Little Hands Bookshelf

This book is truly next level. Our local library got the “sound-book edition”. It is roughly in the same category as Sam and Dave Dig a Hole (then I realized it’s the same illustrator, WHOA!!!). “Dada, the fish stole the hat”, “Stoling is bad”. “What happened to the little fish?”. The sound-book companion is such a unique idea. For the first few reads, the child just wants to push the buttons, but after that, they can self-read the book and engage with it for a few minutes. There are no complex words, the illustrations are really cute, and the story is in your face and cannot be missed by a 2.5 year old. The characters make a strong impression and stay. Another amazing part is the post-story questions: “Which character did you like?”, “What’s your favorite picture?”, “Will you write a story when you grow up?”. I now remember to ask these questions once in a while after finishing other books too.

A very simple but attractive book about a girl that has an oversized red dog (2x bigger than her house), the girl compares her dog with the others, and points out a bunch of problems, like how it chases the wrong sticks, is so big that even lions at the zoo are afraid, and loves digging up entire trees, but she concludes by saying that she still likes the dog. “Buddy, which dog do you like?” “Dada, I like elephant!”

Little Critter’s little sister’s shenanigans at nap time. Hilarious and relatable for both the adult and child. Asked to be read 4 times in a row, and repeat laughs on several pages. “Dada, that is so funny!”

A story of of a Postman and his cat driving through the english country side on a beautiful sunny day and meet a bunch of interesting characters as they deliver mail. When they park their red mail truck, and take a nap in the grass after eating some sandwiches, they are robbed by a set of harmless chickens that peck away at all their left overs: yogurt, sandwiches. One of those chickens accidentally steals Mr Pat’s KEY, which he recovers with some difficulty. This book has been read many many times and would work with toddlers 1.5 years old and above.

My mom got this book from India, published by Dreamland Publications, New Delhi India, purchased in Hyderbad, India for $2. I’m not sure if it even has an ISBN number, but I think it rivals some of the best children’s books out there in terms of adventure and storytelling. Sinbad the Sailor is poor but happy-go-lucky, and sets out sailing in search of riches, but his ship gets wrecked, and luckily he survives and drifts to an island, where he finds a life-sized egg. As he approaches it, he’s picked up by a mega vulture (Roc is the bird’s name, which I later find out is true to the original Arabian Nights), flown to a different part of the island and dropped randomly where he finds precious diamonds. But as he’s picking them up, he’s attacked by a giant serpent which he somehow escapes, and then becomes friends with a whale that ships him home. The art is insanely exaggerated, and very “fancy” :) There are several things my son picked out: wild mushrooms, big vulture, huge eggy, diamonds, big snake (ohh my godd! in the most serious tone every time), “poor” Sinbad (his pants are torn, and his pot broken, “Dada are you poor?”), the ship wrecks “wrecky wrecky wrecky”, riding on a whale. It’s one of the most re-read adventure books on this list. On several occasions, he’s also pretend-played finding “diamonds” in the living room (i.e., random pieces of trash or paper not caught by the robot vacuum).

Papier mache / collage style art about a baby boy “Peter” who wakes up to find snow outside, and goes out walking in the snow leaving foot steps, finds a stick to smack a tree full of snow, and watches the big boys snow fight. Since he’s not big enough to play, he makes a small snowball and keeps it in his pocket (which ofcourse melts by the time he’s home). So attractive and adorable, not sure what it is about this book that makes it so attractive. Incredible repeat value, and somehow very relatable to a 2 year old boy who has actually never seen snow for real, and repeatedly requested from a pile of various other interesting books. On one occasion, my neighbor was walking by our front yard, I said “Hi Peter!”. “Dada, is this the same peter from Snowy days? Has he become big now? Snowy days book also has a Peter”.

It’s a fun story, and quite a hit with a 2.5 year old. The illustrations are cute. Asked to be read 3 times in a row. When I picked this up from the library, I didn’t realize this is a sequel. Anyhow, this is pretty heartwarming and can also be read on its own. Space travel, friendship. I like the author’s plot development and perspective, like when the boy goes to this Alien planet and doesn’t fit in with their games and activities, he feels sad and “alienated”.

Beautiful art and illustrations and quite enjoyable for an adult too. Mr Magee and his dog Dee go camping, set up a campfire and enjoy some marshmallows before going to sleep in their trailer. At night, an old near-sighted (hungry) bear comes around sniffing for marshmallows and accidentally unties their trailer hitch. The trailer slides down and ends up in the river (!!). Mr Magee and his dog wake up and peep out of the window and to their absolute bewilderment find themselves drifting towards the end of the river into the waterfall. All hope is lost, they’re about to die! What extraordinary tension. The art is truly stunning and creates a real sense of worry, you can see it on the toddler’s face. There’s a raccoon watching this whole thing unfold. Thankfully, the old bear is not evil, it’s just hungry. From a distance it spots the hitch, and thinks the shining large hitch is a marshmallow and lunges for it into the river, pulling the camper van out of the river in the nick of time, before realizing that it is indeed not a marshmallow, saving Mr Magee and his dog in the process. Phew! After this traumatizing adventure, Magee and his dog go back home and set up a campfire in their backyard. So many new words: marshmallow, hitch, near-sighted, old, hungry, camping, Magee, forest, raccoon. The plot uses a large number of simple rhyming words. He even read this book out to his grandma over the phone.

Oddly addictive and has been re-read at least 50 times in the last few months because unlike the books checked out from the library, we got this at the “free bin” at the library. “Crunch and Munch, Crunch and Munch, My name is Crunch and I want my Lunch!”. The story of a large greedy crocodile that has tyrannized the frog, snake, duck, worms, and other residents of the river. Fed up of living under oppresion, there’s a meeting of the revolutionaries to air their grievances and draft a declaration of independence (just kidding), but in all seriousness, they show great courage to come together in unison and scare away the mighty Crunch (because as the book says, though Crunch was greedy, he was also a coward) and live happily ever after. I actually used this book to introduce the idea of American Independence and the bravery of the revolutionaries. It’s not yet the 4th of July as I’m drafting this, but Happy 250th Independence Day, USA!

I was lucky to find a used 1960 edition book for only $3. Inside is a hand written note that says “To new baby Renner, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did when I was young - Uncle Pat 1997”. I mean, this book is a classic, written in 1941, it’s even featured in museums (https://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/make-way-for-ducklings). It’s a large sized book (hard bound), the pages are regular paper, so you have to be careful not to let young hands tear them. The hand-draw art, easy on the eyes and light brown color is absolutely delightful. One of the things that is genuinely mind blowing about this book is how successful it is in showing the perspective of ducks as they are flying, finding a home and experiencing life, specifically some pages have art showing a top down aerial view of Boston as seen by the birds is highly realistic and engaging to a toddler. Very highly recommend this book, every page is engaging and it’s one of the most re-read books in this list.

Incredibly good illustrations and art. A baby racoon (Chester) is sad at the prospect of having to leave his “tree-home” because people are coming to cut it down. Mama racoon explains to him that change is a natural part of life, that everyone living in that part of the forest are migrating, and at the new house she has identified for them, he will make new friends and start liking it. They kiss-good bye, and start making a journey. At the new tree, he’s still adjusting and inspecting when he runs into a new raccoon friend that has also moved to the neighborhood. This book is genuinely so beautiful, evokes a sense of nostalgia and relatability, and evoked so many questions. “Dada, why are they cutting the trees?” “Dada, is there a new school at the new home?”, “Dada, does he have toys at the new home? and a bicycle?” It’s really incredible and sometimes awe inspiring to see a 2.5 year old child work through ideas in real time and respond with questions that come to their mind.

Large (oversized) board book about rescue vehicles and professionals (fire trucks, coast guard, police, firemen). This is possibly one of the most abused, but also most re-read books of the past year. A toddler (at 2.5) can start recognizing specific letters. Because the same attractive rescue vehicles (e.g. Coast Guard ships, boats, life jackets) carry the US Coast Guard logo, the child is able to recognize whole words as being the same, and spell out individual letters — “C”, “O”, “A”, “S”, “T”, Coast — and likewise other words like Police, Fire, Guard, etc. Our favorite: “Extra Long Ladder Fire Truck”. There are also plenty of other words a child can engage with: “Stethoscope”, “Axe”, “Scuba”, “Helmet”, “Pilot”, “Helicopter”, “Fire Chief”, “Airport Truck”, “Paramedic”, “Nurse”, “Doctor” and so on. Given how durable this book is, and the number of hours of entertainment provided, I would highly recommend this book.

At least 200 reads. Much abused, and almost memorized word by word at this point both forward and in reverse, until every minute detail has been analyzed and re-analyzed. “Dada, look Bear is going home”, “Dada, is the Bear sad?” Highly recommend.

Who doesn’t like Pete the cat! This one is rife with deadpan. He wants to find a seahorse who is constantly tickling him but of course he doesn’t look in the right direction and runs into Octopus, Turtle, Whale, Blowfish and a whole set of other marine creatures, until at the last page, when Pete realizes his folly and all the animals he’s seen so far (along with the Seahorse) are revealed at once. Fun illustrations that spark conversations about marine wildlife. “Dada, what is blow fish”, “Does it become bigger” “Dada, I saw turtle at zoo”, “Dada, I have octopus” (pointing to his sof toy).

A baby boy believes in Yeti, reads all 27 books on them from the library and embarks on a funny adventure in the snow to find the Yeti. Not only does he find the Yeti, but also has a sandwich sitting on the giant Yeti’s feet (without realizing of course). And then forgets his favorite green scarf and returns to his cabin in the woods. Then the “good” Yeti walks over at night and drops off his scarf. The art/illustration is hilarious, and there’s a certain element of deadpan humor as the boy repeatedly keeps missing the obvious presence of this giant Yeti. “Dada, Ettii is good monster”, “Dada, look Ettii has horns”.

Fun book about counting with funny rhyming words and delightful looking art of exotic imaginary birds. This book has been successfully used to distract a crying toddler.

I think this is more appropriate for a 4-5 year old ideally, but it also worked well for this 2.5 year old because it’s just different from a toddler book. There’s black and white pictures and the story of how Sue the T-rex was discovered. The idea of digging the ground to find “bones” of a large T-rex, and that there are people who do that sort of stuff. “Dada, what is “Dakota”, “Funny”. “Rawrrr!!”. At the Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose, there’s a sand pit with imitation dinosaur bones where kids can use excavation brushes and shovels to unravel a skeleton, boy was that exciting to see. Something about sand and digging makes a toddler brain go wild, and to add this extra dimension of digging for dinosaur bones that a 2-year old can relate to from a book was legitimately insane. “Dada, Look Sue the dinosaur!”. “Dada, look tail!”. The book was in the “free bin” at the public library.

Another great book in the Arthur series! In this one, to show “responsibility” (Dadaa, what is responsibility?), he starts a pet-care business! and ends up dealing with all sorts of pets, and in the end, finishes with a great unexpected surprise, “Perky” doggy that he’s sitting has puppies (!!!) and he gets to keep one (Pal).

An oversized red chicken the size of a sheep is sleeping while floating down the river and at risk of falling off the huge water fall. Dora and his friends kick into high gear and set to save him. Wow, what a fast paced adventure. The tension is real. Along the way, they meet interesting characters i.e. obstacles like “Swiper the Fox” a shady character who wants to “swipe away” Boots the monkey’s lifeguard, to whom the monkey says “Swiper, no swiping”, which is repeated multiple times. We found this to be the most hilarious part of the book. In the end, the chicken is saved of course. “Swiper the Fox”, “No swiping” is somehow so hilarious and catchy for a toddler, and these phrases were repeated out of context many times over the next 2-3 days.

Love the Arthur series, and his endearing (annoying) little sister D.W. In this book, Arthur has an “original” plot but receives “feedback” about it from friends, family, neighbors etc and is distracted into all sorts of side-plots until he circles back to his original idea and finds success. What a wonderful message about authenticity and believing in one’s own self.

One of the most fun books in this list so far. A rhyming dinosaur boy playing a video game is dragged to the supermarket by his mom who forgets her shopping list, but problem-not! Because rappy’s got! the shopping list is all memorized as a poem, and in the end when she forgets the all important Toilet paper roll, Rappy comes to rescue, and departs on a “Quest”. “Dada, what is quest?” The “quest” elevates the book to the next level, he picks out a toilet paper roll from the bottom, which crumbles the toilet paper roll mountain and invites the wrath of the store manager. BUT! RAPPY SAVES THE DAY, by inventing a marketing poem that makes fellow shoppers buy the rolls. The ending is classic!

Shocking to learn that a 2.5 year old can memorize entire phrases from a book after just 3 or 4 reads. “Chips and Dips and Bacon Strips”, “foot powder”, “toilet roll” so many new fun words and ideas. “Dada what is Dips, Dada what is foot powder, Dada what is roll”?

My son learnt the word “soporific” and “lettuce” from reading this book. This is the second Peter Rabbit book we’ve read (the first one being “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”). What an adventure! Saving the bunnies with help from Thomasina Tittlemouse biting through the sack at the last minute, then tricking the McGregors by stuffing the bag with rotten vegetables, and following him in daring fashion to his house and peeping through their window to watch it unravel :) Most recently, after reading this book, he drew parallels with the book “Postman Pat” where upon taking a nap, Chickens “steal” Mr Pat’s keys. I was genuinely not expecting that connection.

Stunning, breathtaking art work, page after page. Story of a cute baby dragon who learns to breath fire and sets out to steal gold from helpless people, but meets a baker who teaches him that baking and sharing “golden” bread is better than looting coins. The dragon friends who’ve been gold coin looters by trade discover this new type of “golden” agree and good taste wins :) The art work is by far the most incredible of all children’s books read so far. Sometimes at story time, I used narrate to him the story of Bilbo Baggins and Smaug the Dragon. The artwork from this book also made that (unrelated) story come alive!

This is a very heavy coffee table book with over 1000 colorful pictures of India. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that one of the authors of the book is Abraham Eraly, a well-regarded historian known for “The Peacock Throne”, “The Age of Wrath” and other history books that I have physical copies of and thoroughly enjoyed reading. Our favorite sections from this book: Elephants, of course! Fabrics and foods, the toy train in Darjeeling, photographs of dancers and famous buildings. Not a bad way to introduce him to his own roots. I bought this book at a used book store for less than $10.

Whenever there’s a rainy day, “I have a trick!”, and the trick is to pull out this book. He always loses his mind when the sole voice of reason “fish” is tossed up and aside and when cat comes back into the house with the big box and unveils “Thing one” and “Thing two”. The rhyming words are so joyful that the child is able to have so much fun auto-completing lines. This one’s our favorite:

I know it’s wet, and the sun.
is not sunny,
but we can have
Lots of good fun that is Funny.

Dead pan humor was learnt here. It’s present on every page of this book. Apple tree, cat, house, sam, dave and their dog. classic plot development and characters. Incredible repeat value, we must have read this book at least 50 times over several months. On one occasion while plucking weeds in the backyard, he said, “Dada you are Sam, I am Dave”.

A sleepy (but endearing) bear character with attractive illustrations. The reader is asked to “interact” by shaking the book, pressing imaginary buttons that cause the bear to be tortured excessively (there’s large couches and pianos thrown on this sleeping bear, and at one point to “bathe him”, they unleash a river causing everything to drown, but he escapes each time). Hey Bruce! Attractive with great repeat value due to the interactive illustrations.

Fun pictures: Tiger train, monkey mopeds, cow cars, pairing up animals with vehicles make for a delightful story time.

This book has dazzlingly beautiful colors and large illustrations. My son learnt colors and so many new words associated with those colors thanks to this book. I later learn this book got several awards, I can see why!

What’s not to love :) Ji-young and her guitar never fails to disappoint! Hi Tamir!

Mellow, calming beautiful book about the love between a baby and their mother. Nature, umbrella, butterflies, rain coat and adventure. Rhyming text and makes for introducing some new words. Beautiful great illustrations, and creating bonding b/w the parent and child flipping through pages.

Funny adventure story about a dog that escapes bath time, roams the city and comes back dirty when his owners mistake him for some other dog until they give him a bath. This book has HUGE repeat value!

I later learnt that this has been around for 50 years and stood the test of time - I can see why!

Contains real colorful pictures of seeds and plants and pumpkins. For some reason, he just loves this board book, and asks for it to be read multiple times over - the thrill of starting from seed, seeing it sprout and bear flower and a small fruit and landing on the last page with a large pumpkin. Often, when we open the book on the first page, he asks “Where is the large pumpkin!”. It’s rhetorical question - he knows it’s coming at the end, and wants to gradually flip to that page for the expected but satisfying result, and himselfs answers “There!”.

About a baby brown girl that goes to the park and interacts with all the familiar park related features - trees, swing, slide, bench, squirrel, and rides and asks questions on each page. It’s a relatable book - nearly all parks would have a similar setup so this is a nice conversation starter about the child’s past visit to the park.

This is an amazing book! Large board book with text, and full of pictures about planes, rockets, balloons and spacecraft. Enjoyed many times over! There’s a fair bit of science, and parts like wings, cockpit, engine, etc.

Something about yellow school buses sparks a child’s imagination. This is a book about a child that’s looking out the window and spots various large vehicles vroom passing by until a school bus passes by and brings his sister. Hugely attractive to young boys.

Fun little book about animals, snow and a playful bear that steals a red sled. No words, whimsical. Baby likens the red sled to his red chair :)

I can see why this book is popular - it’s hilariously ambitious and abstract for a toddler so one would think that it wouldn’t work, but it works for a few reasons - It stands out from all the other books due to the subject, it’s fun for the adult to read it and to my surprise, my son found the jumping balls and their names funny (the balls being protons, neutrons and electrons), and how the falling yellow electron ball has “no energy”. He ultimately asked for the book to be read multiple times :)

Cookie Monster boardbook, switches from eating cookies to fruits (pears, and apples and grapes), that’s why this book is brought out at meal time :)

Sesame Street board book with Flaps and all other familiar characters pretending to be funny animals? What’s not to like!

There is a reason Sesame Street is so timeless. This board book instantly delivers to an 18-20 month old - new words - Guitar, Singing, Hair clip, Grandma (Abuela), Hola (Hello), and several others.

Wonderful book about people, parents, community, struggle of pursuit and adventure that delivers again and again at bed time :)

Board book with large pictures of animals and friendship, danger and most importantly, kindness.

Boardbook with a lyrical sleep inducing story line (“cow jumping over the moon, red balloon, three bears, sitting on chairs, hush and a bowl full of mush”) and various interesting objects. Delivers every time at bed time.

“Trip trap, trip trap, who’s there?!” Billy Goats’ bridge crossing adventure with Gruff Monster who falls into the water. Very engrossing for an 20 month old.

Makes impressive (loud) sounds, enjoyed countless times. Personal favs - Big Rig and Fire Truck!

Shows a little boy who has a Trash truck as a friend. Relatable to any boy that’s approx 20 months of age. Always delivers. There are other variants of this book, but the art / story in this is somehow better liked.

Boy wakes up bored and wants to go fishing, everyone is busy except his Grandma who is more than happy to take him out fishing. Lots of new concepts like earthworm, fishing shop, poles, boats and driving with grandma. A story of adventure, small setbacks and a fun ending.

The first little critter book, instilled the joy and frustrations of gardening and plants in my 18 month old. From buying seeds, to removing weeds to planting seeds and watering the seeds. Always delivers!