Books for Babies and Toddlers I Would Not Recommend

I can only speak from my experience as a mother and just trial and error with Baby Bun.

Here are the Top 5 toddler / baby books I WOULD recommend for new parents.

Essentially, anything that is very simple and boring, was stuff that Baby Bun completely passed over and was not interested in.

You have to understand that a lot of books are written for adults who think children should be interested in that, but really, can a baby or a toddler tell you what they are interested in?

No.

The same way that men market products made for women (feminine products, makeup), and sometimes completely miss the mark of what women actually want, we adults completely miss the mark in what makes a child interested in books and reading.

Very simple books are these classics that we waste money on buy and think they should love but can’t figure out why they don’t.

I also recommend going to your library and trying out books first before committing which is what I did.

I also find that if I make the pictures interesting and make the story come alive, ask him open-ended questions (what does he have in his truck?) it makes it more interesting as well.

These books were too simple:

What a stupid book. Moo. Baa. La la la?

Ugh.

I guess if you sing it, or make funny faces, why not, but what a waste of money it would be had I bought it.

Other books actually meant as a joke for adults like this one by Jimmy Fallon is cute, but… again. Too simple and written by a celebrity hence its Bestseller status on Amazing. *eyeroll*

Any book that is just pictures is okay for the beginning but if it isn’t interactive or interesting, kids just flip through them very quickly.

Like these ones:

I found that Baby Bun did not find these one-word picture books interesting at all. Other toddlers I’ve observed have also just flipped through it and tossed it on the ground (way more fun).

The books that actually kept his interest, were anything that had things that moved (like tabs you can pull and shake to make animals appear and disappear), or hidden animals or stories (e.g. Where’s Spot), or just plain interesting drawings (e.g. Goodnight moon which I find completely boring and simple but the illustrations are what make the book in the end).

Other wasteful purchases would be books that have textures or crinkly things that you think a baby might like, and they will.. for the first little while but then ignore it for your keys or REAL Mommy/Daddy Things, like this book:

They are supposed to help your babies with texture and whatever else, but … honestly.. I didn’t buy or bother with any of this educational stuff until Baby Bun showed an interest in reading books and wanted to do more than flip the pages as fast as he could with glee.

I want him to become a Reader like me, a real Bookworm, and I found those books seemed to satisfy worried parents that they are doing the best they can to force education onto their kids in a fun way, but the kids don’t care or absorb that info.

Again, I’d recommend these 5 books for new parents instead.

WHAT BOOKS DIDN’T WORK FOR YOU?