Books for Toddlers Christmas Gift Guide
Toddlers just love this time of year when everything is magic don't they? They love the lights and the music and they are just beginning to understand the idea of gift giving and receiving. So I love to give books as these little ones just can't get enough of them. In the past I have done a combined gift guide for toddlers and preschoolers but now that I have a two and four year old I see quite how different their reading tastes are at this age and whilst they do overlap I felt it was unjust to lump them together. So this year I have done two separate guides. This one is aimed at toddlers aged 18 months to about 3 though many of the books are great for four and five year olds too (BookBairn loves them). Before I share, I just want to say that there are many many great books out there for little readers but these are some of our favourites that we have discovered this year. It would be impossible to compile a fully comprehensive list so this is more of a highlights guide. If you want to see our gift guide from last year, or any of our other gift guides from this year you can find them all linked here. I've tried to include a variety of books so that there is something for everyone.
The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
One of the things that I look forward to most is the BBC and Magic Light Christmas movie collaboration bringing to life a magical Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture book. And this year it's the turn of one of my favourite of their stories - The Snail and the Whale. This is the newly re-designed winter edition (it's the asme story but with a different cover) of that lovely tale of adventure and friendship. Written in Julia's impeccable rhyme, a little snail longs to see the world and hitches a ride on the tail of an enormous whale. Together they embark on an amazing journey through all the oceans on the globe seeing icebergs and volcanoes, penguins and sharks. But when disaster strikes and the whale becomes beached in the bay, it's up to tiny snail to save the day. The wonderful illustrations by Axel Scheffler bring to life the characters and their adventures and this is a lovely story kids will want to read again and again. And with it being the festive film this year, it makes it a perfect gift!
Old MacDonald Had a Truck by Steve Goetz & Eda Kaban
Nibbles Numbers by Emma Yarlett
Nibbles is a book nibbling terror who has now munched his way through countless fairytales and even a dinosaur anthology. And now he is back nibbling his way through a book of numbers. Little ones can count along with Nibbles as he chomps his way from one to ten! From the first page flap, to all the delightful little finger-sized cut-out holes in each page (corresponding to the number of bites Nibbles has taken), there's so much for little ones to explore. With bright and inviting colours and tactile holes to count together this is a number book that provides more than simple number teaching. The rhyme scheme makes it enjoyable to read aloud and allows little ones to predict the next number in some pages. Kids will also love that Nibbles, like in the previous books, has nibbled a hole in the back of the book and escaped! But even more than that they will enjoy reading the book backwards, counting down the numbers and shutting Nibbles back into his crate on the final page. Such a versatile little book! Conceptually clever and innovative, the Nibbles series works on multiple levels - little ones like The Wee Page Turner enjoy following the mischievous little character and feeling the cut outs and peeking through the pages. And older children like BookBairn will recognise the numbers, dinosaurs or fairytales (depending on the book) as well as adoring Nibbles's trouble-making as well as make fun nibbling sounds as you read!
Pop Out and Play Builders Tool Kit / Shopping List by Robyn Gale & Barry Green
If you’ve got a little one who is a lot more hands-on with their stories then these new books are perfect for you! Each page has a pop-out tool, or items of shopping that little ones can play with as you read the simple text to them. They can find things from the shopping list, or match the right tool for the job and they just have so much play potential! And then it’s like a jigsaw puzzle putting all the pieces back in the right slots of the book. The illustrations are bright and fun and have plenty detail to talk about as you read/play. I’ve popped these in our ‘out-and-about bag’ (it’s more of an entertainment/snack bag now than a changing bag) to keep both kids busy when we are out at a restaurant or having to wait somewhere whilst we are out. Such a great concept and they would make brilliant gifts too!
BuildaBlock / FarmBlock by Christopher Franceschelli & Peskimo
These block books are just magical to read! Each one explores a basic concept - these two focus on life on a farm throughout the seasons and the daily happenings on a building site. Featuring die-cut pages, gatefolds, and charming illustration and design, these chunky little books pack a lot of fun within their pages. The wee Page Turner loves the Buildablock one and can now name most construction vehicles from it's pages. He loves exploring the shaped pages with his fingers and lifting out some of the large flaps too. Farm Block is also clever as it combines the concept of changing seasons with all the jobs on the farm so not only can kids pick up lots of vocabulary and enjoy looking at the animals, they an also see the colours of the trees changing and discuss seasonal jobs like apple picking and harvesting as well as jam making and crop planting. Such a lot in one beautiful package! These are a perfect gift!
I hope that helps you find something for the little readers in your life! And if you want any specific recommendations please feel free to get in touch! All our social media links are in the header at the top of the blog - or you can just search 'bookbairn' to find us!
I have also added this list to my Amazon shops so you can find the links easily, just click on the section for Books for Toddlers.
Amazon.co.UK
Amazon.COM
Happy Christmas Shopping,
Kim and the elves xx
Disclaimer: We were sent some of these books free for review purposes by the publishers. Words and opinions are my own. If you click on the title or image of the book you will be sent to amazon.co.uk using an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to purchase on amazon.co.uk, I will receive a small sum (around 20-70p per book) from amazon at no extra cost to you. I understand that you may not want to use an affiliate link, but if you like reading our blog please just think of it as a small tip for a tip-off to an awesome book. And know that your support means I can buy more books! For more information check out our 'For Our Readers' section.
This is a great Christmas collection. I like the sound of “Old MacDonald had a truck”. The Wee Page Turner will love it.
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