Best Books to Give at a Baby Shower

Spoiler alert: if I’m invited to your baby shower, I’m going to give you books. Probably books for your baby, maybe some for you too, or maybe – if I really like you – both. I’ve done this off and on in the past but after hearing Sarah Mackenzie mention it briefly in passing on her podcast, I decided this will be my go-to gift for the foreseeable future. Kendra Adachi says to “decide once” in order to reduce decision fatigue and make your life easier, so this is my “decide once,” one-size-fits-all, best gift for baby showers.

Perhaps you are wondering, “Why are books the best gift for baby showers?” Besides the fact that they are uniformly wonderful, Sarah Mackenzie pointed out that most new parents know that they should read to their kids, and want to read to their kids. However, not all new parents know what to read to their kids. Here is where we, the book-loving friends, can help! If a brand-new parent, eager to do the best for their sweet little bundle of joy, heads to the local library to pick out some books to read, there is a 110% chance that some or most of the books they come home with will be lousy. I do not mean to be an obnoxious book snob here, but it is an unfortunate reality that not all books are created equal and some are downright awful. So now this well-intentioned parent scoops up their darling baby, sits down with a pile of colorful board books, begins to read through them… and hates it. They sigh, decide that maybe reading isn’t for them, and give up – when the only problem with this situation is the books themselves. A good book for babies, toddlers, or children should be enjoyable for the parent too, but not all parents know this!

So, my friends, WE can be the superheroes who help encourage a new generation of readers by gifting books to parents that they will love to read, their children will love to listen to, and that will set them off on a life-long journey of reading together! What a worthy cause! If you have a pile of favorite baby books or toddler books that your children have loved, that you have taped back together one zillion times, that have been lovingly decorated with crayon and spit-up and Thomas the Train stickers, please consider giving one of them as a baby gift the next time you’re invited to a baby shower (you just might want to buy a new one instead of gifting your own destroyed well-loved copy). If we can encourage a parent to get in the habit of reading with their child, or help a new family to see that books are so much fun, we will have made an actual difference in someone’s actual life. Books may not be able to change the world, but they can change people, and those children who read will be the ones to shape our future.

To help you out and get you started, here is a list of my own favorites, some of which we have owned and loved for the entire 11.5 years of our parenting journey! Some are old classics – perhaps you’ll remember them from your own childhood – and others are new favorites. Choose any one of these books, or one of your own personal favorites, and it will truly be the best gift for baby showers: a gift that keeps on giving.

Favorite Baby Books: The Best Gift for Baby Showers

BOARD BOOKS FOR BABIES

1. B is for Bear by Roger Priddy
2. Furry Friends by Disney
3. Where’s the Digger? (and others in that series)
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
5. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle
6. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
7. Blue Hat, Green Hat (and others by Sandra Boynton)
8. Whose Knees Are These? by Jabari Asim
9. My First Counting Book by Lilian Moore
10. A Tale of Tails by Elizabeth Macpherson
11. Hush, Little Baby by Marla Frazee
12. Road Work by Sally Sutton
13. Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom
14. LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

BOOKS FOR TODDLERS (because those babies grow up so quickly!)

1. The Giant Jumperee by Julia Donaldson
2. Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
3. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
4. What Do People Do All Day? (and other Richard Scarry books)
5. Corduroy (and other Don Freeman books)
6. Have You Seen My Duckling? by Nancy Tafuri
7. Snowman’s Story by Will Hillenbrand
8. The Friendly Duck by Deborah Borgo
9. Read Aloud Bible Stories by Ella K Lindvall (all six volumes in the series)
10. Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman
11. Green Eggs and Ham (and other Dr. Seuss books)
12. Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
13. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
14. Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Finally, don’t forget that the key to this superhero mission of ours is that they must be good books. Don’t grab any random book off the shelf at Target and assume you’ll be helping a family gain a love of reading! My lists are by no means comprehensive. You could also ask a friend for suggestions, you will probably have many fantastic ideas of your own – and hey, maybe you’ll look at one that I recommended and you won’t like it! That’s perfectly fine – everyone’s taste in books is a little different. My plea to you is simply to pass on a book that someone else has loved so that that exhausted, sleep-deprived parent has something already on hand for the moment when they decide to sit down and read with their baby; something specially chosen just for them that will make them smile together with their baby, laugh together, and in the end, want to read it again.