A baby-approved reading guide
“It’s such a joy to see how fast he learns something new—it feels even more special that books can help him get there.”
Summer gives us a chance to slow down and spend quality time with family.
But since we can’t always switch off to airplane mode, we asked five parents to reflect on the joys of being transported by a good story with their little ones. They also shared their book recommendations for babies, toddlers, and younger children. Because the more we read with our kids, the more we’re able to help them put words to the joyful moments that happen in every chapter of their lives.
Reading allows me to feel present with Callum and helps calm both of our nervous systems. It’s been so rewarding to see how he reacts to certain images and sing-song phrases I’ve put together while reading his go-to books. Sometimes I’ll even recite a book from memory if he’s getting frustrated, and he’ll pick up on the words I’m saying based on my intonations, which leads to a big smile on both of our faces.
I love reading the same books to him each night because I can see how his little mind progresses every day. I dim the lights, turn on his white noise, give him milk, then sign ‘book’ to him (we chose to teach him a little baby sign language). We read about two to four short books each night and always end with his favorite: If I Were a Puppy. One day, Callum started pointing and started scratching the picture, and now he makes a loud babble noise each time I turn to that specific page. It’s such a joy to see how fast he learns something new—and it feels even more special that books can help him get there.
- Calia Booth, Mom of 1
I was a bookworm from a very young age—long before reading was cool. I also grew up in a very white, conservative town, and through reading, I met people I wouldn’t have encountered in my everyday life. My first Jewish friend was Nancy from The Baby-Sitters Club Little Sister series. My first Japanese friend was Claudia Kishi. Instead of getting grounded from TV or friends, I was grounded from my books. I still remember the desperation I’d feel for just a few more minutes of reading. As a parent, I try to honor that feeling by letting my oldest finish a chapter or allowing “one more book” for my toddlers. Reading gives us moments of connection that might otherwise get lost in the hustle of everyday life.
I also love marking special occasions with books. Easter baskets, the last day of school, Christmas Eve—I usually give each child a book tied to their current obsession (Elmo, Paw Patrol, monster trucks) alongside one or two that feel a little more timeless. I love when we’ve read a book enough times that my kids start reciting it alongside me—or reference it out of nowhere. The other day, my three-year-old suddenly piped up from his car seat, “How many stripes does a bumblebee have?” It’s a line from My World, a book he’s been gravitating toward this summer. Moments like that make me realize they’re truly soaking it all in.
- Nicole Prince, Mom of 3
I’ve always loved to read and wanted to protect and share that practice once I became a parent. Our oldest daughter’s playroom is basically a library, so she’s always been surrounded by books. Three and a half years in, I can see the impact on her vocabulary, imagination, and curiosity. Now my youngest is entering the book-loving stage, too. She’ll grab a board book, plop her 15-month-old booty in my lap, and wait for me to start reading. She doesn’t have the words to ask yet, but her body language says it all: Read to me! I’m absolutely eating this phase up.
Beyond all the developmental benefits, reading has become my favorite way to slow down and reconnect with my girls at the end of the day. Storytime is the bridge between the chaos of parenting as a stay-at-home-mom (who’s also figuring out what’s next) and the stillness of the evening. The other night, my three-year-old interrupted me in the middle of our third story just to say, “Mama. I love you.” I can’t really think of a greater unexpected joy than that. With my one-year-old, it’s all the little nonverbal moments that really get me. I’ll read a page in a silly voice, and she’ll look back at me with a genuine smile, like she’s fully in it with me. It’s a small thing, but it’s also not small at all.
- Elin Strong, Mom of 2
My daughter (who is almost two-and-a-half now) and I read together every night before bed, and they’re some of the most intimate moments I experience with her. She’s snuggled in the chair with me. She’s engaged with the sound of my voice. She’s not asking anything of me. I’m not asking anything of her. No matter what went on during the day, we have this sacred time where we get to pause and just experience a story together. More than that, books can be a parenting lifeline for me. Whenever I need a little break from the rigors of toddler playtime and imagination, I can reach for a book and let the author parent for me for a few minutes. My daughter doesn’t do screens of any sort, so this is the closest we get to plopping her in front of something. She’s still engaged, I’m still engaged, but I can let someone else’s words take over for just a short time.
Currently, my daughter is learning Spanish. We have a few books that are written in both Spanish and English. (I speak a little Spanish but not much.) We were reading one of them together one night, and she started translating. I’d read a short sentence, and she’d recite it back to me in Spanish. These weren’t advanced sentences—this isn’t me being like, “My child is a baby genius” or anything—it was just such a joyful glimpse into her language development.
- Carly Kremer, Mom of 1
The science says: Reading sends light all over the brain. In people of all ages, reading calms our breath, expands our empathy, and connects us to the world beyond ourselves. The science experienced: Everything draws close when I am reading to my now four-month-old. The planets, his heartbeat, those past, painful nights where we struggled to get pregnant, those future, tender days still to discover with him: reading makes origami of time.
This joy: At three months Wilder began to really consider the pages I was reading to him. I realized: We’ve stepped into this book together. He’s here with me. And in those dark cathedrals that are the middle of the night feeds, I read him poetry. Right now: Gabrielle Calvocoressi’s The New Economy.
- Amy Lin, Mom of 1
Summer reading recommendations 🩵
Calia recommends:
The Phaidon board book artist series: First Concepts with Fine Artists.
Callum personally loves Blue & Other Colors with Henri Matisse—lots of great colors and shapes to look at. He’s also a huge fan of Manon Dechaur’s books: Let’s Look at Animals and Let’s Look at Nature specifically. Lastly, I save a lot of book recommendations from a kid’s bookstore in NYC called “Spiral Books.” I actually live in LA, but they post really unique suggestions on Instagram that look lovely. A great curation.
Nicole recommends:
Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall, All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, When the Sky is Like Lace by Elinor Lander Horwitz, The Story of the Snow Children by Sibylle von Olfers, This Is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe, All Around Bustletown by Rotraut Susanne Berner, and Goodnight Moon and My World by Margaret Wise Brown
Lately, my toddlers have been loving Hello Lighthouse. It follows the life of a lighthouse keeper through the seasons. My kids truly relax when I read it—like their bodies give a big exhale—and I do, too. We’ve also read All the World countless times. It’s soothing, rhythmic, and mercifully short on nights when bedtime is stretching longer than expected. When the Sky Is Like Lace has a dreamy, mystical quality that’s rare in children’s books. I bought a vintage copy years before I was married or had kids after learning about it on Joanna Goddard’s Cup of Jo, and I still treasure it. Another favorite in that same imaginative vein is The Story of the Snow Children. It’s obviously a winter book, but we don’t discriminate on seasonal reading!
For slightly older kids, This Is How We Do It offers a glimpse into the daily lives of children around the world. It’s a thoughtful introduction to different cultures, foods, homes, and traditions. The All Around Bustletown books are another family favorite. They’re large wordless books filled with clever illustrations, making them wonderful for building observation skills, storytelling, and conversation. We have them in English and one in German that we picked up in Switzerland a few years ago. And of course, there’s Goodnight Moon. Funny enough, my toddlers actually prefer its lesser-known sequel, My World—the source of that bumblebee question from the backseat. It follows the bunny outside of his bedroom.
Elin recommends:
The Cozy Book by Mary Ann Hoberman
We discovered The Cozy Book in our neighborhood’s Little Free Library and have been reading it weekly ever since. The illustrations are endearing, and it’s genuinely enjoyable to read as a parent, which matters a lot when you’re on your hundredth reread. We own two copies because we bought a replacement after thinking we’d lost the original.
Carly recommends:
Little Bee and the Bloom by Carly Kremer
I’m admittedly biased here, but this is a children’s book I wrote that’s coming out in September with Tiny Torch books (with some truly gorgeous illustrations by the talented Katie Hunt). It teaches kids about the vital role bees play in pollination through the story of Little Bee trying to help her flower friend be less alone. We put a lot of love into it, and I’m so happy with how it came out. My daughter also loves it. I let her choose a bedtime story every night, and more often than not, she’s recently been choosing Little Bee and the Bloom. I don’t know if she even realizes I wrote it. I tell her, but I don’t think she believes me.
Amy recommends:
Little You by Richard Van Camp and There Was a Shadow by Bruce Handy
Little You is joyful and dreamy. Van Camp’s serene text meets Julie Flett’s playful and soft illustrations in pairings that are beautifully moving. The first time I read, “You are mighty / you are small,” which is paired with a picture of a small baby seated on the beach but casting a very long shadow, I felt a catch in my throat.
Sensitive and luminous, Handy’s shadows (tall, soft, look-closely, just to name a few) draw up the many ways the world can make us feel, while Lisk Feng’s lyrical and striking art glides us through the sun’s movement across the sky. I discovered There Was a Shadow by way of Taylor Sterling‘s Moonbow where the book reminded Taylor of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse: “A light here required a shadow there.”
Thank you for including me in the coziest post I've read all summer. <3
nawhhhh! this is too stinking cute! the reading guide we all need.