Top Ten Tuesday: Books for Toddlers

It’s Top Ten Tuesday! Each week, I’m sharing my ten favorite recommendations in a given category. Last week, I listed books for babies, ages 0 to 2. This week, my list will be books for ages 2-3. I made the categories overlap so I could include more!

Again, I’ll provide links to my reviews if I’ve written one, and links to Amazon if not.

Top Ten Tuesday is more fun if others participate! Please leave a comment with your own favorite books for ages 2-3 or a link to your own blog post about it.

Next week, I’ll cover ages 3-4.

Sondy’s Selections, Ages 2-3

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
Reading this book, the child gets to make the rules. The pigeon begs and pleads and throws a temper tantrum, but please don’t let him drive the bus!

Bark, George! by Jules Feiffer
When George tries to bark, the wrong animal sounds come out! George’s mother takes him to the vet, who finds animals inside George. Simple text gives excited anticipation as the animals get bigger and bigger.

Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman
This classic book explores colors and shapes, in and out, over and under, using dogs and cars and a big dog party at the end.
(Don’t get the board book – This is a book that should not be shortened!)

Pete’s a Pizza, by William Steig
This book is a fun excuse to play along as Pete’s father turns him into a pizza – with lots of tickling as he goes.

Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley
In this book, a big green monster gradually appears, using cleverly shaped cuts in the pages. Then, the reader says, “Go away!” to each scary part until the end, “And don’t come back! Until I say so!”

Toot Toot Zoom! by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Matthew Cordell
Fun sound effects abound throughout this story, as a red fox drives up a sky-high mountain and finds some friends.

Good Night, Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann
The pictures tell the story in this book where the gorilla follows the night watchman around the zoo, unlocking the cages.

Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea
The little hippo’s silly Daddy keeps getting everything wrong, so he has to show Daddy how to do simple tasks.

Little Quack, by Laurel Thompson, illustrated by Derek Anderson
Five little ducks, named Widdle, Waddle, Piddle, Puddle, and Little Quack are trying to get the courage to jump into the water behind their mother. Splish! Splash! Sploosh!

Llama Llama Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney
A simple story with strong rhymes portraying night time worries calmed after Mama Llama doesn’t come back as fast as little Llama wishes.

PS: For even more fun, today, as if in honor of Top Ten Tuesday, the American Library Association announced the Teens’ Top Ten! Teens around the nation have voted on their favorite books written in 2009. Two of the books were also favorites of mine: Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins was the Number 1 choice, and Fire, by Kristin Cashore, was Number 9. Congratulations to all the winners!

So go pick up some great books for toddlers AND for teens!

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