g's top 10 (or 11) fav-o-rite books

G around 13 months

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said that G loves to read. And by loves, I mean sometimes he's seriously obsessed. Like, if you don't read this book to him right now, he's gonna hurl it at your face. And then bitch you out. And then go get another book, jerk.

G has 30-40 board books that we keep on low shelves in his room. He has access to these books whenever he wants, and usually he'll go after them at least twice a day. Those are the times he asks us to read to him, and that doesn't involve the times he flips through the books on his own or the times we use them as distraction when he's in tantrum mode.

Sometimes I hate talking about how much my kid loves to read because I don't want to seem like I'm bragging. But with G, reading is just a normal thing to do. And his English major nerd mama couldn't be happier. We always made a point of reading to him several times a day as a baby. I guess something stuck.

Anyway, this post isn't about his love of reading but rather his favorite books. We generally let him pick the books to read, though sometimes I'll prod him to read new ones or my own favorites. I thought I'd make a list of G's favorite board books. Keep in mind this doesn't include any of his favorite non-board books, such as an Alice in Wonderland pop-up book that makes his little heart swoon.

In no particular order, here are Grayson's top 10 okay, so 11 favorite board books.

My Many Colored Days
by Dr. Seuss

It's been read so many times, our copy is worn and falling apart. G loves the bright colors and short rhymes on each page. It's also the inspiration for this blog's name because it's the first book G really fell in love with. I love that it teaches kids that there are many emotions we all experience, and each are okay.









That's Not My... series
by Fiona Watt

There are many, many in this series of books. G's first was That's Not My Kitten. But he also has Pirate, Dragon, Tiger, and Elephant. Each page has a different texture for him to touch. He's big on interactive books right now, so these are perfect for him.

Hippos Go Beserk
by Sandra Boynton

We've only scratched the surface of Boynton's work because she's been so prolific, but G particularly likes this one. It's a counting book, and G likes to point to each number as we read. I like that it works on counting both forwards and backwards. Bonus: this book is fun to read aloud!

Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown

It actually took G a while to warm up to this book. I think maybe he found the picture to be too repetitive because he would ask to read it, then abruptly close the book by the third page or so and put it away. Ha. But once we started pointing to specific things in the pictures as we read about them, he became much more interested. Now he asks to read this one and can find the pictures on his own.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
by Bill Martin Jr.

G is crushing huge on the alphabet right now, so this book is right up his alley. He loves that we point to the letters are we read about them. On the last page, we sing the alphabet song and point to each letter. I'm 100% convinced that this book and a tiny alphabet toy he has are the reason he can now identify almost all of his letters. Bonus: this book is also fun to read aloud!

Airplane Flight!
by Susanna Leonard Hill

G loves pretty much any lift-the-flap book, but this one in particular he goes back to again and again due to its larger size. Bonus points for the multicultural characters!

Toes, Ears, and Nose!
by Marion Dane Baver

Another lift-the-flap book. G loves with one in particular because we combine reading with those darn flaps he can touch, along with asking him to show us each body part as well. Unlike a lot of other body parts books, this one gets more specific, such as teeth or back. This book definitely helped G learn his body parts.

I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean
by Kevin Sherry

We've sadly lost our copy (so G is now fixated on Sherry's I'm the Scariest Thing in the Castle), but this book definitely racks high on G's list. I'm not sure what he loves about it, but the short phrases and colorful pictures help keep his attention. Bonus points: it made me laugh out loud the first time I read it.

The Grouchy Ladybug
by Eric Carle

This book may seem like a given on any toddler book list, but G actually doesn't care for most of Carle's books. He likes The Hungry Caterpillar as well, but that's about it. The animal flaps definitely keep his attention, and now that he's older, we challenge him to find the tiny ladybug on each page.

I Love You Because You're You
by Liza Baker

This book is utterly sappy, but something about it captivates G. It has a great message about loving your child no matter what they do, good and bad. It does make me roll my eyes a little, but G likes it, so I do too. Plus, it's kinda cute.

Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!
by Dr. Seuss

I could put pretty much any Dr. Seuss board book on this list. (the longer ones don't quite hold his attention yet), but he adores this one in particular (and see MMCD above as well). This board book is tiny, so he can easily hold it in his toddler hands and flip through it on his own. Bonus points for being fun to read!

Also awesome: Mr. Brown Can Moo and There's a Wocket in my Pocket.






Okay, so that was 11, not 10! I could have put 20 books on here, so it was difficult to narrow down the list. Next time, G's favorite non-board books.