Looking for books for 2-year-olds to help with language development and reading readiness? You’ve come to the right place! This post is the next in our series that addresses reading readiness skills by age group.
I am also a trained, licensed Speech-Language Pathologist with teaching certification who has been working with children for 15 of my 20 years in the field. Because of this experience, I am in a unique position to offer advice about the importance of reading. The reading readiness skills I’m going to talk about combine two of the things I love the most: Books and language.
It is crazy how fast your little baby becomes a toddler. By now they are walking and starting to speak in 2-3 word sentences. Their vocabulary of 50 words will expand to more than 500 words by the end of the year. Your child will now be able to follow simple two step directions like “Take your book and put it away.” However, this does not mean that they will necessarily listen because your child will also begins to use negative forms like “no” with other words (“No ball.”).
So how do you incorporate reading into your everyday life with a toddling little one who may not sit still?
Table of Contents
Interactive Books for 2-Year-Olds
I always kept a book in my bag. Whenever we had some downtime, I would read to my kids. It is also great to read to your kids before they go to sleep. Reading is the perfect activity to wind down. But, I liked to read to my kids during the day as well. Interactive books were the perfect way to keep their attention when there are so many other things to look at. I loved taking stories and making them into an activity that extended beyond the book.
Pizza! An Interactive Recipe Book by Lotta Nieminen
This adorable book is the perfect way to keep your little one engaged while reading. They can stir and mix while learning how to follow directions. When you are done, why not make a pizza to eat for dinner? You can have your child help put on all the toppings! Or you can engage in pretend-play with this adorable Melissa and Doug set.
Don’t Push the Button by Bill Cotter
This funny story is the perfect interactive book
Tails by Matthew Van Fleet
My kids and I LOVED reading this book together. It is interactive with flaps, tabs, scratch and sniff, and different textures. Discovering which animal belongs to the tails is only half the fun. I used to read this book with my kids before we went to the zoo and count how many animals we saw.
Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
I love the fact that this book has no words because it allows you and your child to make up the story together. Flora and the Flamingo dance together. You and your child can not only flip the pictures but, you can dance with Flora as well. When you are done, you can put on some music and dance with your little one.
Question Books to Reads to 2-year Olds
You will start to notice that your 2-year-old is not only able to answer simple questions but, they will begin to ask questions using inflection (“more apple?”). This is the perfect time to start introducing books that ask questions.
Where’s the Dog by Nosy Crow
This book is a “beginner” question book that looks at “where”. As you and your child read this together, you can start by having your child point to the dog. You can then progress by having your child answer you. Initially, they might answer “there” and can progress to using words like on or in. (See the next section on preposition books for toddlers). The felt flaps make this book interactive as well.
Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle
This book is a more advanced question book to read to two-year-olds. The idea that you child can grow up to be anything they choose is a more advanced concept but, the story itself has engaging illustrations that open the door to ask so many more questions.
I Want my Hat Back by Jon Klassen
The question “Have you seen my hat?” is repeated throughout this book. And while your two year old might not see the humor, you will enjoy reading this book and they will enjoy the illustrations. The simple pictures and text open the door for you to ask your child questions.
Books with Prepositions for Toddlers
As your child begins to talk more, they will begin to understand prepositions like in, on, and under. This new skill will add so much to your child’s understanding of the world around them. They will start to understand that things exist even when your child cannot see them. We have a small list of books with prepositions for toddlers to help them learn this new and important skill.
Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
As Rosie the chicken takes a walk around the farm, she is followed by a hungry fox. This book is the perfect introduction to prepositions as Rosie walks through, over and around. You can set up a little obstacle course for your toddler to help them learn their prepositions but to also make story time interactive and fun.
The Napping House by AudreyWood
The illustrations and repetition in this book makes it one of my favorite books with prepositions for toddlers. Everyone on the napping house piles onto the one bed to sleep. The rhythm and repetition makes it easy for your toddler to “read” the book with you.
Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
Follow the yellow ball as it takes an adventure on the high seas. The wonderful illustrations and limited wording allows you to follow the ball and ask your toddler questions like “where is the ball”. If you have a ball, you can play hide and seek with the ball to make story time more interactive because we all know how restless toddlers can be.
Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
I absolutely love reading this book to my kids. There is something about the family adventure that I always loved. I used to hide a teddy bear in the house and go on a bear hunt with my kids. We would go over pillows, under the table, up stairs, and through chairs on our search. Not only was this the perfect way to learn prepositions, it made the book interactive as well.
Did you find any books for 2-year-olds to add to your home library? Did we miss your favorite?
