Ian’s Top 10 Board Books

As I’m getting ready for Simon’s arrival, I’ve been gathering up board books again.  I didn’t keep all of Ian’s – it just wasn’t possible since I’ve transfered my love of buying books for my library to his – and I’ve had to reestablish a collection.  Yes, the boys totally need a new bookshelf as badly as I do, since we’re going to be adding Simon’s books now.

Anyway, I kept the ones he loved, and while I’ve done a few posts on which ones he would recommend – Ian Recommends, Toddler Picks, My First Board Books, and Ian’s Favorites – I didn’t really have a good solid list anywhere.  So when I was asked for some board book recs, I had to do some searching.  Um, yeah, I need to fix that. So here are the Top 10 Board Books Ian loved as an infant (and if I had to rank them, this is probably the order I would go in too):

  1. That’s Not My Monkey (Usborne Touchy-Feely series) by Fiona Watt.  Ian loves this whole line!  He would seriously have me re-read each book 2 or 3 times each night before bed.  I want to say we ended up with a least 6 or 7 different ones.
  2. Hickory, Dickory, Dock and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star by Sanja Rescek are two I still have on Ian’s bookshelf as he loves going back to them every so often.  Quite honestly, any simple nursery rhyme books.  We’ve had a variety of versions at one point or another and Ian still loves reading through them.
  3. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow.  All of the Five Little Monkeys books are still a favorite.  Well, Ian doesn’t need this particular book any longer, he can recite the entire story by heart if that tells you anything.  *grin*
  4. B Is for Bear by Roger Priddy.  It actually got to the point where I had to put this one away because Ian had outgrown it and yet he still wanted to read it.  I’m seriously thinking of picking up F is for Farm for Simon because of that.
  5. Your Personal Penguin by Sandra Boynton.  Actually, pretty much anything by Boynton Ian loved.  He would still be reading them if I haven’t put them away.
  6. Goodnight Baby by Ibaby.  Ian loved putting all the babies in their beds.  This is actually a book I give when I go to baby showers.
  7. Let’s Go to the Zoo by Fisher Price.  Ian loved lifting all of the flaps and seeing what was under them.  I haven’t tried the rest of the line yet, but something tells me I will be with Simon.
  8. Spotted Yellow Frogs by Matthew Van Fleet.  I don’t know what it was about this one, but Ian always wanted to read it.  We ended up having to get rid of it because he had overused it and the flaps really didn’t work anymore.
  9. My First Word Board Book and My First Colors Board Book both by DK Publishing.  These really aren’t a book you can read like a story, but they are great for the educational angle.  Check out the post, My First Board Books, for more.
  10. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown & Clement Hurd. I’ll be honest, it’s a classic, but I seriously don’t get the draw.  However, Ian loved reading it.  Personally, I liked reading Goodnight Goon more.  *grin*

I will also say that I recently found the series Dinosaur Friends (Count to Ten, The Shape of Things, First Words, In Living Colors) by Stacey Quisenberry and Suzan Browning at a Half Priced Books and picked a couple of them up for Simon.  Obviously Ian and I haven’t read them yet, but I liked what I saw when I opened them up.

So for the moment, those are the books that I have waiting for Simon because I know Ian loved them.  For those of you with your own infants, which board books have you found to be a hit with your tiny reader?

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

3 Comments

  1. Thanks for this. My daughter is 9 months old and I want her to have a good ‘library’ full of quality books to get her excited about reading.

  2. My daughter really loves Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type by Sandra Boyton (in fact any of her books are cute…they’re quirky and fun. However, my favorite is I Love You All The Time by Jessica Elin Hirschman, Jennifer Elin Cole, and Bonnie Bright. I just LOVE the message.

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