The best children’s books are better than any toy, movie or TV show. For the little ones, books are more simple and magical than any other gift they could wish for. And the best books not only help young readers better understand themselves and the world, they also make them laugh, think, worry, consider, and engage all their other feelings. this is not an easy trick, but it feels natural when a book pulls it off gracefully. and there have been dozens of releases this year that do just that.
Related: These are the best books for 2-year-olds
You are reading: Best toddler books 2018
2018 has been a great year for children’s books, with familiar authors and newcomers alike exploring topics and themes with style, wit, and sensitivity that resonate much more after reaching the last page. They’re also engaging enough that you don’t mind reading them 100 times if your little one is excited about them. Below are our favorite children’s books of the year, geared toward ages 2-7. these are books that made us and our children laugh, think, dream, wonder, feel calm and forget about the real world for a while. take a look.
hello hello by brendan wenzel
wenzel’s caldecott winning all saw a cat, which explored the different ways various creatures perceive a wandering house cat, was an exercise in empathy. hello, hello is an exercise in enthusiasm: through vibrant illustrations and simple rhyming text, wenzel guides young readers through a menagerie of exotic animals (including 30 of which are on the endangered species list of extinction), all of which share something in common. is a simple and cheerful book that celebrates the diversity of wildlife.
See Also: 25 Books to Teach Kids About the Importance of Names – We Are Teachers
buy now $11
we don’t eat our classmates because of ryan t. higgins
Penelope, the classmate eater referred to in the title, is a friendly dinosaur who has just started school. and, yes, he actually devours her classmates. but only because she doesn’t know any better and, well, children are very tasty. When her teacher tells her not to, Penelope cuts them up (they’re fine, if a bit slimy). In the witty story that follows, Penelope learns how to act in her new surroundings, even if she trips and knocks over a classmate a few more times.
buy now $15
love for mat de la pena and loren long
How do you capture love and all of its various permutations on the page, let alone make it palatable to young readers? Somehow, Pena and illustrator Loren Long can do both in this book. As a collection of poems about the titular emotion, this book succeeds because of grief he is a fine writer and a great observer documenting love in all its forms; from a baby who listens to the voices of his parents to a child who looks at himself in the mirror. the poem dances on the precipice of the precious but sticks to the landing. And even if you think love is a battlefield, Loren Long’s illustration will soften you up enough to let this one in.
buy now $15
adam rubin and crash mccreary’s chupacabra
This bilingual story, written by dragons love tacos co-writer adam rubin and illustrator mark “crash” mccreery, the hollywood monster maker who designed the creature for movies like rango, terminator 2 and jurassic park, is cool. . a whimsical tale about the legendary Mexican chupacabra, its prose is a tangled form of English and Spanish (“this all happened a long time ago, on a goat farm”) which is great fun, and the illustrations, particularly the goats, which are They deflate, inflate and grow to enormous proportions, they’ll have kids coming back for more.
buy now $12
drawn by minh lee and dan santat
Grandpa only speaks Thai. grandson only speaks English. after a few tries and failures to communicate through language (grandfather’s words are displayed in Thai characters; the children in English), the two realize that they can connect through art. the boy draws his version of a magician; Grandpa draws his version of a magician. from there, the story morphs into a kind of language barrier art battle, except the two build a bridge and create a new world that’s beyond, well, words. It’s a great story, made even more engaging by Santat’s illustrations.
See Also: 25 Books to Teach Kids About the Importance of Names – We Are Teachers
buy now $11
the bulldozer and the flower by joseph kuefler
The crane, bulldozer, and bulldozer are the anthropomorphized construction crews in this story, but the bulldozer is the only one with a beating heart. it is he who stumbles upon a single blue flower growing on the last patch of bare land in the city and subsequently saves it from harm before nurturing it back to life. it is a sober story about the protection of nature told without much humor but, like its protagonist, with a lot of heart and compassion.
buy now $15
circular rolls by barbara kanninen
This fun story begins with a circle rolling, bumping into a triangle, and then exploding into smaller circles causing the square to sneeze into a flurry of shapes (rhombus, star, etc.) that bounce off and bend the line. eventually the octagon has to break everyone and the heart has to straighten the line and mend the circle. the illustrations are as simple as the story, fun and clear. it’s clearly a book written to suit children’s wishes, not as we wish children to be, but nonetheless deftly communicates both geometry and personal responsibility.
See Also: 25 Books to Teach Kids About the Importance of Names – We Are Teachers
buy now $11
the rabbit heard by cori doerrfield
Rare is the story that can nimbly explain how children process difficult feelings. but doerrfield hits the landing. After a toy brick-stacking tragedy strikes Taylor, the little boy is approached by a variety of animals, each intent on helping. however, all they do is talk to taylor. the bear screams and tells taylor to scream. The snake hisses and tells Taylor to hiss. everyone means well, but that’s not what taylor requires. However, what Taylor really needs is someone to listen, which is exactly what the rabbit provides. This is a wonderful story on its own, and it becomes even more powerful when young children are faced with tragedy and need to get over it.
buy now $15
don’t blink! by amy krause rosenthal
amy krause rosenthal, novelist, ted show host, radio host, and children’s book author, died in 2017 after battling ovarian cancer. she gave the world many gifts. Don’t blink!, her latest children’s book, is a treat for parents at bedtime. A bedtime book that challenges kids to stay awake, features a deal with kids who don’t want to go to bed: If you don’t blink, you don’t have to go to bed. The capture? each time they blink, they must turn a page. reach the end and its night-night. a wide-eyed owl acts as a guide, offering a variety of playful tactics to postpone blinking and therefore bedtime. it’s an artfully constructed story, one that must always come to the same ending: with heavy eyelids and head on the pillow.
buy now $13
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holly hobby elmore
elmore is a young hedgehog who can’t convince anyone to be his friend. the reason? his feathers are too intimidating. Eventually, with the help of his uncle, Elmore finally shows everyone why his feathers are nothing to fear, and he too learns to appreciate himself. is a classic story of learning to love yourself, made even better because elmore is never a sad one. rather, he is a brave problem solver who takes matters into his own hands.
buy now $13
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alma and how it got its name by juana martinez neal
A simple story about knowing who you take with you, this story is about Alma, a young girl who is tired of having six different names. those are too many names, she thinks. she at least she does until they explain to whom each name pays homage to: her grandmothers, her grandparents, her history.
buy now $13
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claire messer lazy bones
A dog goes, or doesn’t go, for a walk in this charming book by English author and illustrator Claire Messer. There’s plenty to endear the Slackers to the young reader, from Messer’s glowing impressions to the (identifiable) reluctance of the titular Slackers (real name: Robert Exelby Losing). oh, and two dogs in love are no big deal here. why should it be? after all, it’s just puppy love.
buy now $17
bear & dan salmieri’s wolf
As the illustrator of the popular title dragons eat tacos, the salmieri aesthetic has already crept into the subconscious of children. but with his debut as an author, bear & amp; Lobo, the Brooklyn Salmieri also exhibits a tender side. the story of an unlikely friendship, a long walk through the snowy forest and a sad goodbye, bear & amp; wolf has all the makings of a modern classic. is the masters & boris for the modern age.
buy now $12
niblet and ralph by zachariah o’hora
even if we didn’t see the tribe called quest and mingus vinyl in the background, zach o’hora’s story of mistaken identity: ralph for niblet; niblet for ralph – has enough sophistication and nuance to amuse adult readers, while o’hora’s sweet simple message (be nice) and strong illustrations (turquoise, ochre, thick black line) make it a catnip for children.
See Also: 11 Essential Art History Books for Fine Arts Students – ARTnews.com
buy now $14
how to program a josh funk and sara Palacios sandcastle
funk is a software engineer with the nonprofit girls who code, so it’s no surprise that computer language saves the day in this story. While many would stumble over such an honest conceit (coding is great for kids!), this story, in which a girl and her robot friend solve a sandcastle-building problem through coding techniques, features basic knowledge in a way that doesn’t feel forced or anything but genuine.
See Also: 11 Essential Art History Books for Fine Arts Students – ARTnews.com
buy now $14
square by mac barnett jon klassen
This second installment in Barnett and Klassen’s Planned Forms trilogy tackles topics such as anxiety, the nature of art, friendship, and impostor syndrome. Heady stuff, to be sure, but in the hands of Barnett and Klassen, responsible for some of the best children’s books of the last decade, it’s charming, funny, and beautifully crafted. And Square, who tries everything to impress Circle and, in the process, experience an existential daze that would make most order a double Scotch on the rocks, is a character any child would love: fragile, but full of hope and Energy.
buy now $10
brick, found in architecture by joshua david stein
Written by fatherly managing editor Joshua David Stein, Brick follows a young Brick as she searches for her place in the world. Inspired by the idea that “great things start with small bricks”, she visits castles, churches, walls and apartments around the world, looking for places where she can fit. It’s a fun book with lots of great illustrations by Julia Rothman and about much more than architecture and fitting in. yes, we had to mention it because joshua works for us. but, if he hadn’t, we would have included him on this list anyway.
See Also: 25 Books to Teach Kids About the Importance of Names – We Are Teachers
buy now $11
grandma gatewood walks the appalachian trail by jennifer thermes
“grandma” gatewood is finally getting her due. Just this summer, the New York Times published a long-overdue obituary of Emma Gatewood, the first woman to walk the Appalachian Trail alone for a season (at the ripe old age of 67). Gatewood was a mother of 11 children, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother when she first walked the trail. By the time she died 16 years after her first hike in 1973, she had completed the trail three times, setting her record as the first person to complete the trail more than once. Her story, too, finally made it into a children’s book this year, one whose clear, bright prose and beautiful illustrations by Jennifer Thermes give this true-life tale the inspiring platform it deserves.
buy now $18
drew beckmeyer’s long island
The history of the world was built on the backs of explorers, those who give in to all their curiosity to make the world a greater place for all of us. The Long Island captures the explorer in all of us with a leftover and disturbing book that shows a monstrous curiosity awakening in a group of people who simply want to see what lies on the other side of the island. With understated prose and powerful images that remind you where the wild things are, it’s a book that takes your breath away, before leading into deep discussions of the tantalizing unknowns of our world.
buy now $5
the word collector by peter h. reynolds
Peter Reynold’s story of Jerome, a young logophile, is one of the few books that revels in language. Although many children’s books are beautifully written, relatively few are about the words themselves. (a great wonderful exception is the correct word of 2014: roget and his thesaurus). However, in Reynolds’ story, Jerome collects word fragments, finding joy in each syllable and multi-syllable word. he is a reader who reads and his pleasure in words is reflected in those who read about his vocabulary adventure.
See Also: 11 Essential Art History Books for Fine Arts Students – ARTnews.com
buy now $14
pana bows for viola davis
Fifty years after Don Freeman introduced the lovable bear to the world, actress Viola Davis updates the series. Davis, who grew up poor on Rhode Island, used to spend afternoons in the library where Freeman’s stories about the bear and his benefactor, a young African-American woman named Lisa, kept the young actress company. now she returns the favor for her with a corduroy bow in which the bear takes a very belated interest in the world of theater.
buy now $18
door by jihyeon lee
Magic doors are everywhere in children’s literature, and for good reason: it takes courage to walk through them and lead to fascinating new worlds. In this wordless tale, a little boy finds a key and a tiny bug leads him to a mysterious and forgotten door. when he summons the strength to traverse it, he ends up in, and must navigate, an effervescent and exciting world that, while exploring its wonders and diverse inhabitants, celebrates the similarities, differences, and humanity of all. Just like Lee’s debut set of stories, it’s a wordless masterpiece.
buy now $13
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poe won’t go for kelly dipucchio and zachariah now
An elephant (wearing a little hat!) plops down on a busy street and refuses to budge in this beautiful story written in the style of local news updates. all the townspeople and commuters stuck in traffic are nothing but gruff and annoyed with the big guy blocking. it’s only when a little girl approaches her and asks why she did it that the meaning becomes clear. is a sweet little tale, highlighting the importance of simply listening to others in their time of need.
buy now $13
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