Children’s Books to Give as Gifts

When I had the boys my reading habit took a major hit. I was a voracious reader and man, I miss it!

But, given my love for reading, and the fact that one of my boys started reading at 26 months (yep, really), it isn’t a surprise that my collection of children’s books is starting to rival the collection of my own books!

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An Early Reader

Having an early reader does pose some challenges. Although we read and loved Goodnight Moon every night for several years, I am always on a hunt to find age-appropriate books to keep everyone’s interest (mine included!).

I also started looking for books about kindness and positivity when they were about 3 1/2 to try to battle the effects of all the togetherness twins get – particularly twins of a single mom.

So I thought I’d put together a list of children’s books that we have loved!  These really just scratch the surface of the list, but these would be good for Christmas gifts, birthday gifts or even baby shower gifts.

Children’s books to give as gifts

1. Baby University Books

Baby University has a series of board books by Chris Ferrie that are kind of awesome. I found these when I was looking for books for a baby shower gift for my cousin, and I bought them for my boys, even though they are “baby” books. Check out this 4-book set which includes:

• Quantum Physics for Babies
• Rocket Science for Babies
• General Relativity for Babies
• Newtonian Physics for Babies
• There are others in the series, such as Optical Physics for Babies and the ABCs of Mathematics as well. My 5-year-olds still love these books, and so do I!

2. Good Night Our World

The Good Night books are some of our favorites still.

The most well-known is Goodnight Moon of course, but there are SO many more. A friend gave us Good Night New Hampshire because I moved from there back to Florida when I was 6 months pregnant, and that prompted me to go looking for other “Good Night” books.

Look through the vast list of these to see if your city or state has a Good Night book. Besides the New Hampshire edition, some of our favorites have been the GOOD NIGHT…

• … Beach
• … Zoo
• … Galaxy
• … Boston
• … Florida
• And if I had girls, I would definitely be getting Good Night Mermaids!

3. Books about Kindness

Positive and kind books are high on my list for my boys. I started reading these themes to them around age 3 1/2. Some may be a little advanced for the age, but they are 5 1/2 now and still pull these books for us to read. (Be on the lookout for a future post on this topic and our Good Deed Project!) 

Here are some of our favorites:

• Have You Filled a Bucket Today, A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud
• How Full is Your Bucket for Kids by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer
• Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler by Margery Cuyler
• The Juice Box Bully: Empowering Kids to Stand Up for Others by Bob Sornson and Maria Dismondy
• What Does It Mean to Be Kind? by Rana DiOrio

4. Confidence-Building Books

Books that build confidence are big in our house too. Some of our favorites are:

• Incredible You! 10 ways to let your greatness shine through, by Dr. Wayne Dyer
• Unstoppable Me! 10 Ways to Soar Through Life also by Dr. Wayne Dyer
• Dreams Can Come True… All They Need is You by Mike Dooley
• I Can Handle It (Mindful Mantras) (Volume One) by Laurie Wright
• Sometimes You Win…Sometimes You Learn by John C. Maxwell

While we have tons of Dr. Seuss and other more common children’s books, I do seek out different books with positive messages that we will enjoy reading over and over and over again!

I hope you love these suggestions!

More from Brooke and the Boys:

Early Reader or Hyperlexia?

Teach Kids the Love of Reading

Children’s Books to Give as Gifts