20 Favorite Children’s Books of 2020

As we begin to wrap up in 2020, I thought I would write about my kid’s 20 Favorite Children’s Books of 2020. If you are looking for books for toddlers or preschoolers this is the post to find them! My children are 1 and 3.

   

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We read upwards of 15 books a day between both of my children. They definetly have their favorites and my husband and I have most of them memorized!

 

If you are looking for more specific book ideas don’t forget to check out these posts below:

 

 

 

You may notice that a lot of these books are the same as in my other posts but this will be a complete guide of 20 Favorite Children’s Books of 2020. At the beginning of the year, my oldest son was 2 and now he’s closer to 4, and my youngest son wasn’t even 1 yet!

 

I’m going to attempt to put these in order of books that would be more appropriate for older babies/younger toddlers and work up to 3 and a half year olds.

 

I hope this will give you some great ideas for books to try with your kids or grandchildren! Please let me know some of your children’s favorite books below and don’t forget to share this with a friend!

 

In this post, you’ll read about my children’s 20 Favorite Children’s Books of 2020 from ages 10 months-3.5 years.

 

Baby Loves Peek-a-Boo By DK

 

I think both of my kids are finally out of the age range for these books but I could easily read them in my sleep! My kids have loved these books hard over the years! 

 

Starting around 8-10 months when babies are learning to turn the pages and interact more with books these are perfect! They also are perfect for babies learning to love peekaboo! 

 

They grow with them into early toddlerhood. The surprise is fun and it provides animal sounds that are perfect for children learning to speak.

   

Baby Beep-Beep By DK

 

This book has proved to be a favorite all year for my 1-year-old! He was gifted it from his grandmother for Christmas last year & he continues to love it! 

 

It’s a simple book with chunky lift the flaps that he can move. This book offers simple words and big pictures. 

 

I love it because he can read it to me! How awesome to have a 22-month old that can “read” a book to you.

   

Where’s the Giraffe? By Nosy Crow

 

I had never heard of this cute book before it was given to my son last Christmas. He was 10 months old and it QUICKLY became a favorite.

 

It’s simple and perfect for babies! It has easy felt flaps that provide some sensory input, and easy to follow pictures.

   

Where is Baby’s Belly Button? By Karen Katz

 

Another sweet book for older babies that teaches body parts. It is perfect for that age with big lift the flaps, bright pictures, and simple words. 

 

I love that it teaches body parts, position words, and follows a simple pattern for babies (and toddlers) to easily follow along.

   

First Words 100 Lift the Flap Book By Scholastic

 

My son loves this book so much I convinced my mom to get it for my new nephew for Christmas. Around 10 months, my son gravitated towards this book and at 22 months it still going strong as a top pick! 

 

At this point, I have no doubt that he knows everything inside this book. He loves it for the interaction with the fun flaps, bright pictures, and faces of the people throughout the book. 

 

I love it for all of the language and vocabulary it’s teaching him. It’s also helping him learn to use fine motor skills to lift the flaps on each page.

   

ABC Books

 

Both of my boys have had a love of ABC books. That’s why I wrote all about their favorites in the link below! They love all of the pictures and new vocabulary that come with alphabet books.

 

I also attribute their love of alphabet books as one of the ways they both learned all of their letters by age 2! You can read more about how I teach the alphabet here.

 

 

Trucks By DK

 

If you have a car or truck lover, you need this book! My youngest loves all things with wheels and this book is perfect!

 

It teaches about different parts and vocabulary with trucks that makes making connections to all of his other cars and trucks a breeze! It’s also a board book which is important for little ones that are rough on books!

   

Potty By Leslie Patricelli

 

We introduced this book to our youngest around 14 months. It quickly became a favorite! 

 

This book is a very simple story without many words. However, that gives the parents some options for how to narrate the story which we enjoy. 

 

It gives children something to relate to when it comes to using the potty. I also believe that introducing potty books early to our second child has made a difference with his willingness and understanding of using the potty.

   

Poke-A-Dot Book: Old MacDonald Has a Farm By Melissa & Doug

 

This book is awesome! It was gifted to my boys last year at Christmas within less than a year I have taped it back together several times! It’s a strudy board book but gets a lot of love!

 

As an intervention specialist, I love this book for all of the sensory input it gives babies and toddlers! It also teaches the song Old MacDonald which provides animal sounds (perfect for teaching language to toddlers).

   

Teeth are Not for Biting By Elizabeth Verdick

 

One of my most challenging parent times was when I had a son that was a biter. If you know, you know! We got this book for him as a means to help. 

 

It has quickly become one of my 1-year-olds favorite books this year! He loves that it includes sound words like (crunch, chomp, etc.). 

 

It does a great job of explaining to toddlers what teeth are for and what to do if they feel like biting or have been bitten.

   

Pete the Cat By James Dean

 

I pulled out this book when my oldest son was about 2.5 years old. He wasn’t super into it until a few months later. 

 

However, my younger son is very into Pete the Cat. I think mainly because his class at childcare does a lot of work with Pete the Cat at school. 

 

Throughout the year, both of my boys have been into Pete the Cat with my younger son being more into the series on an overall basis.

   

Yellow Copter By Kersten Hamilton

 

Yellow copter is a cute book about a teacher that gets stuck in at the top of a broken down Ferris wheel at a local fair. Have no fear because yellow rescue copter is here! 

 

Both of my kids have taken to this simple book full of fun sounds of the helicopter. It also is full of rhyme which makes it a great book for phonemic awareness.

   

Olivia By Ian Falconer

 

Olivia is a story about a pig that acts just like any other toddler or preschooler. She’s very relatable to this age. I love it as a teacher because it’s easy to make connections between the stories that Olivia shares and real life.

 

My son loves it because she is funny. She loves to go on adventures, she doesn’t like naps, and she has a little brother. Sound familiar?! If your young child isn’t reading Olivia books yet you can get them started with this original book. I can’t wait to see if they love it as much as my kids do!

   

Look & Find Books

 

We have several of these toddler look and find books including a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book, P.J. Masks, Disney movies, and a Little Einstien. My kids have really enjoyed the Mickey Mouse and Disney books this year.

 

They love the interaction and the familiar characters (because we are a Disney family!). I like that they teach a variety of descriptive words and vocabulary.

   

Skunk in My Bunk By Christopher Cerf

 

I love this book for the slew of early literacy skills it offers young children. My kids like it because it’s full of rhyme and silly stories!

 

I wrote a whole post on how to use this book to teach early reading skills to toddlers. Feel free to click the image below to read more about it! 

   

The Easter Beagle By Tina Gallo

 

I pulled this book out for Easter and my son loved it so much it stayed out until August! My in-laws started him on the Peanuts as a baby.

 

I finally had this book put away and he found it again less than a month later! It now lives in his room all year.

   

5-Minute Stories: Peanuts & Curious George

 

My 3-year-old became very into the 5-minute stories over the course of this year. I think these books are a great value for your money. Many of them are around $10 or less at a local T.J. Mac and offer more than 10 stories! 

 

My son was gifted the Peanuts book for Christmas by his Aunt when he was 2. Over the course of this year, we have easily read all of the stories multiple times! 

 

This is one of those books that is so loved I have taped it back together a handful of times. 

 

Later in the year, I purchased the Curious George book for him at a steal of $7.00! It is as equally loved! 

 

Even my 22 month old is starting to get interested in these books. 

   

Dragons Love Tacos (1 & 2) By Adam Rubin

 

These books! I think I could (actually I know I can) read the first book cover to cover without even opening the book! My son has loved these books since the age of 2! 

 

They are a silly story about dragons that love tacos, parties, and taco parties! But they don’t like spicy salsa! My son loves to see what happens when the dragons accidentally end up with spicy salsa!

 

I love that he makes connections back to this book when we are eating tacos! 

   

Tagalong Moon By Floyd Cooper

 

This book was gifted to us from the Imagination Library. It is a sweet story of a grandfather and grandson about how the moon will always follow you home.

 

My 3-year-old loves making a connection with this book when he sees the moon at night. He will often say, “that old moon will always shine on and on for me”. A line from the story.

   

Conclusion

 

These are a round-up of the books my kids 20 Favorite Children’s Books of 2020! It was hard to narrow it down to just 20 (21 if you count the sequel!) books. It was a bit difficult because we read so many books over the course of a year and my child have grown a lot!

 

Please let me know what your children’s favorite books of 2020 are in the comments below? Do they enjoy reading any of these titles?!

 

Don’t forget to share my post with a friend or caregiver of toddlers looking some new books for their collection.

 

 

Love, Ashley E