I cannot believe that Trent is two! He is such a smart, sweet, funny boy who is really coming into his own. Additionally, over the last year, he has gotten a reading personality. I used to be able to force him to listen to whatever I wanted to read, but now he drives the book bus. He’ll still listen to new books I love sometimes, but most of the time, he is choosing what he wants to read, and he definitely has favorites. I will preface with the fact that most of these are board books because that is what he primarily has access too. I cannot wait until he isn’t into tearing book pages, and we can dive into all of his picture books freely!
Here are his favorite books over the last year (in no particular order):
Don’t Push the Button by Bill Cotter
This book is hilarious! Trent loves the interactive parts, and I love how clever it is.
Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman
A classic! Trent says good bye at the end of the hat scene which is adorable! I also love how it teaches colors, prepositions, and opposites.
Thomas the Tank Engine Me Reader
This lets Trent be in control. It has a reader that allows him to pick which book he wants to read then each page he is reading has a symbol that he presses and it reads the page to him.
Friends by Eric Carle
A new favorite of his. There is a part in the middle where the character is on an adventure to find his friend, and Trent loves the onomatopoeias that are within this section.
Race Car Count by Rebecca Kai Dotlich
I am so glad we got this book because it may just be Trent’s favorite. He loves the orange car the best. I really think this book is the reason why he knew all of his colors by 22 months!
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site (Sound book) by Sherri Duskey Rinker
Trent is a fan of sound books and construction machinery, so this is a perfect mix and a great bedtime story.
Big Friend, Little Friend from the World of Eric Carle
Another sound book which looks at big and little animals that live in the same habitat. Another combo of two things Trent loves.
A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na
This has been a favorite of Trent’s from the second we read it the first time. He loves his owl book. He’s also started having us read Little Owl’s Night by Divya Srinivasan, so I can see it sneaking in and being a loved owl bedtime story too.
If I Were a Penguin by Anne Wilkinson
Another favorite for his entire life. He loves the touch-and-feel aspects and penguins.
Rainbow Rob by Roger Priddy
This book is such a great mixture of humor, touch-and-feel, and learning. It teaches about different animals and colors within a humorous story with each animal having a different textured aspect.
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
At first Trent had no interest in Goodnight Moon, but recently we had started saying goodnight to everything around the house, so I decided to bring it back out. Now it is the book that we end every day with. He crawls into bed, and I read it to him right before kissing him goodnight.
The Monster at the End of this Book and its sequel by Jon Stone
My boy is a Sesame Street kid (and proud of it), and we love both Monster books.
Little Monsters and Oh My a Fly! by Jan Pieńkowski
These are both pop-up books that we had when I was younger, and my mom passed on to me. They are a little gross and weird, but Trent just thinks that’s hilarious.
Peek-A-Zoo and Peek-A-Boo by Nina Laden
This along with Pete the Cat and Llama Llama are the first books that Trent “read” because he memorized what to say (or parts of what to say). He loves turning the page and “scaring” himself with the animal or Halloween-themed thing beneath the page.
Llama Llama Zippity Zoom and other Llama Llama board books by Anna Dewdney
Llama Llama Zippity Zoom is one of my favorite books to read with Trent because he reads along with you and loves the different rhyming words throughout. He yells VROOM VROOM VROOM every time–it is so great! He is also starting to like the rest of the Llama Llama board books we have, so I see him being a huge Llama Llama fan in the future.
Pigeon books by Mo Willems
We have progressed through many of the pigeon books over time. Originally, we read mostly the board book The Pigeon Has Feelings Too, but one day Trent saw The Pigeon Needs a Bath on the shelf and asked for it. The rest is history. He now has Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus in the mix as well.
Pete the Cat books by Eric Litwin and James Dean
We love Pete. The original is still our favorite and probably always will be, but Trent is good with reading any Pete book.
Disney Sound Storybook Treasury and other Disney books
We are a Disney family, so Trent is a bit obsessed with some of the characters (Anna, Olaf, Ariel, Mike Wyzowski, Sully, Buzz, Woody, Mickey, and Minnie to name a few), so he often wants to read our Disney books.
Reading with my child is something that I cherish. And I love that he is a fan of reading and has been since birth:
A First Year Full of Books
Trent and Kellee’s Favorite Books: Nine to Twelve Months
Trent and Kellee’s Favorite Books: Six to Nine Months
Trent and Kellee’s Favorite Books: Three to Six Months
Trent and Kellee’s Favorite Books: First Three Months
I cannot wait to see what the next year in books looks like for my sweet boy!
