We are currently parents to two vastly different types of readers. We have an enthusiastic reader, who will almost always pick books over toys and a reluctant reader not that interested in the written word just yet (yes, I do know she is under a year old and yes, I realize categorizing her as reluctant is a bit premature). Mind you both of our “readers” are under the age of 3. But these books are a hit with almost any age of kid from earliest “readers to early elementary. These books will engage children by asking them to do something.
Note: This post includes affiliate links. When you click on the images of each book (on the left) and make a purchase, your children will be grateful and so will I! I will receive a small remuneration for referring you. No pressure, the book list is free and libraries are amazing!
Huff & Puff by Claudia Rueda – A new twist on a classic children’s story. In this one, the reader is the wolf who needs to huff and puff to blow down the pigs’ houses. And there is a twist ending, too. There is not much prose in this book, so it is perfect even for the smallest of readers and it is attention grabbing and interactive. Can you blow down the houses of the three little pigs?
Press Here by Herve Tuliet – I have included this book in other book lists, but it is truly a special book, deserving of a special place in every child’s library. It feels like magic as your child simply follows the instructions and turns the page to see what happens. Perfect for young ones just learning to follow instructions and preschool and early elementary ages who will marvel at their power to change the story.
Snowmen at Work by Caralyn Buehner- We discovered the Snowmen series when we were working 
on a winter unit for our One Year Old Preschool. These books will be favorites of ours for years because they are so fun! What makes them even better is they have hidden pictures on each page. Young ones will challenge themselves to find each hidden item throughout the book and congratulate themselves on eagle-eyed vision.
Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson – I discovered this on a recent trip to the bookstore. It was sitting next to Press Here and 
I could just tell it had magic inside! This book explores a tree through the seasons of the year. Your child follows the instructions to interact with the book and this one is amazing (Check out the video on the amazon page to see what I am talking about, you have to scroll down to see it)!
Open Very Carefully, A Book with Bite by Nick Bromley. Your little one will love to follow the crocodile found within these pages. This is another book that requires the reader to follow some instructions to help the hijinks along. The illustrations in this one by Nicola O’Byrne are amazing! Oh, and the publisher created some printable activity sheets as a companion to the book, get them here.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit, a Pull and Play story. Get your little ones started early on this classic tale with an interactive story. This is not your typical pop-up type book! But what I love is it is sturdy in construction, basically guaranteeing you will be able to read this with your kids for years. It is a perfect selection for little hands developing fine motor skills.
Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt. This is a classic for a reason! We started reading this to our girls before they were one year old and they loved it. Each page gives the child something to do to show off their skills. Our girls favorite is playing peek-a-boo with Paul. We will be reading this for a long time, too!
One to Ten and back again by Betty Ann Schwartz. We have had this in our collection for a long time and it still gets taken out and read frequently. Each time the page is turned a ribbon appears with creatures resting on a flower. Then when you get to the end of the book, you turn it over and read it again, counting down as the creatures go away, watching each ribbon disappear. It is neat!
I complied this list as a companion to my work with the Picture Book of the Day bloggers. You can find an amazing list of books on almost any topic on our Pinterest board. Today’s Picture Book of the Day from this list is Huff & Puff, a current must read (every day) book around here.
Happy reading!
This post was shared on Pinterest The Friday Flash Blog
Note: This post includes affiliate links. When you click on the images of each book (on the left) and make a purchase, your children will be grateful and so will I! I will receive a small remuneration for referring you. No pressure, the book list is free and libraries are amazing!
This Post Has 15 Comments
Love the info on books and love your blog. Such good information!
Wonderful list and brilliant books! I have to admit, I havent read a few of them so I am off to find them at the library.
-Reshama @StackingBooks.com
Thanks, Reshama! Glad to have a fellow book lover leave a comment. We (my husband and I) were book bloggers in a former life (pre-kids).
I wanted to invite you to the Friday Flash Blog Party, the best linky in town! I hope you’ll join us and link up. Who knows. You may just get highlighted!
The party goes on through Monday.
Jennifer @ The Jenny Evolution
http://www.thejennyevolution.com
Thanks, Jennifer! I linked up and will return…there are lots and lots of great ideas!
Oooh, we loooooove ‘Press Here’!
Oh we just got press here for my daughters birthday, it is so great! What a cool list, I’ll have to check these out soon since that was such a hit!
Thanks for the great list of books! I saw you at the Serenity Now party and am glad to have clicked over. A couple of these books I am familiar with but some I am not. We will be on the lookout for them. 🙂
I haven’t seen all of these, so I’ll have to look for them! Thanks for sharing! Stopping by from List it Tuesday!
Oooo, I’ll have to check these out! I am only familiar with “Press Here,” which my 5 year old happened to love!
Pat the Bunny will always have a special place in my heart… Thanks for sharing at the Love to Learn Linky!
In addition to the great books you mentioned, Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett, It’s a Tiger by David LaRochelle, Don’t Push the Button! by Bill Cotter, and Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas are all very interactive books I have used (often!) in my library storytimes.
I love finding out about new books! Nice list!!
“Press Here” is officially our new favorite book. I love the interaction – my daughter really gets into it!