15 Must Have Books for Your Two Year Old
Reading is one of the most powerful ways to support your child’s speech, language, and cognitive development by introducing them to new vocabulary and new ideas. When choosing a book for your two year old, focus on books that would be of interest, use short text, have fun illustrations, and incorporate rhyming and repetitive language.
Just a few of our favorites…
You Are Two by Sara O’Leary. A baby’s second year is full of memorable milestones. Walking, running, understanding more words, speaking their names, and forming first memories are all exciting achievements. You Are Two looks back on these moments, inviting little ones and their parents to celebrate how much they have grown and discovered.
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann. It’s bedtime at the zoo, and all the animals are going to sleep. Or are they? A sweet little bedtime book that has very few words, detailed illustrations, and is the perfect story for children who are ready to search the pictures for context clues to help tell you the story.
Down by the Bay by Raffi. Raffi’s classic song “Down by the Bay” in book form, featuring early language skills: rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and the cutest illustrations, such as a bear combing his hair, a goose kissing a moose, and a whale with a polka-dot tail.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin and illustrated by Eric Carle. A fun repetitive book that introduces your child to simple sentences, simple concepts, and sequencing.
Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill. A lift the flap book that is engages young readers on a quest to find Spot.
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle. A muddy country road is no match for this little pick up–that is, until he gets stuck while pushing a dump truck out of the muck. An entertaining book featuring a great rhythm and rhyme scheme, sound effects, and animals.
I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt. Featuring silly illustrations, rhythm and repetitive text, this book is about a mother’s unconditional love for her child.
Dear Zoo: A Lift-the Flap Book by Rod Campbell. With simple text and illustrations, this lift the flap book engages children in discovering the animals the zoo has sent.
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems. Using a combination of muted black-and-white photographs and expressive illustrations, this book tells a story about what happens when Daddy’s in charge and things go terribly wrong.
The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone. Lovable, furry old Grover learns that there is a monster at the end of this book! He begs the reader not to turn the pages, but of course you have to keep going to see if there is truly a monster waiting at the end of the book.
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Dusky Rinker. Read along as each piece of construction equipment turns off their engines, rests their wheels, and drifts to sleep. A soothing story in anticipation of bedtime.
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle. This book describes the different movements of animals and then encourages the reader to mimic these actions made by the creatures. A fun and engaging way to learn about animals, body parts, and imitation.
Peepo by Janet and Allen Ahlberg. Written with lovely rhythm and rhyme, Peepo follows a baby throughout his day and engages the reader with series of holes peeping through to the next page to give a hint of what is to come.
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. This book features simple sentence structure, lots of repetition, and silly illustrations as a baby bird is on a quest to find his mother.
The Wheels on the Bus by Raffi. A very familiar and well loved children’s song in book form.
Happy Reading!
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