A book for a baby is really a gift for two people: the baby, and the grown-up who will read it aloud, again and again, half-asleep at six in the morning. So the first test is simple. Is it a pleasure to read out loud for the hundredth time?
Babies under one do not follow plots. What they take from a book is the sound of a familiar voice, the rhythm of the words, and high-contrast pictures they can focus on. Around six months they start reaching for pages, and by nine months many love lifting flaps, pointing and waiting for a favorite page. Short books with a strong beat or a repeating line work best.
Every book on this list won or was honored by a major children's book prize. We picked ones that work for the youngest readers and that most families keep long after the baby years.
Winner1978
Allan Ahlberg
Great for a first book to grow with
A rhyming game of I spy: each page hides a nursery rhyme character, like Tom Thumb or Mother Hubbard, for the next page to reveal. Babies love the bouncy rhyme long before they can find anyone, and toddlers love being the one who spots them. A book that lasts from about six months to four years.
1978 Carnegie Medal for Illustration winner
Winner1963
Ezra Jack Keats
Great for a keepsake
Peter wakes up to snow and goes out to explore: footprints, snow angels, a snowball saved in his pocket. The collage pictures are bold and simple enough for a baby to take in, and the quiet story becomes a favorite as the child grows. It was one of the first picture books with a Black child as its hero, and sixty years on it still feels fresh.
1963 Caldecott Medal winner
Winner2005
Kevin Henkes
Great for newborn eyes
A kitten sees the full moon and thinks it is a bowl of milk. She leaps, chases and climbs, and keeps ending up wet and hungry, until she goes home to find a real bowl waiting. Strong black-and-white pictures and a repeating 'Poor Kitten!' make it ideal for babies, who can join in by one year.
2005 Caldecott Medal winner
Beth Krommes
Great for bedtime
A bedtime poem that builds like 'This Is the House That Jack Built': a key to a house, a light in the house, a bed, a book, a bird, the moon, and back home to sleep. The black-and-white scratchboard art glows with touches of gold. Slow, soothing and perfect for the last book of the night.
2009 Caldecott Medal winner
Honor1990
Lois Ehlert
Great for little hands
Each page has a shape cut out of it, and as you turn the pages a tiger becomes a mouse, then a fox. Babies love poking their fingers through the holes; toddlers learn shapes and colors without noticing. A book to touch as much as to read.
1990 Caldecott Medal Honor Book
Honor1979
Donald Crews
Great for babies who love things that go
A train rolls across the page, one colored car at a time, then through tunnels, past cities and away. Almost no words, so the reader can add the sounds: chug, whoosh, toot. For babies who love things that go, it is often the first book they ask for by pointing.
1979 Caldecott Medal Honor Book
Honor1984
Molly Bang
Great for a bedtime routine
A father and daughter count down from ten to one at bedtime: ten small toes, nine soft friends, all the way to one big girl, all ready for bed. Warm, simple and a lovely way to make a bedtime routine. A good choice for a new dad.
1984 Caldecott Medal Honor Book
Winner1988
Martin Waddell
Great for a gift from a grandparent
Little Bear cannot sleep because he is afraid of the dark, so Big Bear brings bigger and bigger lanterns, until he finally shows him the moon and the stars. It is a book parents remember from their own childhood, and it is just as comforting read to a baby on your lap.
1988 Carnegie Medal for Illustration winner
From birth. Newborns will not follow the story, but they love the sound of a familiar voice, and a short daily reading habit is one of the best things you can start early.
A board book for anything the baby will hold. A hardcover is fine for a beautiful keepsake that a grown-up reads, like The Snowy Day or Where the Wild Things Are, to be handed over a few years later.
Yes, and it is one of the few gifts that lasts. Write a short note and the date inside the cover. Many families keep that book for decades.
See every award-winning book for babies and toddlers