The best books for babies and toddlers

The benefits of reading to children from a young age are well known, from helping parents and babies to bond, to contributing to improving language skills and preparing children to start reading alone. But what to look for in a baby book?

Firstly, babies and toddlers won’t just look through a book, they’ll chew it, drop it and cover it with sticky fingerprints, so the best baby books come in a durable format! For very young children, board and cloth books are perfect to explore independently without fear of ripped pages.

Secondly, the best books for toddlers have bright, simple illustrations that little ones will recognise, and interactive elements such as lift-the-flaps and different textures to touch to keep young children engaged. Here, we’ve put together a selection of books that children from newborns to toddlers are sure to love.

Discover all our baby and toddler books here.

 

Soft baby books

Dear Zoo Snuggle Book

This super-soft cloth book comes in a beautiful gift box, and is based on Rod Campbell's bestselling Dear Zoo. All the animals from the zoo are here, from the elephant who is too big to the elephant who is too tall. Can little readers find the perfect pet?

 

My First London Bus Cloth Book

A very soft, very cuddly washable cloth book for babies all about London. My First London Bus has bright, simple illustrations and features a red London bus with tactile crinkly wheels on the cover. This book is makes a great gift for developing and growing babies.

 

Baby touch and feel books

Bear's Bedtime

This highly tactile, chunky board book has wobbly eyes to rattle and two furry ears with a crinkly fabric to touch. Babies will love spotting the familiar bedtime objects as bear gets ready to go to sleep.

 

Park

Take a trip to the park in this fantastic new touch and feel book for babies aged six months or older. Feel the texture through the hole, then lift the flap to discover the animal or object behind. With something to spot or count on every page, this first colourful book helps to develop your baby’s sensory awareness.

 

Fluffy Chick

This farm animal story book from Dear Zoo creator Rod Campbell is full of different touch and feel textures on every page. Follow the chick around the farm and meet all the animals, stroke the wooly lamb, feel the cow's smooth horns and lift the flap to find ou who is hiding under mother hen's wing!

 

Interactive baby and toddler books

Say Hello to the Gruffalo

The perfect introduction to the Gruffalo, Say Hello to the Gruffalo has chunky board pages and interactive peepholes through which you can meet the much-loved characters from the deep dark wood. Bright colours and Axel Scheffler’s instantly recognisable illustrations provide hours of entertainment for babies. 

 

Brilliant Bugs

Explore a forest, a pond and the steamy jungle in the latest book in our popular First Explorers series for children aged one to four. Each scene has chunky push, pull and slide mechanisms for little hands, creatures to spot and fun facts to learn. Beautifully illustrated, this book encourages gentle early learning.

Baby and toddler books for bedtime

 

Looking for your next adventure?

Discover the next great story to spark the imagination of your little reader with our dedicated children's books newsletter.

Read our privacy notice to find out how we hold and use your personal information.

You can unsubscribe at any time.