Best books that lead to hugs – baby to 2 years
Let’s face it; one of the great joys of being raising a little one are the hugs. With this in mind, the following list of books are 100% guaranteed to reward the reader with hugs and exuberant little person joy. But be warned; they may also elicit a few quiet tears of happiness too. This is our selection of the best books that lead to hugs from your toddler.
by Robert Munsch
The mother sings to her sleeping baby: “I’ll love you forever / I’ll love you for always / As long as I’m living / My baby you’ll be.” She still sings the same song when her baby has turned into a fractious 2-year-old, a slovenly 9-year-old, a raucous teen, and so on. Then, inevitably, the day comes when she’s too old and sick to hold him, and the roles are at last reversed. Each stage is illustrated by one of Sheila McGraw’s comic and yet poignant pastels.
by Nancy Tillman
On the night you were born, you brought wonder and magic to the world. The moon stayed up till morning. Polar bears danced. Here is a book that celebrates the one and only ever you! Now available in its entirety in board book format, Nancy Tillman’s masterpiece is perfect for acknowledging the special people in our lives that they are loved.
by Bernadette Rossetti Shustak
I love your hair and eyes,
Your giggles and cries…
A toddler and his teddy bear illustrate a young child’s happy side, sad side, silly side, mad side, and more! Babies and toddlers will feel loved all over when they hear this declaration of adoration and affection. A book sure to lead to genuine hugs from your your toddler.
by Sam McBratney
“Guess how much I love you,” says Little Nutbrown Hare. Little Nutbrown Hare shows his daddy how much he loves him: as wide as he can reach and as far as he can hop. But Big Nutbrown Hare, who can reach farther and hop higher, loves him back just as much. Well then Little Nutbrown Hare loves him right up to the moon, but that’s just halfway to Big Nutbrown Hare’s love for him.
by Laura Krauss Melmed
This celebration of the bond between mothers and their babies can be shared at naptime or bedtime or whenever it is time to say “I love you”. The light-drenched, golden-toned pictures exert a quietly hypnotic effect on both reader and listener, aided by the lullaby’s sing-song repetition of each mother animal’s love poem to her baby.
And our final selection for the best books that lead to hugs from your toddler…
by Margaret Anastas
Every mother knows that the sweetest way to say “I love you” is with a kiss. Anastas’s lovely rhyme and Winter’s gentle illustrations of animal mothers and their adorable babies leave no question about the best way to say I love you. It’s also the perfect book to read before sleep time, ending with; ‘tonight when you sleep dream of kisses times ten, and tomorrow we’ll start all over again‘.
