Books for Sharing with 2-3 Year Olds

There is nothing more delightful than watching the face of a toddler light up with wonder as they discover the joys of a book for the first time.

They are often drawn in by bright, bold colours, rhyming, repetitive phrases and onomatopeia.

But the real secret for creating a lifelong love affair with books is you!

For this to work, you have to enjoy the books you read together too.

Selecting books that are well-written and appeal to your own sense of humour mean that you will be happy to re-read them as often as your toddler can say "again...more!"

Below is a list of some of my tried and true favourites. 

Many of these books will be read over and over again as the years go by. Your toddler will memorise large sections of them and expect you to use the same voice, the same sound effect every single time.

This is the very beginning of learning to read.

Jennifer Adams - Baby Lit Primer series
Janet and Allen Ahlberg - Each Peach Pear Plum
Jez Alborough - Where's My Teddy, Duck in the Truck
(A) Pamela Allen - Fancy That, Who Sank the Boat, Mr McGee books, A Lion in the Night

(A) Nick Bland - The Very Cranky Bear, The Runaway Hug
(A) Janeen Brian - I'm A Dirty Dinosaur
Sandra Boynton - Hippos Go Berserk
Margaret Wise Brown - Goodnight Moon

Eric Carle - The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Lucy Cousins - Hooray for Fish, Maisy, I'm the Best

(A) Lynley Dodd - Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy
Julia Donaldson - Monkey Puzzle, One Ted Falls Out of Bed

(A) Hazel Edwards - There's A Hippopotamus on the Roof Eating Cake

(A) Mem Fox - Where is the Green Sheep, Hattie and the Fox, Time For Bed

(A) Bob Graham - Has Anyone Here Seen William? Queenie the Bantam
Emily Gravett - Monkey and Me, Orange Pear Apple Bear

Oliver Jeffers - Stuck, Lost and Found, How To Catch A Star, Up and Down, The Way Back Home

Ruth Kraus - A Hole is To Dig

Judy Hindley - The Big Red Bus

Julie Merberg - The Art Masters board books

(A) Jan Ormerod - Sunshine, Moonlight, The Swap

Sherri Duskey Rinker - Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site
Michael Rosen - We're Going on a Bear Hunt

Maurice Sendak - Where the Wild Things Are
Dr Seuss - One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, Are You My Mother, The Cat in the Hat

Traditional - The Little Red Hen, Henny Penny, The Gingerbread Man, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

Martin Waddell - Owl Babies


Toddlers are also intrigued by novelty books.

There are many flap books and books with noise buttons for their amusement.

Rod Campbell - Dear Zoo

Edward Gibbs - I Spy books

Eric Hill - Where's Spot?

DK Noisy Peekaboo series

Jeannette Rowe's Whose Nose? Tail? Feet? series

Herve Tullet - Press Here