The Best Board Books for Babies and Toddlers (and Their Grown-Ups Too)

Best Overall: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? ranks high on our list because this book has a little bit of everything—colors, animals, clever verse, and drawings of other children. Written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by the legendary Eric Carle, whose other books include the classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar, this board book will enrapture your child from infancy through toddlerhood and beyond. Carle’s collages are a great way to teach your child about colors and animal sounds—featured creatures include a purple cat, a blue horse, and a yellow duck.

• The Details:
• Age Level: 1 to 3 years
  

Best for Food Lovers: Dragon's First Taco

If you have older kids, you already know the joy of Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri's hilarious kids' book Dragons Love Tacos. Instead of adapting that rebellious story for younger readers (the concept is a little complex, after all), they've come up with this simpler but still delicious taco-themed and taco-shaped book. Dragon's First Taco may encourage toddlers to try new foods, as long as they're in a tortilla. Or it may just be a funny way to imagine all kinds of unusual taco fillings together.

The Details:

• Age Level: 1 to 3 years

Best for Newborns: Baby Faces

Studies have shown that babies as young as one hour old stare at face-like images for longer than they stare at any other type of pattern. In fact, by the time they are 4 months old, babies can process faces even though they still can’t figure out most of the rest of the world. The reason? Likely evolution. We need to read and understand the faces of our caretakers in order to survive.

The first faces a newborn falls in love with are their parents'. A close second? Baby's own face, which they see mirrored in all of the other babies they encounter. That's why Baby Faces, a DK board book, is perfect for your newborn. Along with showing babies processing all sorts of emotions, from happiness to sadness to befuddlement and more, the board book features bright, primary colors that will be sure to capture your newborn’s blossoming color vision.

• The Details:
• Age Level: Newborn to 2 years
  

Best for 1-Year-Olds: Where Is Baby's Belly Button?

By the age of 1, your child is exploding with new tricks, from learning how to say “mama” and “dada,” to taking their first steps. With encouragement, many babies are able to identify their body parts, from their nose to their ears to their belly button. Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? is an age-appropriate and fun way to teach your child about their body. Illustrated and written by Karen Katz, this board book features bubbly drawings that are irresistible to children. Each body part is hidden behind a wide, easy-to-maneuver flap that is difficult to rip.

• Age Level: 1-2 years
  

Best for Toddlers: First 100 Words

Babies start saying words anywhere from 6 months old onwards, but at 18 months, many children undergo a vocabulary explosion. First 100 Words is a great tool for teaching your child words. Divided into categories including “things that go,” “bath time,” “myself,” and “clothes,” each word in the board book is accompanied by a photo set on a brightly colored background.

If your child is really into this book, there are a bunch more books in the series including First 100 Animals, Numbers, Shapes, and Colors, and more.

The Details:

• Age Level: 1 to 3 years
  

Best Classic: Goodnight Moon

The best thing about Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is that everyone in the family—from grandparents to parents to older children—will be familiar with it. First published in 1947, the board book continues to entrance babies because of the rhythmic, soothing way it is written. Along with being a surefire way to calm your child before bedtime, the book is also great for teaching about various objects in a room.

The Details:

• Age Level: Newborn to 3 years
  

Best Sensory: Pat the Bunny

Another classic is Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt. Originally published in 1940, this board book has features that entice all of the senses, like a soft cut-out bunny and a bouquet of flowers that smells if you scratch it. The novelty of interacting tactilely with a board book never gets old.

This book also has many different versions, including a stuffed book option, and you can also buy a stuffed bunny that mimics the one in the book.

The Details:

• Age Level: Newborn to 3 years
  

Best for Bedtime: My Dreams

Featuring simple black-and-white drawings that lead readers on a magical adventure through fields of flowers and castles, My Dreams by Xavier Deneux is a lovely story for bedtime. But its true value doesn’t reveal itself until you turn off the lights and realize that the illustrations glow in the dark! The board book is great to leave with your toddler as they fall asleep—when the lights are out, the illustrations slowly fade, leaving behind a gentle darkness.

The Details:

• Age Level: Newborn to 2 years
  

Best for Learning Sign Language: My First Baby Signs

Sign language has become an essential tool for toddlers. There are many board books that teach both children and their parents how to sign, but none is as fun as My First Baby Signs by artists Phil Conigliaro and Tae Won Yu. Featuring moveable flaps that show animated children making the signs for “more,” “all done,” “thirsty,” “tired,” and more, the book is a great tool for teaching. A word to the wise—the flaps are easy to rip off, so this might be best reserved for when your child is in a high chair.

• Age Level: Newborn to 2 years
  

Best for Potty Time: Potty

Everyone has to go through it, but that doesn’t make it any easier for a toddler to learn how to use the potty. Fortunately, there’s Potty by Leslie Patricelli, which outlines the various thoughts toddlers have while considering whether or not to use a toilet. “I have to go potty,” says the baby in the book. “I could go in my diaper. Should I go in my diaper?”

Unlike other board books about potty training, which can be longer and wordier, Potty appeals to a toddler’s short attention span.

The Details:

• Age Level: Newborn to 3 years
  

Best for Parents: Bus Stops

Let’s be honest—in order to get excited about reading to your kid, you have to enjoy the board book too. For this, almost any board book by Sandra Boynton works—they’re funny no matter your maturity level. But if you want a board book that you can read again and again without ever getting bored, try Taro Gomi’s Bus Stops. Featuring gorgeous watercolor drawings that are rich with details, the book takes the reader on a journey through various landscapes, from a marketplace to a movie set to a junkyard. Relatable for kids, the book reads something like a travelogue for adults—a travelogue written in haikus.

The Details:

• Age Level: 1 to 3 years