Hello everyone,

Please suggest some good books for Toddlers. My son is now 15months.
There are tons of them. I'm new to USA. Not sure about classic books
(except Mother Goose) and any favorites for these ages.

Also, I'm trying to find some books on parenting. Again, there are too
many. I read reviews on Amazon and got confused more. Not sure which
is the good for toddlers. I'm looking for books which will be useful
for couple of years.

Also, please suggest any reading on Child Phycology and Child Devlopment.

Appreciate your help.

best regards.

Hello, persenr-ga! 

 Toddlers love to look at pictures and learn and verbalize the names
of common objects. They love repetition and the anticipation of "what
comes next!" Therefore, they will often grab the same book over and
over again for you to read to them.

 Although I have my own "favorite" books that I read to my children as
they were growing up, I have provided you with some current lists of
the most popular and loved books for toddlers. You cannot go wrong
with these!


**********************************
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TODDLERS
**********************************

From Scholastics.com
=====================
Scholastics has divided the most popular books into age groups as well
as categories! Many of the referenced books are available on-site. The
following recommendations are for Birth to Age 2:


Baby Faces 
----------
"Try these board books featuring captivating photos that help develop
your child's self-awareness."
http://www.scholastic.com/familymatters/read/ageb_2/bl_babyfaces.htm


Books for Bonding
-----------------
"It's never too early! Experts recommend these baby-friendly tales and
board-book editions of classic stories to start your child on the road
to reading."
http://www.scholastic.com/familymatters/read/ageb_2/bl_experts.htm


Classic Picture Books
----------------------
"Connect with your child by sharing the timeless books that you - and
even your parents - loved when you were growing up. Many of these
titles are available in board book editions that will withstand your
baby's enthusiasm."
http://www.scholastic.com/familymatters/read/ageb_2/bl_classics.htm


Favorite Series for Babies and Toddlers
-----------------------------------------
"Build your little one's relationship with books starring familiar friends." 
http://www.scholastic.com/familymatters/read/ageb_2/bl_favchar.htm


Nursery Rhymes for Babies
-------------------------
"Tune your little one's ears to the magical cadences of rhyming tales."
http://www.scholastic.com/familymatters/read/ageb_2/bl_nurseryrhymes.htm
 

Other age-appropriate items - videos, toys, etc
------------------------------------------------
The Scholastics site also provides the ability to shop for appropriate
items by age. For Birth - Two Years, see:
http://shop.scholastic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?URL=CategoryDisplay%3FcategoryId%3D14659&storeId=10101&store=CS&categoryId=14659&viewParam=AgeTopLevelCategory&src=DTBFAMRD090020100000&langId=-1&catalogId=10004


Books recommendations by age as your child grows
------------------------------------------------
See the Scholastic booklist archives for age appropriate reading
selections through the years -
http://www.scholastic.com/familymatters/read/all/booklist_archive.htm#1


Book discussion forum for parents
----------------------------------
You might be interested in the parenting forum on the Scholastics website.
http://scholastic1.ehosts.net/eshare/server?action=4



* Also read "Choosing the Best Books for Your Child - Build a library
of titles he'll remember forever," by Shama Narang.
http://www.scholastic.com/familymatters/read/all/choosebooks.htm


From the Dr. Spock website: "The Different Ways Toddlers and
Preschoolers Enjoy Books," by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P.
http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5138,00.html



Recommendations from the Family Education website 
==================================================
"Best Books for Babies and Toddlers."
http://www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,64-33013,00.html



Recommendations from Magical Childhood
======================================
See "Ten Books For Toddlers."
http://www.magicalchildhood.com/articles/books10.htm



***************************
PARENTING TIPS AND ADVICE
***************************

BOOKS
-----

"Your Baby and Child : From Birth to Age Five," by Penelope Leach.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375700005/002-2844177-1590442?v=glance

"Penelope Leach's Your Baby & Child has been a beloved favorite for
years. With this new, revised edition, Leach has updated her
information and approach to reflect new findings in the field of child
development, and to respond to the changing needs of today's families.
Leach has utter respect for children and their parents; she explains
development, child care, and parenting concerns clearly and without
condescension. Each developmental stage--newborn, settled baby, older
baby, toddler, and young child--is discussed in terms of feeding,
teeth and teething, growing, excreting, crying, sleeping, playing, and
everyday care. For each stage, an additional set of appropriate topics
is discussed, including muscle power, speech, child care, and
appropriate toys. Colorful and expressive photos display infant,
childhood, and toddler behavior. With her common-sense, child-positive
approach, Leach carefully dispels negative parenting attitudes, and
teaches readers how to stop, listen, and learn from their children."

=

"Baby Steps: A Guide to Your Child's Social, Physical, Mental, and
Emotional Development in the First Two Years," by Claire B. Kopp
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0805072438/002-2844177-1590442?v=glance

"When Baby Steps was first published in 1993, it was named one of the
10 Best Parenting Books by Child magazine. Now, this popular guide to
baby's first two years has been completely revised to incorporate the
latest research on the young child's developing brain and behavior,
including brand-new material on temperament, language, and memory.
Baby Steps pinpoints the important events in an infant's life,
examining them month by month for the first year, and in three-month
intervals during the second year. Beginning with a "miniguide" to
early development, the book goes on to a cover such important subjects
as sleep, crying, colic, motor development, social play, and toilet
training. Developmental hints and alerts throughout the book provide
parents with a clear understanding of the full range of "normal"
behaviors for each phase, helping to allay common anxieties. An
accessible, concrete guide to infant and toddler behavior, Baby Steps
takes much of the guesswork out of parenting."

==

"Touchpoints: Your Child's Emotional and Behavioral Development:
Birth-3: The Essential Reference for the Early Years," by T. Berry
Brazelton.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/020162690X/ref=pd_sbs_b_1/002-2844177-1590442?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

"T. Berry Brazelton is a knowledgeable physician with years of
experience with thousands of children, and he brings that experience
to bear on virtually every issue faced by families with kids, from
birth through age 3. In this sterile age of managed care, Brazelton
provides the kindly, reassuring approach of your own family
physician--a physician living in your own home, on your own bookshelf.
Touchpoints provides chronological accounts of the basic stages of
early childhood, presents (in alphabetical reference form) the
challenges to development, and explores the important role of each
person--father, mother, caregiver--in a child's life."

Also see:

"Touchpoints 3 to 6," by T. Berry Brazelton, Joshua D. Sparrow.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00021LMZO/ref=pd_sim_b_2/002-2844177-1590442?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance

"Venerable pediatrician Brazelton (Touchpoints) teams up with child
psychologist Joshua D. Sparrow to adapt his theory of "touchpoints" to
children ages three to six. In his earlier work, Brazelton explained
that infants undergo periods of behavioral regression (touchpoints)
before each developmental burst. Here he addresses issues like sibling
rivalry, bedwetting, tantrums and lying as normal aspects of
development, and suggests ways parents can be emotionally supportive.
The first of the book's two major sections follows four imaginary
children with varying, composite temperaments (an active boy, a quiet
boy, an intense girl and a cheerful girl), exploring everything from
adjusting to a new sibling to making friends. Readers may soon find
themselves skipping all but the portions directly related to their own
child's temperament type (and weeding out the fictional scenes to get
to the nitty-gritty of what to do when a child lies, wets the bed,
etc.). In the second section, the authors straightforwardly discuss
various contemporary parenting concerns, such as the pros and cons of
computers and dealing with divorce. Throughout, Brazelton and Sparrow
maintain a characteristically comforting tone, reminding parents that
it's best to accept a child's temperament while helping her adapt to
the world. The authors not only point toward the predictable
touchpoints for this age group but note that parents, too, may react
to transition in certain ways, such as worrying that one is abandoning
their first child when a new baby arrives. As always, Brazelton's
poised, encouraging voice guides parents through the developmental
maze."



Websites/Articles
=================

Dr. Spock
===========
Dr. Spock is one of the most respected authorities on child rearing
and development. Please see the left-hand tab for various issues
relating to toddler development.
http://www.drspock.com/ages/0,1505,AgeY1_2+cbx_behavior,00.html


iVillage
==========
See iVillage articles pertaining to Toddlers/Preschooler (left-hand
tabs on page)http://parenting.ivillage.com/tp/topics/0,,4rtp,00.html

"Developmental milestones for your toddler," by Lisa Schulman 
http://parenting.ivillage.com/tp/tpdevelopment/0,,42cm,00.html


BabyCenter
==========
A good site for general articles on Toddler Development
http://www.babycenter.com/toddler


Parents.com 
=============
All About 1-Year-Olds
http://www.parents.com/age/1year.jsp

All About 2-Year-Olds
http://www.parents.com/age/2years.jsp


Today's Parent
===============
Another site with excellent articles about child development by age group
http://www.todaysparent.com/toddler/index.jsp


===


I hope these recommendations help you decide on some books that you
and your son can enjoy together! As for the child development books -
I have read through them all and can attest to their value!

Have fun and enjoy these wonderful years with your child!


Sincerely,

umiat 


Search Strategy

best loved books AND toddlers
toddler development
best parenting books
child development
books AND child development and psychology

---

Clarification of Answer by umiat-ga on 07 Aug 2005 07:19 PDT

Hello again, persenr!
 I just want to reassure you that the simple act of reading to your
son, no matter what the book, is the most valuable aspect of your
efforts! Children simply need and value the time with their parents.
You could read simple words and point to and name the pictures in a
magazine and that time with your son would be precious.
 When my children were born, especially the first one, we had very
little money. I had very few children's books and bought them all in
the thrift store. I had no clue if they were good books, popular
titles, etc. Yet, I was very conscious of pointing out pictures,
acting out moods, and naming objects.
 Don't be overwhelmed with names and titles. The simple fact that you
are interested in reading to your son is a treasure that many children
do not experience!
umiat

---

Clarification of Answer by umiat-ga on 07 Aug 2005 21:42 PDT

Thank you for the very kind rating!

A few classics for toddlers with classic readers for later age groups:

BABY & TODDLER CLASSIC READER BOOKS (Ages 1-3)
http://www.kidsreads.com/lists/baby-classic.asp

Hi umiat,

Thanks you for your exhaustive list. Appreciate you help. I got most
of the information I'm looking for.

Only info missing is the list of some classic books and stories like
Mother Goose. Since my will be living in this country, I'm interested
in knowing about those and telling him.

Have a good day.

Some of my sons favorite books for me to read to him at that age were
-Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)
-Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)
-If You Give a Mouse a Cookie byLaura Joffe Numeroff, Felicia Bond (Illustrator)
-If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Joffe Numeroff, Felicia Bond (Illustrator)
-If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff, Felicia Bond (Illustrator)

As for parenting some of the best books I read were the What to Expect series
-What to Expect When You're Expecting
Heidi Murkoff, Arlene Eisenberg, Sandee Hathaway

-What to Expect the Toddler Years
Arlene Eisenberg, Heidi E. Murkoff, Sandee E. Hathaway, Heidi Murkoff

Thank you scovel-ga! I'll definitely try books you suggested.

I recently got Pat-a-Cake book, he is just loving it!

Hello there...
Let me recemmend for the child..
Any/every/all    Cat-in-the-Hat Books

And for the Parent...
Sheparding A Child's Heart, by Ted Trip
Dont know what your religous persuasion is; this book on parenting is
written from a Christian perspective; it emphasizes a parenting approach
that goes beyond rules & regulations to reaching your child at their
heart level, and getting them to obey from the heart. Even non-Christians
can benefit, as they better understand their child's heart, and how
important the child's obediance is.

I agree that "Shepherding a child's heart" is a fantastic book.  He
has a lot of wisdom when it comes to children, he also wrote a book
for teenagers. But I can't remember the title right now.  It is also
very good.  The strong-willed child by Dobson is very good, especially
if your youngster is ornery.
As far as toddlers books, mine all read the Dr. Sues books and Curious George.

Books by Dr. Seuss have a poetic sound to them and are wonderful to
share with your children.  Similarly I like the Berenstain Bears
series, which typically has a valuable life lesson woven into the
story, which serves as an extremely good basis of a discussion.  This
series is aimed at children older than 15 months but your child will
grow into it before you know it.

I'd like to echo Umiat's excellent insight that reading ANYTHING gives
you very high quality time with your child.  My wife and I made it a
point to read to our two children several times a day when they were
little, and I think it's the best possible thing you could do. A
little later they will start developing preferences and often will
pick the same book, which they come to memorize. I wish everyone
everywhere would read to their toddler children every day. The world
would be better place.

bigblue-ga,

Yes, I agree to with you and umiat-ga that spending time reading
anything matters. I can see the difference in my child. Sometimes when
I don't spend time reading for a week or so, when I'm too busy with
work, my child behavior is different. I mean not normal. 1 or 2 days
of reading bring him to normal. This happened several times.

Also, I got some Dr. Sues and he is loving it. Also, Eric Carle series
(Brown Brown Bear...).

Thanks everyone.