Helping Littles Fall in Love with Reading: Tips for Developing Lifelong Reading Habits with Babies and Toddlers 

(And Some of Our Favorite Books for Babies and Toddlers)

We all know that reading and early exposure to books has immense benefits for children.  It increases their cognitive skills, their ability to emphasize with others, and is a key component of setting them up for future academic success.  The benefits of reading to babies and toddlers are NUMEROUS.  But beyond helping my daughters become strong readers, I also want them to just fall in love with reading. 

Throughout my own life reading has opened up so many worlds and experiences for me that I wouldn’t have known otherwise.  Tucking into a new book is one of my favorite ways to relax, and I want my daughters to also know that excitement that comes with new books.  My hope is that they become lifelong readers.

So from birth through the toddler years, here’s what we’re doing with our daughters to hopefully help them fall in love with reading,

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1. As Infants, Give Them High Contrast, Crinkle Books

Some of their earliest toys were high contrast, crinkle books.  We got a cheap set from Amazon (linked here) of black and white crinkly books.

I liked several things about these:

1. There were A LOT in the set.  This allowed me to keep a few in the diaper bag, the car, and in different rooms around the house.  That way, no matter where we were, I could hand my baby one of these books.
2. The crinkle noise was loud enough for the baby to enjoy it, but not so loud that it disrupted other people.  These were some of the earliest toys I gave her to keep her occupied during church.  While I could certainly hear her crinkling it, it wasn’t distracting for the people around us.
3. They’re high contrast.  Until becoming a mom I had NO IDEA that babies couldn’t see colors for a while.  With our first we often used the Lovevery high contrast cards that came with their play mat, but with our second, we were on the go a lot more.  So we used these books to interest her while we were out and about.
4. They’re washable.  Baby threw one of them out of a stroller and into a puddle?  Washable.  Baby pitched them into the floor at the public library?  Washable.  You open up the car door and they come tumbling out into an oily, gross, parking lot.  Washable!  Toss them in the washing machine and they’re good as new.
5. They have a tag on them to hold onto them better. Even though they’re washable, I still didn’t want her IMMEDIATELY throwing them to the ground.  I would loop my pinky finger through the tag while my baby was playing with it to make sure it didn’t get immediately tossed.  The little tags helped me keep them in reach for her better when she was an itty-bitty baby.

After our daughters could see color better, we switched to full-color crinkly books. If they had tags on the side, even better.

2. Look for Interactive Board Books (Flaps, Textures, or Slides)

Older babies and toddlers LOVE books with flaps, slides, and textures.  Some of our favorite books with flaps are the Karen Katz books.  She has a really wide selection.  The simple rhymes and large flaps really engage babies.

Our favorite books with textures are the Biscuit Pet and Play books.  Each story is cute and simple, but for the youngest bookworms, the different textures really help keep them interested.

We also love the Little Hippo “Who Am I?” books.  Each page features a rhyme and an animal with a fun, rubbery texture.

3. Seek Out Rhyming Books

Rhyming books are AMAZING for helping with language development.  There’s a reason nursery rhymes are so enduring.  The more children can hear rhymes, the better.

Plus, these are usually easier to memorize.  As a toddler our daughter began completing some of the rhymes and filling in the next word anytime we paused.  As a preschooler (who can’t actually read yet), she still enjoys flipping through these books or reading them to her little sister because she does have them all memorized so well.  

Some of our favorite (and everyone else’s) rhyming books are the Sandra Boynton books.  The nonsensical rhymes are funny to toddlers and sleep deprived parents alike.

We also love the Llama Llama for Little Ones.  These are such sweet and cute little rhymes and I guarantee we read at least one of these on a daily basis during the baby and toddler phase.

These sweet and fun books have absolutely helped our daughters fall in love reading.

4. Make Reading a Predictable Routine

We have built our daily routine around times we get to read.  My toddler asks for a book first thing in the morning or after waking up from a nap, as this has been our routine since she was a baby.  

(And yes- I felt as crazy reading to my newborn as I did telling my newborn what a plate was, but I don’t regret it at all.)  We read before we go to sleep, after we get up, and anytime we have a little bit of extra time and she feels like cuddling on the couch.

My oldest daughter has always felt like a natural book lover.  Even as a young baby she was content to sit and be read to for LONG periods of time.  However, my second daughter has proven to me the value of making reading a routine.  She has always been much more “on-the-go”- so much so that I started to worry she may NEVER want to sit in my lap and be read to for long stretches of time.

But we kept making one short book a part of her morning and after-nap routine and at around 15 months, all of the sudden something clicked.  She now EXPECTS a book, is eager for one, and tries to drag even more off the shelf.

5. Store Books Where They Can Reach Them

I love seeing my girls independently flip through books.  To encourage this, throughout the house I have a couple of different places where I keep their books within their reach.  They each have a bookshelf in their rooms and in the living room there’s a book basket.

They have full access to whatever is on their shelves, so I make sure that the books they can reach are durable- preferably books and padded books.

But both of my daughters at around the one year point went through a phase where they would compulsively pull every book off their shelves and scatter it around themselves.  Was it annoying putting them back on the shelf multiple times a day?  You bet.

But eventually, they slowed down on just manically scattering them and started flipping through them.  Flipping through them has turned into perusing and NOW my preschooler will look through even her chapter books independently (she still can’t actually read) to try and predict what will happen just by using the little illustrations.

Letting them have full access to their books has aided in them choosing to read on their own instead of always waiting to be told when it was time to read.

6. Hype Up Library Trips or Bookstore Trips

We go to the library all the time.  But in the beginning we would really hype it up.  “We’re getting fresh books!  What do you think they’ll have???”

It’s such a simple thing to incorporate into your routine, but it has a big impact.

Bookstore trips for us are rarer, but we save these for “special occasions”- making books really feel like something to treasure.

7. Pick Books With Characters They Love

Think about your favorite comfort show and why you come back to it again and again- you enjoy the characters. They become familiar to you. The books I want to reread are books with rich characters that I enjoy spending time with.

It’s the same with babies and toddlers. They start to fall in love with particular characters.

So find series they really enjoy and let them enjoy spending time with their favorite characters.

And a bonus- if you can find stuffed animals to go along with a book, they may just form an even stronger bond with the characters in the book. (Kohl’s Care program is a great place for this. They have a wide selection of stuffed animals from popular children’s books for a really great price- and the proceeds go to charity!)

8. Model Lifelong Reading For Them

Alright- I know that this is going to look different for everyone.  BUT if you want your children to have a love for reading, the best place they’re going to pick that up from is just by watching you.

So whatever you’re interested in, pick up something for yourself at the library, too.

Leave it sitting out in the living room.

Talk about what you’re reading while at dinner.

It doesn’t matter if you’re reading a magazine or the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.  What matters is you’re modeling for your children that reading is something worthwhile to do. If you want them to fall in love with reading, it can only help if you show how you love reading as well.

So here’s to helping raise little bookworms!  And if you’re looking for more learning activities and book suggestions, don’t forget to sign up for a monthly newsletter and check out the “Grateful for Reading” section of the blog!