Yes, I’m aware that 24 months is 2 years and I debated putting that, but I decided having both parts as months made more sense. If you don’t like it you’ll just have to deal with it 😉.
A while ago I wrote a post about Zyma’s favourite books and I’ve been meaning to write another one. Today I finally have time. I decided to make her birthday the cut off point, so this list doesn’t include anything she got for her birthday or Christmas.
Leading up to her second birthday, Zyma still read a few of the books that had previously been favourites – most notably Goodnight World and Who Wants a Dragon? But she also received some new books that she returned to over and over as well as suddenly getting into a few books that had been around for ages without her showing any interest at all! Here are the books that Z wanted us to read constantly in the latter half of last year.
The Every Baby Book by Frann Preston-Gannon. I bought this book for Z’s first birthday and for a long time I thought I had wasted my money. She just was not interested at all! Then at around 18 months she got really into any book featuring babies. This one starts “Families of every name share a love that’s just the same” and basically just shows various babies going through their day. It’s very inclusive: one baby has two dads and one has two mum’s, there’s a single-parent family, one with parents of different ethnicities, twins. We see a father putting washing in the machine ( and not one from the same sex couple!). It’s also available in a British English and an American English version, although I’m not sure exactly what the difference is other than nappy versus diaper. Our version talks about “strollers” where I personally have only ever heard buggy or pushchair in the UK. This is a cute little rhyming book, not too annoying to read over and over, and there’s lots for young children to discover on the pictures (mine loves to point out the baby whose nappy has leaked all over the bed – we’re definitely in the wee and pooh phase 😅).
Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, illustrated by Marla Frazee. I bought this book for my pregnancy announcement with the twins, put it away when we lost them and got it out again along with the other board books before I went in for Z’s foetal surgery so it’s been around a long time but whenever we showed it to her she couldn’t care less. Then one day she fetched it from the shelf and for a while I was reading it to her roughly once a week. It starts “Every day, everywhere babies are born” then goes on to describe other things that babies do (eat, are carried, make friends and eventually crawl and then walk). There isn’t really a “story” as such. The babies depicted are definitely culturally diverse but the illustrations feel dated to me (not sure when it was published). It’s a nice enough little book though.
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Another of the books that Z was attracted to because they’re about babies! I think I bought this one while I was pregnant with her but it was mostly ignored until the babies phase started (this was also when she started getting into baby dolls and pointing out every baby she sees out and about!). The book depicts various babies from around the world each of whom has one thing in common: they have 10 little fingers and 10 little toes. It’s fun to read and the illustrations are cute. I know it has some poor reviews from people pointing out that it’s not inclusive (what about people who don’t have 10 fingers and toes?!) and I totally get that but, honestly, I haven’t let that stop me letting Z enjoy this book. Given how few books out there feature toddlers who can’t walk I’m happy that in this case she can relate to the babies in the book!
Ten Minutes to Bed Little Monster by Rhiannon Fielding, illustrated by Chris Chatterto. I bought this at a flea market when Z was about 3 months old. I think she was around 20 months when she discovered it and started asking for it multiple times a day. Each page of the book features Belch, the smallest monster, doing something that very much does not resemble getting ready for bed with text that, among other things, counts down the minutes to bedtime. Another one featuring fun rhyming text that I don’t mind reading over and over. This is part of a series but they seem to be separate enough that it doesn’t matter that we don’t have any of the others.
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolan, illustrated by Mark Teague. Various human mothers and fathers attempt to put their children – a range of different dinosaurs – to bed. So how does a dinosaur say goodnight? Does he throw things, stamp his feet, roar? Or go to bed quietly? Find out in this book! We made up actions to go along with this story and Zyma loves to join in. The pictures are amusing and each page cleverly integrates the name of the dinosaur somewhere. Well have since also bought How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?, which Z also likes, but it’s not as good as this one.
Dalmatian in a Digger by Rebecca Elliott. Z loves construction vehicles and dogs, so how could I possibly resist buying her this book? She loved it immediately and I once literally read it ten times in a single day! “Dugger dugger digger! What’s that noise?” Come along with little Dalmatian as he follows the sounds of various construction vehicles and eventually finds out what they’re building. I actually really enjoy reading this book. It’s lots of fun. The one annoying thing is that, although Rebecca Elliott is English, only the US edition seems to be available now, so I always change “dirt” to “soil” when I’m reading it. Dirt is what soil becomes after you’ve got it on your clothes!
Busy Building Site: A Ladybird Lift the Flap Book. I don’t actually know who the author is – they’re not mentioned anywhere. “Builder Barney puts on his hat, takes the plans and lays them flat”. This book follows builder Barney and a whole team of construction workers as they work on a building. There are flaps to lift and a tiny ladybird to spot on each page, and the various vehicles, tools and people are labelled.
i bought this partially so I could learn the proper names of construction vehicles since Z loves them so much. It turned out she also enjoys the book, so win-win!
Muh die Kuh by Axel Scheffler (original title: Cuddly Cow). I believe the English version of this book is the original, although Axel Scheffler is German. Either way, we have the German version and this was probably the first German book Z actually sat and listened to all the way through. Muh (meaning Moo) or Cuddly the cow is tired but it’s far too noisy in the pasture with the other cows so she goes around the farmyard looking for a quiet place to lie down. Will poor Muh ever get to rest? I don’t know what the English version of this book is like but the German is very well done (I wonder whether Axel Scheffler was actually involved in the translation?). It’s a relatively short story, which is likely why it holds Z’s attention and the illustrations are great.
I’m going to stop here. There might be a few more but these are the ones I’m certain she was into before she turned two. If you have a toddler in your life hopefully this will provide some inspiration when you’re looking for books!
Confuzzledom 
Sharing your love of books with your daughter is an awesome thing.