Stock baby’s book shelf
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle tells the story of a tiny caterpillar who eats his way through a week's worth of food and plants. (Philomel). (MCT)
"Good Night, Gorilla" by Peggy Rathmann tells the story of a mischievous gorilla who steals the watchman's keys and releases the other zoo animals. (Puffin). (MCT)
"On the Night You Were Born" by Nancy Tillman is that book that will make you cry. "On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you and the night wind whispered." (Feiwel & Friends). (MCT) “Life will never be the same.”
"Where Is Baby's Belly Button?" by Karen Katz has flaps that allow kids to interact with the story. (Little Simon). (MCT)
"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff tells the story of the mouse who was offered an inch and took a mile. (Harper Festival). (MCT)
"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault is a delightful rhyming book that begins: "A told b, and b told c, 'I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree.'" (Beach Lane Books). (MCT)
Parents share their favorite books to read to baby. These are must-haves for the nursery!
”The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle
”My husband reads ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ to our daughter every night. She loves the colors, and the book is big, so it’s easy to see all the pictures.” — SportyMrs.23
”The Monster at the End of This Book” by Jon Stone
”We pick books that have very few words per page, clear pictures and fun stories about mom or dad and baby. One of our favorite books is ‘The Monster at the End of This Book’ by Jon Stone. We also like ‘I Love You Through and Through’ by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak and ‘The Going to Bed Book’ by Sandra Boynton.” – futrkingsley
”Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak
”We have ‘older-kid’ books that we read to our son, like ‘Where the Wild Things Are.’ We also have ‘The Giving Tree,’ ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ and ‘Love You Forever’ on our reading list. Sometimes we need stories that are a little longer because they help calm him — he lays his ear to my chest and we read.” – PKW
”Hugs and Kisses” by Christophe Loupy
”I read “Hugs and Kisses” by Christophe Loupy aloud when I was pregnant with my daughter. I plan to do it again with my second baby.” — stacey1279
”Good Night, Gorilla” by Peggy Rathmann
”‘Good Night, Gorilla’ was my daughter’s first favorite book. I think the deep-purple drawings appealed to her way before she could listen to and understand a story.” — kmhunt11
”Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet!” by Dr. Seuss
”‘Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet!’ by Dr. Seuss is great. The version I have has different textures that my kids can touch. They love it!” — LMK8605
”On the Night You Were Born” by Nancy Tillman
”I had a book-themed baby shower, and someone gave me the book ‘On the Night You Were Born.’ It’s so good it made me cry!” – ashleylach
”Where Is Baby’s Belly Button?” by Karen Katz
”I highly recommend ‘Where Is Baby’s Belly Button?’ by Karen Katz. My twins are eight months old and can already turn the pages and lift the flaps. We probably read that book 10 times a day — they can’t get enough.” – Gswans
”If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Numeroff
”I love Laura Numeroff’s books: ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,’ ‘If You Give a Pig a Pancake,’ ‘If You Give a Moose a Muffin’…. I already bought the entire series to read to my baby.” — amber&tommy2010
”We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen
”We just got ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ the other day. Both of my sons are thrilled with it. It’s repetitive, so they can recite it, and it’s easy to make up motions to go along with it.” — alli2672
”Press Here” by Herve Tullet
”I’ve been telling parents about this book because it’s super-awesome and pretty interactive! It’s tons of fun and great to read to a group of kids. It’s like magic.” – ShaunMcBoof
”Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
”It’s an awesome book for learning the alphabet. I bought it for my daughter last week, and we’ve read it about 1,000 times already.” — proudarmywife08
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