50+ Best Books For 2 Year Olds

Bubbles (A Narwhal and Jelly Board Book) by Ben Clanton

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Narwhal accidentally pops Jelly’s bubble! And they see that the ocean is full of all sorts of different bubbles. This book is brimming with simple images and a funny story that will delight young readers. It’s unbelieva-bubble! You’ll want to dive into this book again and again. 

The Goodnight Train by June Sobel

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Hold tight to your teddy… all aboard! This is a great book young kids love to read before going to bed. With mermaids, leaping sheep, and ice-cream shaped clouds, there are so many new things to see as the Goodnight Train rolls down the tracks. June Sobel also has: The Goodnight Train Rolls On and Santa And The Goodnight Train, which I highly recommend adding to your collection if you like this first one!

Hand Hand Fingers Thumb by Al Perkins

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Simple text for little readers to enjoy and bright pages with a rhyming beat you’ll want to hum and drum along to. Learning to identify your hands, fingers, and thumbs has never been so much fun.

Tow Truck Joe by June Sobel

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Joe the Tow truck is always there to help keep things rolling smoothly in Drivedale. In this fun story, there’s a cookie-crumbling fender-bender and Joe figures out how to come up with a delicious solution. I love the rhyming pattern in this book that helps build new vocabulary. If your little one likes ‘wheels’ and ‘cars’ they are old enough to start learning about what different types of vehicles are and will enjoy story time that features their interests.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

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In the great green room there is a little bunny getting ready for bed. The bright colors in this book are sure to delight youngsters as they get ready to say good night. This is truly one of the best bedtime stories of all time. It’s the right size for little hands to help turn the page and makes a great gift to help build a child’s first book shelf.

The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland

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Lion, Zebra, Moose and Sheep are playing when the day turns cold and rainy. As they take cover in a cave they realize there’s a very cranky bear inside! The bear is just trying to sleep, how can the animals cheer him up? Learn about the importance of sharing with others in a fun way. This book has a great rhyme scheme and adorable illustrations little kids love.

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae

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Gerald the giraffe wants to dance but he has crooked knees and thin legs. With some encouraging friends he gets the courage to try it out! Maybe it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t look like the other animals, he can dance too.

Love You To The Moon And Back by Amelia Hepworth

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This book has  a ‘to’ and ‘from’ built right into the inside of the front cover, which helps make it the perfect gift for a toddler. You can write in the book so they remember who gave it to them and help create a special memory. This book has gentle rhymes that are perfect for two year olds and beautiful illustrations parents and children will both love. Telling your child you love them every day is important and sometimes a good book like this is the best way to make sure they understand how special they are to us. Books can help us put our feelings into words and share special moments together.

Where Is The Green Sheep? By Mem Fox

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Here is the scared sheep, and here is the brave sheep but where is the green sheep? Search for this sheep with your toddler on each page. Can you find it by the end of the book? Bright illustrations will help engage young readers. Two year olds think it’s funny to find the missing silly sheep.

Pig The Pug by Aaron Blabey 

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Pig the Pug is greedy and refuses to share with his little friend, Trevor. But sometimes being greedy has consequences. Pig eventually has to learn how to share in this quirky and funny book that kids adore.

Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey

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Brian the Piranha loves to eat bananas. Do you think he can convince his friends that they’re a tasty treat? The piranha fish loves to eat meat, like your tiny dangling little feet!

You Make My Heart Go Vroom by Rose Rossner

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This is a delightful board book that is full of puns about things that go. It’s tow-tally awesome! The adorable transportation characters like construction trucks, planes, boats and trains help you show your love to your little one as they explain how their little ones fuel the day with happiness and make their hearts go zoom.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. & Eric Carle

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This popular book is full of adorable animals and lots of different colors. You can use this as an educational book too if you use it to start introducing your two year old to different animals‘ names. The text is perfect for young listeners who will pick up on the repetition and be able to read along with you. Pausing at the end of each sentence can help encourage your child to ‘fill in the blank’ as you read with them and engage them in talking.

Spaceblock (an Abrams Block Book) by Christopher Franceschelli

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There is some high level information in this book but it will grow with your child. It has flaps to lift and engaging images. If your child has just turned two you can start with saying just a few words on each page, you don’t have to read the whole thing. And if your two year old is getting closer to three, they’ll start to enjoy more details and information.

Lift the Flap: Nursery Rhymes by Priddy Books

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Young readers love lifting the flaps on this type of sturdy board book, which helps them build up their finger dexterity! This book includes 5 simple nursery rhymes: Jack and Jill, Hey Diddle Diddle, Humpty Dumpty, Wee Willie Winkie, and Hickory Dickory Dock. It’s a great little flap book for bedtime reading.

Where’s Spot by Eric Hill

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Spot is a beloved character and best selling book. You might even remember it from your own childhood. It’s an interactive book with your toddler searching for the little puppy under a flap on each page. This might become one of your favorite books to read together.

Peep Inside: Goldilocks And The Three Bears by Anna Milbourne

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The ‘Peep Inside’ series has several books by the publisher Usborne Books that are great for young readers and toddler fingers to explore. In this traditional story, Goldilocks eats the three bears’ porridge, sits on their chairs and even tests out their beds! It’s a classic fairy tale with laser-cut holes for tiny fingers to explore and flaps to lift.

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

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This little book is about a child who wants a pet. The zoo sends all sorts of different animals but they’re just not quite right. This book has a sweet ending when the child finds the perfect pet under the very last flap.

Where’s The Bear by Nosy Crow

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Your little girl or little boy will love the sturdy felt flaps in this book. Even if your child is a two-nado ripping things up, this book will stand up to some wear and tear since the flaps aren’t made from paper. Nosy Crow makes a few books in this lift the flap series with friendly animals hiding behind bright colored felt flaps.

Tails by Matthew Van Fleet

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This is my all time favorite touch and feel book. It makes a wonderful gift and I can guarantee toddlers will want to touch and read it, over and over. This book has soft, hairy, bumpy, and even stinky experiences for little hands to explore. It also has moving parts like tails that swish. This book makes reading fun and engaging.

Never Touch the Sharks by Rosie Greening

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Babies and toddlers love the multiple smaller silicone textures on each page. Your toddler can count along with you as you touch and feel these five snappy sharks. The books in this ‘never touch the…’ series are full of bright colors and lots of wild things like sharks, monsters and bugs.

Touch and Explore: Construction by Stephanie Babin

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Lift the flap to see more of a construction site and learn how a bulldozer works and touch the bumpy roads, rough wood beams, and smooth concrete! This book is also a part of the Touch and Explore series. The Touch and Explore books are quite informative and help young readers discover more details about their world.

Touch and Explore: Pets by Geraldine Krasinski

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There are more than 10 books in this Touch and Explore series: Bugs, Safari, Pets, Animals at Night, Dinosaurs, The Ocean, Baby Animals, Jungle, Farm, and more. We used to have our own pet hamster! If you’re thinking about getting a pet with your toddler, check out this article on the best hamster cages for some helpful info.

These books are geared towards a preschool level of comprehension but that doesn’t mean you can’t read them to your two year old. For a younger child, pick out one or two words per page to read to them until they are older and more interested in the details.

Can You Tickle a Monkey by Bobbie Brooks

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Capturing the attention span of a two year old is easier with a fun animal to tickle on each page. There are felt finger trails to trace and touch that your little ones and even older siblings will like to try. The felt makes these books quite sturdy and a good choice for little ones who may have a hard time turning thin paper pages.

Never Squish a Unicorn by Rosie Greening

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If you put a horn on a panda does it become a pandacorn? How about on a cat, does it become a kitticorn? The squishy unicorn horn featured on the front page is a fun texture to touch while reading through this book.

Don’t Push The Button by Bill Cotter

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This is a different kind of touch book! It doesn’t have real buttons to press or textures to touch, but the story in this book will still allow your toddler to interact with and touch the book. Meet Larry the monster. He has one very important rule… Don’t. Push. The. Button. Ok, but it looks sort of fun. What will happen when you give it just one little push?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

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This version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a finger puppet book. It’s perfect for two year olds who will be delighted by your wiggling finger pretending to be a caterpillar chomping its way through the book.

As an added bonus, check out this resource for some free Very Hungry Caterpillar printables!

Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

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Count down from 10 as a ladybug disappears from each page of this book! This is one of the best learning books I’ve found that’s age appropriate for a two year old. It has charming illustrations and at the end of the book you find out where each of the ten little ladybugs has gone!

Ten Little Dinosaurs by Tiger Tales

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This book includes a button you can press that will sing the ten little dinosaurs song. It’s nice to have that option in toddler books so your young child can flip through the book on their own and listen to the song when you’re not ready to sing it.

Bathtime Mathtime by Danica McKellar

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Your two year old might not be ready to count yet, but introducing the concept of ‘adding-on’ early can help them understand the concept as they grow older. My child loves the rhyme pattern of this book and the fun splashy bath time story.

Jungle Early Learning Rhymes by Laila Hills

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There are lots of wild animals to count with in the jungle. Check out the five friendly hippos, and ten pretty butterflies fluttering their wings. This is the right kind of book to make counting fun for toddlers

One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root

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Can this unlucky duck get unstuck from the muck? Maybe two fish can help? Hmmm…still no luck.  What about five frogs? Two year olds think it’s hilarious that the duck is stuck and they don’t even notice that they are learning their numbers.

Touch Think Learn: ABC by Xavier Deneux

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There are cut outs on every page of this book to touch and feel. It’s a big thick book with rich colors that your little alphabet learner will love. This book is great for infants and toddlers to start getting interested in letters and when it’s time to start kindergarten and learn the ABC’s, pull this book out again to start finger tracing the letters.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr

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Each little letter of the alphabet races up the coconut tree until… oh no! Chicka Chicka Boom! Boom! There wasn’t enough room. Now the big letters come by to help untangle the mess. Start to get familiar with letters with this fun rhyming alphabet book.

This Is A Book Of Shapes By Kenneth Kraegel

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First comes the circle. Then the square and the triangle. Then the . . . emu pushing a pancake wagon down a hill? I thought this was just a book of shapes? Large bright shapes are engaging for curious little minds to start learning the names of shapes. There is anticipation as you turn each page to see what might come next in this hilarious book.

Colors Numbers Shapes by Priddy Books 

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With 100 colorful pictures and 100 words to learn, this book is great for two year olds. It’s a tough sturdy little board book with a padded cover that is great for little hands to hold on their own.

The Wheels On The Fire Truck by Jeffrey Burton

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Just like the wheels on the bus, these ones on the fire truck go round and round too. You’ll want to sing along with this song to find out what the sirens and hoses do too. It’s a nice familiar tune with a modern twist and vibrant illustrations.

Skinnamarink by Sharon, Hampson

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I love you in the morning, and in the afternoon… You can’t tell a two year old too many times that you love them! A great song for families to sing together has been transformed into a sturdy board book your toddler will want to read again and again.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star from Nosy Crow

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This book has sweet pictures and five fun sliders that little fingers will love to play with. Twinkle Twinkle is a classic song that young children love. It’s repetitive and imaginative. This book also  has a QR code you can scan to play the song for you so that you can sing along with it. Adding this book into your bedtime routine is. a good way to wind down.

Hickory Dickory Dock from Nosy Crow

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This is another great  sing along book with sliders that little fingers will love moving back and forth as you read. Like the other Nosy Crow books in this series, Hickory Dickory Dock comes with a QR code so you can listen to an instrumental version as you sing along with this book. There are so many things to stop and point to in this book to help build vocabulary by familiarizing your child with images.

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes from Annie Kubler

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Head shoulders, knees and toes is an interactive song that toddlers love. The song is helpful to learn about the names of our different body parts. This book has been specifically designed for toddlers and babies. Singing songs and rhymes is the perfect way to share quality time. Actions also stimulate the brain and helps with muscle development.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat by Jane Cabrera

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The pictures in this book feature cute animals going for a fun journey down the stream. It’s a relaxing song and the perfect way to end your evening as your little one enjoys a bit of extra entertainment and you sing them off to sleep.

Baby Beluga from Raffi

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Baby beluga is such a wonderful Raffi original song that has become a modern classic. The images in this book are truly beautiful and feature the beluga whales swimming in the ocean and the northern lights also make their appearance. 

Down by the Bay from Raffi

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Have you ever seen a bear combing his hair down by the bay? The song Down by the Bay was made famously popular by Raffi in the version he sang and that has been written in this book. The rhyme, rhythm and repetition in this book makes it such a great read for young children

Five Little Ducks from Raffi

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Five little ducks went out one day, over the hill and far away… the ducks are such vibrant colours in this book, they easily capture and hold attention. It’s a good thing these board books from Raffi are sturdy, this is one my family had read over and over. It never gets old.

Wheels on the Bus from Raffi

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The wheels on the bus turn round and round all through the town! I love the intricate pictures in this book that you can stop and talk about as you read. Along the way you may pause to see what each character is doing and who is getting on and off the bus. Beep beep!

You Are My Sunshine illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church

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This beautiful classic song, illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church, is a fantastic sturdy little board book. The original country song became an instant hit in the 1940’s when it was released and is still special to so many parents and children today.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church

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The cover of this book shines with reflective material that will let your little one see the twinkle of these stars. The rest of this book features the regular classic words of the song we all know and love; it’s a short and sweet song you can enjoy together.

Rock-a-Bye Dino by Hannah Eliot

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A classic rhyme… with a twist! This book is written to the tune of “Rock-a-Bye, Baby,” and it features all sorts of dinosaurs getting ready to go to bed. You can learn the name of a different dinosaur species on each page and sing a classic tune at the same time. 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Shark by Jeffrey Burton

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Another classic rhyme with a big twist. Twinkle twinkle little shark, swimming deep down in the dark… If you like the classic nursery rhyme and your little one likes sharks, this book is sure to be a big hit! 

The Eensy Weensy Spider by Mary Ann Hoberman

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Have you ever wanted a classic nursery rhyme to last longer than the original short song? This board book has become a favorite  in my own household. The eensy weensy spider starts off going down the water spout and then the rhyme pattern continues on each page after as she goes on different adventures like meeting a frog in a pond, joining a bug parade, and buying shoes before she eventually settles down for a good night’s sleep at home.