Favorite Story Books for Toddler Boys

Updated on August 03, 2009
D.T. asks from Natick, MA
17 answers

I have a 27-month-old son who enjoys books before bed time. Recently he's been enjoying story books much more than our old picture books. He loves Curious George and Peter Rabbit. We're getting a little bored of the same stories and wondering if anyone has suggestions for other favorites? Good themes for us include animals, trucks, cars, or any other vehicles. Open to other ideas too. Thanks!

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So What Happened?

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I'm now armed with a great list of books to take to the library. I can't wait to see what we can find! This should keep us going for a while. Thanks!

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J.M.

answers from Boston on

My son is getting a kick out of "Caps for Sale" right now. He also likes "Olivia" even though it seems like kind of a more girlish book. Also, the Harry McClary series is good. And anything by Mo Willems (Don't let the pigeon drive the bus, Knuffle Bunny, etc). Have fun!

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S.M.

answers from Boston on

An old classic but both my boys loved it...Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel. We were just given a series of Skippy John Jones. The kids love it (even my 10 year old and his teenage cousins) and it is fun to read. Enjoy.

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J.G.

answers from Boston on

I have a 5 year old boy and an almost 3 year old girl. In the toddler years, we all enjoyed reading these books:

- "I Stink" and "I'm Dirty" by Kate Mcmullan and Jim Mcmullan
- The Pigeon books and the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems
- Anything by Jan Brett
- Almost anything by Eric Carle
- Anything by Dr. Seuss
- "The Pout-Pout Fish" by Deborah Diesen and Dan Hanna
- "A Fish Out of Water" by Helen Palmer and P.D. Eastman
- "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak
- "Cranky Pants" by Stephen Sanzo and Matt Whitlock
- "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" by Judith Viorst
- "Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson

Actually, we are still reading these, although the 5 year old is really more interested in science books right now. One additional suggestion -- try to remember the books you really enjoyed as a child. The ones that stand out in your memory are probably "classics" and would be enjoyable for everyone.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.W.

answers from Boston on

When i was pregnant with my 1st i started collecting Dr Seuss books. They still read them & they're 8 & 5 yrs old. There favorite i think is The Hungry Catterpillar. I could live in Barnes & Noble! You could always go to your local library & pick out diferent books each week vs buying. Tag sales are good for finding books also.

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A.H.

answers from Hartford on

I have a 26 month old son who loves trucks etc. too. The George and Martha books by James Marshall are great. Also, have you checked out the Froggy series by Jonathan London? There are plenty of good non-fiction books on trucks and cars (DK is a good publisher to check out). My son was interested enough that he was willing to sit through several nonfiction truck books that were several years above his level. We found a CAT book at the library that had a dvd with it showing construction trucks in action -- he loved it!

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M.M.

answers from Boston on

My toddler boys are riveted by the Frog and Toad books (Arnold Lobel).

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J.S.

answers from Boston on

So many favorites! So little time! I hope you ask the same question of your local library. Some of our favorites--Diggers are for Dig Dig Digging. Go Dog Go. Bear Snores On. A Fly Went By. Green Eggs and Ham. Enjoy!

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H.S.

answers from Boston on

One of my faves as a kid, that I now share with my kids, is "The Monster at The End of This Book" - it stars Grover, and is very funny, as he tries to keep you from turning pages.

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B.W.

answers from Boston on

a favoriet of ours that includes animals and trucks is "are you my mother" by dr. suess

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R.H.

answers from Boston on

I LOVE "Tumble Bumble"- Felicia Bond - rhyming, silly, with a short simple story..bought that a few times. Also "The little mouse, the red ripe strawberry and the big hungry bear" board book. bought that a few times too. Also "mrBrown can Moo- can you?" by Dr Seuss. funny, sound effects..All faves of my boys . Then theres "Because a little bug went kachoo"with the Dr Seuss collection( i think not by Seuss though but written by his friends when he died) . And also "if you give a mouse a cookie" and the others. These all have been FAVES of my 3 , I buy new ones when they get wrecked! have fun :)

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O.B.

answers from Boston on

Hello Tracy,
here are some of my 28 months old that he loves:
"Road Builders" by B.G.Hennessy
All books of Richard Scarry's "Busy,busy town", "What people do all day", "Best word book ever",
" Cars and trucks and things that go". The classic one is " MikeMulligan and his steam shovel" by Virginia Lee Burton.
And another very well illustrated book is by Rotraut Susanne Berner " In the town all year round" That will take you a while to go through this. And the animal books are "the bear books" we call it by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman "Bear feels sick", "Bear's new friend", "Bear beels hungry" and there are others. "The boy with a drum" is one of the favorites. Books by Byron Barton are very sipmle and easy to read. They are great for a toddler to read on his own after you read it a few times. We love them all. And when he is a little older "Cock-a-Doodle Dudley" by Bill Peet.
Have a nice time reading.

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W.H.

answers from Bangor on

hi there. lots of great suggestions already! Here's a few more: the "Little Critter" series by Mercer Mayer, the "Franklin" series by Paulette Bourgeois, and last, but by no means least: the "Berenstain Bears" series by Stan and Jan Berenstain.
Hope this helps! And if you can get there, most public libraries have a children's story time, and they encourage all ages and sometimes incorporate an activity with a particular book after.

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J.H.

answers from Boston on

Hello! I have a 3 year old boy who is in love with trains and he loves Usborne books. They have great books and they have a large selection of books about trucks, diggers, trains, and cars. Many of the books are interactive and more fun than a regular story book. He loved them so much that I became a consultant and started selling the books. You can check them out on my website at www.ubah.com/a3269. I would be happy to sell you some books, or do a home show for you, but I really am not writing this for self-promotion. My son really loves these books and I am guessing yours would too!

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L.P.

answers from Lewiston on

Margaret Wise Brown books - Goodnight Moon, and (I think) The Furry Family or The Very Furry Family. Very cute. Don't forget a children's Bible - check out Christian Book Distributors online, they have a great selection and good prices, too.

We still enjoy our nightly Story Time, and our boys are 10 and 8 now.

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D.M.

answers from Boston on

My four year old son was given a set of books by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker. The series is called "Amazing Machines Truckload of Fun" (published by Kingfisher) and it has ten small hard bound books that have rhyming text and fun illustrations. At the end of each book is a page that explains the important components of each book. For "Flashing Fire Engines" the last page shows the siren, fire resistant pants and jackets, face mask, hydrant, etc. Now my son knows so much more about tractors, submarines, trucks, etc. than I ever knew! They're amazing books and I highly recommend them. They don't talk down to the kids and they use the "real" words to describe what they're doing with the machines. As far as I'm concerned, it's definitely a bargain at $19.99 for the complete set.

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E.A.

answers from Hartford on

Hi D.,
My son recently discovered the Arthur series and he can't get enough. He had his favorite books before and that's all he would want to read at bedtime (every-single-night :). We started going to story time at the library and I let him pick out which books he wants to borrow to take home to read. He gets excited b/c they're books that he picked out, so it makes him feel as if his decisions matter and it's easier on me, b/c I don't have to read the same ones over and over again (well, at least not until the week is up and we go back to exchange for different books.)Clifford is another good one. Hope this helps.

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L.R.

answers from Boston on

My son is about 31 months and loves his Thomas the Train books. Also, the Goodnight Book for Curious George is a favorite. We also order a set of these little books called "Animal Baby". The stories describe all different types of baby animals and my son really enjoys them!

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