The Please and Thank You Book by Barbara Shook Hazen and Emilie Chollat
This classic Little Golden Book has been the best (and most fun) way to teach our preschoolers about kindness and good manners. "When Wanda Warthog comes over, beware! She leaves a trail everywhere ..." It's a collection of silly poems – featuring sharing bears, a helpful raccoon, rabbits who happily try new foods, and more. Yes, please!
Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi
While potty training our kids, we've accumulated a stockpile of going-to-the-potty books. Our hands-down favorite is Everyone Poops. Seeing the variety of ways that different animals poop makes our kids giggle – and it opens up the conversation in a fun way. Just don't be surprised if you hear a little voice from the bathroom, "I made a one-hump poop!" Taro Gomi's illustrations are terrific, as always.
Seasons by Alain Michel Jeunesse (Enchanted Lion Books)
Blame it on the foggy San Francisco summer, but we're ready for fall. To teach your kids about the changing seasons – and to rediscover them yourself – no book is more beautiful than this pick. Each page has a word (or phrase) and illustration that represents summer, autumn, winter or spring. It's a fascinating way to introduce new vocabulary – like Migration, Avalanche, Fireworks and Abundance. Fun thing to do with your kids: come up with your own stories behind each of the pictures. We keep this one on the coffee table.
The Berenstains’ B Book by Stanley and Janice Berenstain
The B Book begins with a big brown bear and a blue bull, soon joined by a beautiful baboon, blowing bubbles, biking backwards. The three take off on a host of B-themed adventures, having a blast. It was one of our favorites when we were kids, and the silly alliterations hold up. (Black bug's banana boxes almost always get giggles from our boys.) What better way to learn letters?
Book of Cities by Piero Ventura
We can't get enough of this book. The text is a little advanced for our kids, but the charming illustrations of how people live, work, get around and have fun in major cities are so interesting and intricately detailed that every page is a chance to invent your own story. Our boys love pointing out the elaborate goings-on, like a tiny family of wiener dogs holding up traffic in London or a camel up to no good in the Middle East. Every time we “read” it, we see something new. Maybe one day, we’ll get around to reading it too.
Yawn by Sally Symes and Nick Sharratt
In honor of Wee Society turning 1, we've chosen one of our very favorite first birthday gift books. It'll last them through their preschool years. With a great big yawn that passes through each page, this adorable board book proves that the only thing more contagious than a yawn is a fit of giggles. “Sean gave a YAWN while sitting on his mat. Guess who he gave it to? A scruffy, fluffy…” If your kids are like ours, they'll scream "CAT" at deafening decibels before you can turn the page.
Little Bee by Edward Gibbs
Sometimes the simplest stories become the favorites. This is one we read to our kids as babies, and they continue to love it as preschoolers, trying to "read" it themselves. A little bee flees from a hungry frog, who’s fleeing from a scary snake, who’s on the run from a mean mongoose, and so on. But who started it all? There's a twist at the end that gets a giggle. Sweet and surprising, Little Bee is on our list of top baby book gifts.
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems
This completely original take on a classic tale makes us laugh out loud. Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway "went someplace else and were definitely not hiding in the woods waiting for an unsuspecting kid to come by." Cue Goldilocks, a precocious, unsupervised child who barges into their house and helps herself to chocolate pudding of varying temperatures. (Children taste better full of chocolate pudding, apparently.) We won't spoil the ending, but the lesson for kids is clear: never wander into strange homes. And for dinosaurs who want to trap children: get a lock for your back door.