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Our top 5 recommendations for Best Books For 1 Year Old
Babies! You’ll be surprised to know how much your little one of just one year can do!
With discovering and learning to interact with people and the environment, there’s so much they have to do. So much function on their little bodies and brains leads babies to be generally tired, making them sleep most of the day (hopefully 😊).
However, a fascinating thing about one-year-old babies is that they are at the right stage to get introduced to early reading ☍.
Many young parents tend to negate early reading because they think kids cannot read and understand a thing on paper at that age anyway. Therefore, they tend to focus more on keeping their child well-fed, rested, and entertained most of the day.
Early reading, however, is a great way to stimulate your child’s quickly developing brain ☍. It is also a fun bonding activity you can engage in with your child, who loves to hang out with you and listen to your voice.
So, if you want to try reading with your one-year-old, you can start with any of the books listed in this article!
Looking for more great book reviews ☍ ? Check out all our articles on this topic.
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Top 10 Best Books For 1-Year-Old Kids
If this is the first time you’re considering buying books for a one-year-old child, you’ll be surprised to know how many books are available for these young readers. Eventually, you can feel as confused as a baby while browsing through the endless options.
Well, don’t you worry because we are here to help you! We have searched, read, and discovered the best books you can add to your one-year-old’s library!
Peek-a Who? By Nina Laden
Peek-a Who? (Lift the Flap Books, Interactive Books for Kids, Interactive Read Aloud Books)
One of the most excellent ways to engage your one-year-old in a book is to have puzzles in it, and that is something Peek-a Who does very well.
This book is ideal for teaching your kids about animal names and appearances without them getting bored.
This book is ideal for any one-year-old’s collection to blend rhyming words, repetitive phrases, and satisfying child-level puzzles.
Not only will your child learn, but you will also enjoy it as you make the sounds from this baby book. But, of course, what’s better is that they might try to imitate you and what’s cuter than a one-year-old making funny noises?
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Colorful book with a variety of pictures of painting to satisfy your child’s visual needs
- Gets the child involved in learning, understanding, and interacting
- Works as a wonderful book for children to learn about animals
On My Leaf by Sara Gillingham
On My Leaf (In My. . .)
Using die-cut pages to grab your child’s attention is a good idea. When a book has die-cut pages, your child gets to explore the textures present in different materials they can touch. On My Leaf is an excellent example of a children’s book made of die-cut pages.
This storybook narrates the tale of a ladybug sitting on a leaf. The bug then tells the readers about seasonal changes such as rain, sun, and winter while it hangs out with its family.
The simple tale aims to teach your kid to enjoy the simplest of things in life while also teaching them about nature.
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Die-cut pages with each leaf having a unique touch to it.
- Beautiful illustration book to create visual intrigue
- Simplistic and moralistic story.
Time for Bed by Mem Fox
Time for Bed
If you like to read your kids to sleep, you will need a book that simplifies the nursing and lulling process. The book Time for Bed by Mem Fox is one such book that will keep your child entertained and encourage them to sleep.
The story involves animals telling small stories and rhymes to their little ones as they fall asleep. Therefore, the writing itself is done in a way that your child will fall right to sleep.
With the soothing design, rhymes, soothingly repetitive text, and parent-child relationships, this is a very affectionate book that every child should experience.
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Beautifully water-colored illustrations
- Encourages the child to sleep with soothing repetitions and rhymes.
- Imparts parent-child affection onto the kids and helps develop empathy.
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My Very First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle
My Very First Book of Numbers
Many people believe they do not need to teach numbers and letters to kids at one year old. However, we beg to differ. Whether your child learns them is secondary as long as learning them is fun and interactive. The primary aim is that you get to spend some time with your child, and they get to explore the world of communication.
Your one-year-old might not be able to grasp counting immediately. But they will be able to identify fruits and correlate them with real-world fruits. However, as they grow older, they will remember and count fruits in white background easy and fun.
The numbers are repeated at two places on the same page in different formats, such as a certain number of boxes, numerals, and text. You can also buy this book in English and Spanish or even the bilingual edition – depending on the language you use the most in your household.
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Helps your child learn to count as well as identifying fruits
- Beautiful fruit illustrations set on a white page allowing easy following
- Comes in a bilingual version
Will You Be My Sunshine (Love You Always) By Julia Lobo
Will You Be My Sunshine (Love You Always)
There is nothing cuter than an adorable story of a child talking to their mom in a storybook. Well, there is, and that is a book of a child telling their mom that they love her. That is the exact type of cuteness you will get when you buy Will You Be My Sunshine for your one-year-old.
This book reiterates the bond the children share with their mother, how they come back to her to brighten things up whenever something is amiss.
It is an incredibly heart-warming book that is not only enjoyable for your child but also for you! It brings together tenderness, empathy, and love and is one of the best books to read to spend some quality time with your one-year-old.
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Repetitive and adorable rhymes to make reading and listening easier for children
- Beautiful depiction of a mother-child relationship.
- Teaches the different weather elements to your child.
Look, Look! By Peter Linenthal
Look, Look!
If you don’t want to buy storybooks for your child just yet, don’t worry, there’s a perfect book out there for you that your one-year-old is going to love. This book is a collection of beautiful illustrations that your child will not get enough of.
From sketches of natural elements, cars, and older babies, any one-year-old will appreciate how pretty this book is. It is sure to drive them to the world of dreams with many creative thoughts in their minds.
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Beautiful pictures your child will enjoy looking at
- Slight textual context to help older kids learn through the pictures
- Evokes creativity and offers better sleep
Little Green Frog by Ginger Swift
Little Green Frog Chunky Lift-a-Flap Board Book (Babies Love)
Interactive reading is always a good idea for a one-year-old. However, if you want your child to get involved in a story while enjoying themselves with the book, Little Green Frog might be the right pick for you.
The book is sturdy yet soft. Therefore, even if a child grabs it and throws a tantrum, they won’t get hurt.
It is an excellent book to explore the life of fish, frogs, turtles, and ducks as everything is so well explored in the book. The book is also great for helping your child learn some communication skills through graspable and straightforward dialogues.
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Extremely intriguing drawings and pictures keep your child fascinated for a long time.
- Interactive reading to engage their mids better.
- Helps build strong motor skills with the help of sturdy flaps
Clap Hands (Oxenbury Board Books)
One of the best things about books for one-year-olds is that you more or less instill enhanced language skills when you read them to your child. Your child gets to learn communication from day-to-day interactions and from what the book has to say.
Since this is a board book, you might want to be careful about your child holding it by themselves. However, the same board book structure also helps toddlers develop fine motor skills and grip.
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Allows one-year-olds to see children like them playing
- Engaging rhyming patterns and poetry
- A heavy board book that will last a long time and will help children develop a firm grip.
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes padded board book
One of the best things that make books suitable for one-year-olds is rhyming. Repetition and pictures act as a cherry on the top because they allow your child to feel drowsy. That is why many people prefer reading a book to their toddlers right before nap or bedtime.
This book helps the young child to discover their little hands and feet through the illustration by Oxenbury. The pictures are very attractive and will keep your ten-year-old involved for a long time.
The best thing about this book is that it promotes diversity by adding illustrations of children from diverse backgrounds. Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes is the ode of lovable children around the world and indeed something your children should be exposed to.
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Hight quality watercolor illustration
- Involves rhythmic patterns and repeated words to lull your child to sleep
- Promotes diversity through thoughtful illustrations
Where Is Baby’s Belly Button by Karen Katz
“Where are baby’s eyes? Under her hat!”
Where Is Baby's Belly Button? A Lift-the-Flap Book
Do you want to teach your child more about their body parts and have an excellent bonding time with them simultaneously? This book begins with a baby getting asked where his eyes are. With just a lift of the flap, your child will know the answer. The book then asks where the baby’s nose, lips, and belly-button are.
It is the perfect book for the parents and their one-year-old children because it allows you to indulge with your child and help them learn things that they have to learn eventually.
A good thing about this book is that it has a very easy-to-lift flap that allows your one-year-old to develop strong motor skills. However, you can also buy this book on hardcover if you do not want a board book.
Why Should Your One-Year-Old Care?
- Colorful and beautiful illustrations to help your child learn about their body.
- Allows for a good bonding time between parents and children and will definitely lead to a fun giggle time.
- The baby book illustrations help your child connect with the book in a closer manner.
Frequently Asked Questions
We don’t mean to extend the time you spend on your phone and eventually postponing your toddler’s nap time. However, we also do not want to leave you with a looming question. So, we’ll quickly answer some of the most frequently asked questions on the Internet regarding the best books for one-year-olds.
How do you read books to one-year-old kids?
As babies begin to grow into toddlers, they grow an affinity towards interacting with things around them through touch and visuals. Most baby books are, anyway, more graphics and feel than text.
Books for one-year-olds do have a storyline. However, that is not their primary purpose. Instead, they aim to entertain kids while giving them something to learn and think about.
If you’re taking care of a one-year-old, you can start by sitting close to them and holding the book near them. Allow the child to touch, hold, and play with the book. However, never leave it from your grip and attract the child’s attention to your voice and the visuals on the book.
Even if the toddlers do not understand the story, they will think about the time they spent with you and the interactive lessons they learned through the books.
Should I read my one-year-old?
The answer to this question is very simple – yes!
Believe it or not, studies suggest that children can learn how to read at three months of age. Reading is beneficial in multiple ways to humans of all ages. One-year-olds should not be deprived of those benefits and enjoyment.
Reading to your one-year-olds is an excellent way to bond with them as they listen to your voice narrating numerous stories coming to life in front of their eyes.
The more you read to your baby, the more they are going to benefit. However, that does not require you to squeeze in reading three books a day. This will only bore your toddler. Instead, you can read as much as you can and have your child entertained and stimulated by the additional activity of reading!
What should I start teaching my one-year-old?
When your child is just growing up ad turns on-year-old, there is so much for them to learn!
While the world will always have something to learn, reading their books and giving them the appropriate learning and fun tools is a great idea.
Here are a couple of things you can teach your child when they turn one:
Different colors and their names
Different body parts
Adjectives – whether a chair, for example, is big, small, green, or yellow.
Small but essential words – you can copy the words they use to denote certain things and reiterate their understanding of that person, object, or adjective.
Acceptable and unacceptable behaviors
Movement
Touch and feelings
What entertains a one-year-old?
One is an extremely young age for a child to not find everything around them fascinating. However, it takes very little to entertain a one-year-old as long as you pay enough attention and give them lots to play with.
Mental and physical stimulation are the most beneficial and entertaining for a one-year-old.
Therefore, the best way to keep them entertained is by handing them things they can hold. It is best to look for safe objects and surfaces that they have not sensed before – such as velvet or fur surfaces.
You can also keep your one-year-old entertained by showing them shiny and interactive pictures in books. Of course, making impressions and showing them new things is also great. The good thing is that most things that allow toddlers to learn are the ones that keep them entertained all day.
Before We Proceed To Wonderland…
Are you excited to read to your one-year-old? Well, trust us when we say that this excitement is not futile, and if you act on it, you will be more than glad that you did.
Reading to your one-year-old will help you see long-term positive effects on your child’s personality, creativity, and ability to learn. Moreover, it is also likely to strengthen your irreplaceable bond.
More likely than not, early reading will make your kids want to continue reading as they grow and turn out to be the bright leaders of tomorrow! Who knows how an action can make a difference in several lives? We’d suggest you prefer taking action and understanding rather than not taking action and never knowing the possible benefits.
So, do you think you’re ready to take out about fifteen minutes for your and your child’s busy schedule? All of the books listed in this article assure to bring a lot of joy and fascination into your baby’s life.
