Top 10 Board Books for Toddlers

Babies and young toddlers enjoy books, but the pages are easily torn. Fortunately, there are many wonderful “sturdy” board books with thick cardboard pages that are easy for little fingers to turn without tearing them.

Young children have a short attention span, so when you read to them—or talk to them about the pictures—they may not be able to sit and pay attention long enough to finish a book.  Let your child be your guide to how long you spend with a book.  If he/she loses focus, stop reading and come back to the book later.

Not all books need to be “read” to a child.  Many of them can be used to teach your toddler colors and counting or to talk to your child about things in the world around us. It is difficult to narrow down to a short list, but here are my favorites, plus, I’ve included a set of sturdy and colorful animal flash cards by author Eric Carle that your children will enjoy.

1.  Go, Dog. Go!   (P.D. Eastman) 2.  Big Dog…Little Dog   (P.D. Eastman) 3.  Good Night, Little Rabbit   (J.P. Miller) 4.  Babies   (Gyo Fujikawa) 5.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar   (Eric Carle) 6.  The Best Mouse Cookie   (Laura Numeroff) 7.  I’ll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words   (Michael Frith) 8.  Cars and Trucks from A to Z   (Richard Scarry) 9.  Color Book   (Richard Scarry) 10. Tails (Matthew Van Fleet) Plus: Animal Flash Cards   (Eric Carle)

This website shows you how to make your own sturdy books:  http://www.ehow.com/how_7715359_make-book-thick-cardboard-pages.html