Go-To Baby Shower Gifts

I love to give books as gifts to children of all ages, but I especially love books as baby shower gifts. It has been said over and over again, but it’s worth mentioning, reading to children is one of the best ways to help them develop language, empathy, and a life-long love of learning. Whether you read to them before nap time, bedtime, snack time, play time, or take them to your favorite local library for Story Time, reading to children should be a part of their everyday schedule.

When they’re still infants, you can get away with any picture book that is bright, colorful, and tells any story that interests the parents. It’s not until they develop their little grabby hands that you need to switch over to durable board books, and luckily many picture books are offered in board book formats.

Many of my go-to authors write humorous stories that are just as much fun for adults as they are for children. Not going to lie, if a book has dinosaurs or vegetables in underpants, it’s an automatic buy for me. In fact, the board book Vegetables in Underpants is my most checked-out board book at the Library.

The Baby Loves Science! series from Ruth Spiro is fantastic. It covers topics like thermodynamics, gravity, green energy, and coding. Very bright illustrations and simple language introduce young children to the science around us.

From the Publisher: Accurate enough to satisfy an expert, yet simple enough for baby, this book explores the basics of particle physics and chemistry – quarks, protons, neutrons, atoms and molecules – and ties it all to baby’s world. Beautiful, visually stimulating illustrations complement age-appropriate language to encourage baby’s sense of wonder. Parents and caregivers may learn a thing or two, as well!

With tongue firmly in cheek, the Baby Loves Science series introduces highly intellectual science concepts to the littlest learners.

Ame Dyckman writes hilarious children’s stories and Wolfie the Bunny is one of my favorites. Great illustrations and fast moving story make for enjoyable reading for everyone.

From the Publisher: The Bunny family has adopted a wolf son, and daughter Dot is the only one who realizes Wolfie can--and might--eat them all up! Dot tries to get through to her parents, but they are too smitten to listen. A new brother takes getting used to, and when (in a twist of fate) it's Wolfie who's threatened, can Dot save the day?

Mo Willems, author of the Pigeon books, Elephant and Piggie, and the Knufflebunny series is back with a new gang of characters-Squirrels! I Lost My Tooth! is brand new and hilarious. I just used this one for storytime and the kids loved it! The oldies-and-definitely-goodies Elephant and Piggie are also excellent choices for little ones. They’re silly but kind, funny but teach a great lesson on friendship.

Ryan T. Higgins has created one of my absolute favorite characters-Bruce. Bruce is grumpy, likes to be alone, and loves to cook. Unfortunately for his, his gourmet goose eggs hatched and he’s now the not-proud mother to 3 geese. A colorful cast of woodland creatures enter Bruce’s life and he deals with it all in the grumpiest way ever. The illustrations are incredible and the stories are fantastic. So far, there’s four picturebooks in the series and at least one board book.

I was lucky enough to hear Dan Santant speak at the Illinois Reading Council’s conference just this month. Not only is he super funny, he’s an extremely talented illustrator. He has a newer book out, Drawn Together, that I highly recommend for grade school age children. After the Fall is all about how Humpty Dumpty fell and then got back up again in the most amazing way. It’s just beautiful to look at and adults will love the new twist at the end.

Do you have any books that you love to share with children? Share your favorites in the comments!