5 Books for 2 year olds

For the last nine months I’ve been watching my 2 year old goddaughter while her mother works. Little bug, as I call her, and I have lots of adventures together. Our favorite spots are the library and church. When we come home from the library we sit and read the new books we’ve checked out. Then she reads them to her little toy dog.

Of course these book become bedtime books and get read again and again during the weeks we have them. Over time we’ve developed a few favorite series (even picking some copies up at garage sales) and I’m going to show them to you here.

1. Biscuit – The adorable little puppy who is learning about the world is a lot of fun to read. Biscuit responds to almost every line in the book with “Woof! Woof!” He is so well drawn with good expressions that you can tell if those are suppose to be read with question, excitement, or disappointment. Reading it out loud is a hoot! We love these ones Biscuit’s Big Friend, Biscuit and the Baby, Biscuit’s Day at the Farm, Biscuit in the Garden.

2. Elephant and Piggy- Piggy and Gerald (the elephant) are best friends who go through a lot of ups and downs together. The books are whimsical and expressive. The over arching theme is friendship, forgiveness and working through feelings. Some titles you might want to try Can I Play Too?, Elephants Cannot Dance!, There Is a Bird On Your Head! , Pigs Make Me Sneeze!.

3. Little Dino’s Don’t – Learning to get along can be hard. These books teach kids  important lessons about social behaviors in a silly context with dinosaurs and fun rhythms. Little Dinos Don’t Yell, Little Dinos Don’t Hit , Little Dinos Don’t Bite, Little Dinos Don’t Push.

4. If You Give a Pig a Pancake – We’ve only read the first one so far, but we’ve read it a lot. Silly stories with good pictures go far with 2 year olds. I guess you could say that the book teaches kids about cause and effect or about making too many ridiculous requests. The truth is its just a fun story with great illustrations.

5. Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! – By Mo Willems the author of the Elephant & Piggy series. When the bus driver takes a break he leaves you in charge of making sure the pigeon doesn’t drive off with it. Will you give in? A book about peer pressure, and temper tantrums.