I wrote about it in a devotional for Ann Voskamp’s site here.) And although I didn’t want to include it officially on the list because it hasn’t been tested “in the wild” just yet (release date is September 4!), babies will love the children in this book and what better gift for a new human than a first lesson in how to talk to God.

Happy reading!

-SLJ.

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