Educational Books for 2-Year-Olds: Making Story Time Fun
Looking for educational 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 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 can now follow simple two-step directions like “Take your book and put it away.” However, this does not mean that they will necessarily do what you ask because they will also begin 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? With educational books for 2-year-olds!
*Post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through links result in a small commission to us at no cost to you. Some books have been gifted. All opinions are our own.
Interactive Educational 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 educational books for 2-year-olds offer 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.
Why We Love This Book: Encourages imagination, promotes language development (following directions), interactive.
Find this book in Educational Books for 2-year-olds / Interactive Books for Kids.
Don’t Push the Button by Bill Cotter
This funny story is the perfect interactive book
We love this interactive book for kids because it combines humor with language development. What will happen?
Appropriate for ages 3-5
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. There are so many fun and imaginative ways to read this book.
Find this book in Educational Books for 2-Year-Olds
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.
Your child can not only flip the pictures and dance with Flora. When you are done, you can put on some music and dance with your little one. This is one of our favorite interactive picture books.
Why We Love This Book: Wordless picture Books help with language development, Caldecott Honor-Winning book, wonderfully interactive
Appropriate for ages 1-4
Find this book in Educational Books for 2-Year-Olds / Wordless Picture Books / Baby Girl’s First Library / Interactive Books For Kids
20 Amazing Interactive Books for Kids of All Ages
If you love interactive books and are looking for more, we have books for kids of all ages.
Educational Books for 2-year-Olds with Questions
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 too.
Why We Love This Book: Kids have an opportunity to answer you non-verbally. This way they can demonstrate their comprehension!
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 your 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 asking so many more questions.
Why We Love This Book: We love that not only does this book ask questions, but it also looks at gender norms and questions them as well.
Appropriate for Ages: 2-5
Find this book in Educational Books for 2-Year-Olds / 14 Fantastic Books to Encourage Children to Be Unique
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. This is one of our favorite educational books for 2-year-olds.
Why We Love This Book: This book has great illustrations and it’s funny! As a parent, that is a huge plus when choosing a book for a home library
Appropriate for Ages: 2-5
Educational Books for 2-year-olds with Prepositions
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 educational books for 2-year-olds with prepositions 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.
Why We Love This Book: This book is not only educational, but this classic can help develop motor coordination. It is also great for a more active child.
The Napping House by AudreyWood
The illustrations and repetition in this book make it one of my favorite books with prepositions for toddlers.
Everyone in the napping house piles onto the one bed to sleep. The rhythm and repetition make it easy for your toddler to “read” the book with you. This is one of my favorite read-aloud books and is a delightful bedtime story.
Why We Love This Book: The repetition and rhythm of the story are great scaffolding for children who are learning to put two words together
Appropriate for Ages: 2-5
Find this book in Educational Books for 2-Year-Olds / Best Books for a 3-Year-Old: Create a Love of Reading
Yellow Ball by Molly Bang
Follow the yellow ball as it takes an adventure on the high seas. The wonderful illustrations and limited wording allow 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. This is one of our favorite educational books for 2-year-olds.
Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
I loved reading this book to my kids. There is something about the family adventure that was so much fun. We would go over pillows, under the table, upstairs, and through chairs in our search. Not only was this the perfect way to learn prepositions, but it also made the book interactive.
This book is filled with repetition which is also good for child language development. It is filled with onomatopoeia- the best words to convey sounds and sensory input that I just love: squelch, squerch; swishy swashy; etc.
Why We Love This Book: It is interactive, helps with language development, has wonderful pictures as well as repetition
Appropriate for Ages: 2-6
Find this book in Educational Books for 2-Year-Olds / The Best Books for a 2-Year-Old
Did you find any educational books for 2-year-olds to add to your home library?
The Importance of Reading and 7 Helpful Reading Readiness Tips
If you are looking for information on reading readiness and do not know where to start, this is the first post in the importance of reading series that will help you navigate all the ins and outs of creating a lifelong love of books.
The Best Books for a 2-Year-Old Your Toddler Will Love
If you are looking for more books to add to your two-year-old library, these are our favorite books!
