Books to Grow On
Recommended reading for the first three years of your child's life, the Books to Grow On series comprises book lists compiled by the librarian members of the American Library Association-Children's Book Council Joint Committee from April 2003. The book lists are divided into the following age brackets:
| Explores the world through the senses-in relation to books, use of seeing faces and objects and hearing sounds. |
| All Fall Down. Oxenbury, Helen. Little Simon, 1999 |
| Animal Crackers: Bedtime. Dyer, Jane. Little, Brown, 1998 |
| Baby Animals: Black and White. Tildes, Phyllis L. Charlesbridge, 1998 |
| Baby Rock, Baby Roll. Blackstone, Stella. Illustrated by Denise and Fernando Azedo. Holiday House, 1997 |
| Big Fat Hen. Baker, Keith. Harcourt, 1994 |
| Black on White. Hoban, Tana. Greenwillow, 1993 |
| Blue Hat, Green Hat. Boynton, Sandra. Little Simon, 1984 |
| How Baby Grows. Buck, Nola. HarperCollins, 1998 |
| I Love Colors. Miller, Margaret. Simon & Schuster, 1999 |
| Max. Wilson-Max, Ken. Jump at the Sun, 1998 |
| My First Baby Games. Manning, Jane. HarperCollins, 2001 |
| My Very First Mother Goose. Opie, Iona, ed. Illustrated by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick, 1996 |
| Peek-A-Boo! Ahlberg, Janet and Allen Ahlberg. Viking, 1990 |
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| Increasing exploration with hands-able to reach for books, touch and feel pictures; prefers pictures of faces, begins to vocalize. |
| Animal Kisses. Saltzberg, Barney. Red Wagon, 2000 |
| Baby's Lap Book. Chorao, Kay. Dutton, 1991 |
| Brown Sugar Babies. Smith, Charles. Jump at the Sun, 2000 |
| Goodnight Moon. Brown, Margaret Wise. HarperCollins, 1947 |
| I Can. Oxenbury, Helen. Candlewick, 1995 |
| I Smell Honey. Pinkney, Andrea. Illustrated by Brian J. Pinkney. Red Wagon, 1997 |
| Maybe, My Baby. O'Book, Irene. Illustrated by Paula Tible. HarperCollins, 1998 |
| My Colors (Mis Colores). Emberly, Rebecca. Little, Brown, 2000 |
| Red, Blue, Yellow Shoe. Hoban, Tana. Greenwillow, 1986 |
| Time For Bed. Fox, Mem. Illustrated by Jane Dyer. Harcourt, 1993 |
| Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Winter, Jeanette. Red Wagon, 2000 |
| Welcome, baby! Baby Rhymes for Baby Times. Calmenson, Stephanie. HarperCollins, 2002 |
| Where's the Baby? Paxton, Tom. Illustrated by Mark Graham. Morrow Avon, 1993 |
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| Able to hold a book with help, turn pages, point at pictures, and make sounds for a particular picture. |
| The Bear Went Over the Mountain. Wells, Rosemary. Scholastic, 1998 |
| Big Dog, Little Dog. Pilkey, Dav. Harcourt, 1997 |
| Count with Maisy. Cousins, Lucy. Candlewick, 1997 |
| Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z. Ehlert, Lois. Harcourt, 1989 |
| The Everything Book. Fleming, Denise. Henry Holt, 2000 |
| Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. Christelow, Eileen. Clarion, 1989 |
| Freight Train. Crews, Donald. Greenwillow, 1978 |
| Itsy Bitsy Spider. Wells, Rosemary. Scholastic, 1998 |
| Jamberry. Degen, Bruce. HarperCollins, 1992 |
| My First Action Rhymes. Pictures by Lynne Cravath. HarperCollins, 2000 |
| Rabbit's Bedtime. Wallace, Nancy Elizabeth. Houghton Mifflin, 1999 |
| Read to Your Bunny. Wells, Rosemary. Scholastic, 1997 |
| Sheep in a Jeep. Shaw, Nancy. Illustrated by Margot Apple. Houghton Mifflin, 1986 |
| Ten, Nine, Eight. Bang, Molly Garrett. Greenwillow, 1983 |
| Tom and Pippo Read a Story. Oxenbury, Helen. Simon & Schuster, 1998 |
| Where is My Baby? Ziefert, Harriet and Simms Taback. Handprint, 2002 |
| Where's Spot? Hill, Eric. G.P. Putnam, 1980 |
| You Are My Perfect Baby. Thomas, Joyce Carol. Photos by Nneka Bennett. Joanna Cotler, 1999 |
| Zoom City. Hurd, Thatcher. Harper Collins, 1998 |
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| Able to name familiar pictures, turn one page at a time, and carry a book around the house. Able to concentrate on simple stories, but still needs a great deal of one-on-one interaction and physical activity. |
| Be Gentle! Miller, Virginia. Candlewick, 1999 |
| Book! George, Kristine O'Connell. Illustrated by Maggie Smith. Clarion, 2001 |
| Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Martin, Bill Jr. and Eric Carle. Henry Holt, 1992 |
| Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Martin, Bill Jr. and John Archambault. Illustrated by Lois Ehlert. Little Simon, 1989 |
| Color Zoo. Ehlert, Lois. HarperCollins, 1989 |
| Come Along, Daisy! Simmons, Jane. Little Brown, 1998 |
| Construction Zone. Hoban, Tana. Greenwillow, 1997 |
| Dinosaur Roar! Strickland, Paul and Henrietta Strickland. Dutton, 1994 |
| Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs. Barton, Byron. HarperCollins, 1989 |
| Hello Lulu. Uff, Caroline. Walker, 1999 |
| How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Yolen, Jane. Illustrated by Mark Teague. Blue Sky, 2000 |
| In the Tall, Tall Grass. Fleming, Denise. Henry Holt, 1999 |
| Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? Carlstrom, Nancy White. Illustrated by Bruce Degen. Simon & Schuster, 1986 |
| Little White Duck. Zaritsky, Bernard and Walt Whippo. Little, Brown, 2000 |
| Maisy's ABC. Cousins, Lucy. Candlewick, 1995 |
| Max's First Word. Wells, Rosemary. Dial, 1998 |
| "More More More," Said the Baby. Williams, Vera. Greenwillow, 1990 |
| Mouse Mess. Riley, Linnea A. Scholastic, 1997 |
| On Mother's Lap. Scott, Ann Herbert. Clarion, 1992 |
| Silly Little Goose! Tafuri, Nancy. Scholastic, 2001 |
| The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Potter, Beatrix. Warne, 1999 |
| The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Carle, Eric. Philomel, 1981 |
| The Wheels on the Bus. Raffi. Illustrated by Sylvie K. Wickstrom. Random House, 1998 |
| You're Just What I Need. Krauss, Ruth. Illustrated by Julia Noonan. HarperCollins, 1998 |
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