Upper-Level Board Books

shipsshoessealingwax · August 2014

My 18mo son has an extensive vocabulary (200+ words) & LOVES being read to. He prefers books w/ a detailed story to them (fables,
nonfiction) & has outgrown a lot of the simple material typically found in board books, but does not yet have the self-control to be trusted w/ normal paper pages.

I love DK & Usborne books. I just received Usborne's 1,000 Things That Go & 1,000 Animals books & cannot WAIT for my son to see them! I am also interested in several of the "Look & See" series, but worry those might be a bit TOO advanced just yet.

What are some other good titles available as board books that are at a higher comprehension level?

tbmadeamistake · August 2014

IF He can't be trusted with real paper, can you buy the real paper books and use them for when you read together, then store them out of reach? I honestly can't think of any board books that fit the bill. Head over to Barnes and Noble and ask in the kids dept, they are very knowledgeable about their stock.

shipsshoessealingwax · August 2014

@Lilygrace48‌ We do occasionally read books w/ paper pages together, but he loves to "read" to himself & we like to keep ample books available at his level for him to initiate reading at any time. Thanks for the B&N suggestion, I'll ask around! :-)

We are working w/ him towards being able to handle the thinner pages, but it's perfectly developmentally appropriate for him not to be able to, so we don't want to push it. He *can* handle intermediate pages like lift-the-flaps.

ashiscute · August 2014

LalaMama81 said:

I think you are over thinking it a bit. When he is "reading" on his own, it doesn't really matter if it's an "easy" board book or not. If he wants to read, read the book he has first and then switch to regular books.

There are some board books w/ more complex stories - we have Madeline for instance, that was from Target, I think. But it's okay for him to keep reading and looking at Sandra Boynton, Goodnight Moon, Eric Carle, Little Blue Truck, etc. Just because he can sit for a longer story doesn't mean he can't appreciate and learn from the others, too.

All of this. You sound like you think you are preparing him for Harvard. You know he can't actually read right? So if he is looking at a book himself he is just as well served looking at a book that only lists types of trucks, or Goodnight Moon, or Llama Llama books. He will learn from them all.

We have a huge shelf of books in our living room with a mix of board books and paper books. There are a lot of books with thicker paper pages that DS has no problems with (he's 23 mos). There are also board books. He doesn't discriminate and neither do I. DD is 3.5 and she still looks at "simple board books". She's fine.

shipsshoessealingwax · August 2014

@LalaMama81‌ You're probably right. I love for him to be able to choose his own books off the shelf for me to read, but maybe it's not important that he have ALL of them w/in reach. We do still read many of his other books & he looks at all of them. I was just nervous about buying ANY paper page books b/c I don't want them to be destroyed.

@ashiscute‌ I am not looking to replace his books, just add to them. Of course it doesn't matter if he is looking at simple books on his own, I just want to provide a bit more variety for him to flip through. I was concerned about buying paper books, but I guess I'll never know when he can handle them if he never has access to them.

vvvvvfee · August 2014

i think the board books with lots of pictures in different categories of things are great for toddlers to look through by themselves. another suggestion would be to go to a local book sale and pick up some hardcover or paperback books for cheap. then if they get ripped, it's no big deal.

many of eric carle's picture books are available in board book editions.

DS enjoys these two fables by byron barton (and anything by byron barton, really). they are board book versions of the picture books:

the three bears, by byron barton
the little red hen, by byron barton

he also likes this one:
alphablock, by Christopher Franceschelli
it's a boardbook, but it has cut-out pages so there's another tactile element to explore.

i'd also highly recommend the elephant and piggie series by mo willems. they're beginning readers and only available in hardcover, but they are popular so they should be easy to find at a book sale. they are really fun as read-alouds.

shipsshoessealingwax · August 2014

Thanks for the wonderful suggestions, @vvvvvfee‌ !! I have earnestly collected the Eric Carle board books - my son LOVES them! I think our versions of 3 Billy Goats Gruff & 3 Little Pigs might be Byron Barton so I will look for the other titles you suggested :-)

ashiscute · August 2014

LittleLuvBug said:

@LalaMama81‌ You're probably right. I love for him to be able to choose his own books off the shelf for me to read, but maybe it's not important that he have ALL of them w/in reach. We do still read many of his other books & he looks at all of them. I was just nervous about buying ANY paper page books b/c I don't want them to be destroyed. @ashiscute‌ I am not looking to replace his books, just add to them. Of course it doesn't matter if he is looking at simple books on his own, I just want to provide a bit more variety for him to flip through. I was concerned about buying paper books, but I guess I'll never know when he can handle them if he never has access to them.

True. Just stay away from books with thin pages for a bit. (Little golden books, early readers.) DS has no problem with the Llama Llama books or things like that. They tend to be made of thicker stock. Sometimes if he's not being gentle I will take a book away but it's really not an issue. I would hit up some book sales (library, garage sales, etc) and see what you can find.

SusieBW · August 2014

I have no particular suggestions for you. DD still loves her Dr Seuss books.

DD has had regular paper books (in addition to lots of board books, obviously) all along. I've taped a couple of pages here and there, and had to take one or two away when she got especially rough, but I don't see why an 18 month old can't have regular paper books. We're not talking about priceless first editions here, right? These are kids books, pages are bound to wrinkle and get a little worn.

The only limit I have put on it is paper page library books - I restricted her playing with those alone for a while, but now she understands that library books are not ours to keep, so we have to be especially careful with them.

shipsshoessealingwax · August 2014

@SusieBW‌ - My son is a bit of a firecracker. He is getting much gentler lately, however he has a history of being pretty rough w/ things. Not intentionally destructive, but very excitable. I know other, calmer kids around his age who I could see being perfectly fine w/ paper pages... I just don't know if we are quite there yet ;-)

shannm · August 2014

I agree with the other responses and I don't think you need to increase the complexity of the stories. But I appreciate wanting to add variety. Edited to add - the little blue truck series is one of my newer favorites. Search board book on amazon. There are a ton of classics available as board books.

Xath · August 2014

I totally get what you're saying. DS1 has a mixture of books, but he loves to take his favorites into bed with him at night, and a few of the paper ones have been damaged. Some of the more narrative stories we've gotten in board book are:

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Most books by Sandra Boynton

Goodnight Moon

You are My I Love You

The Foot Book

Go Dogs Go

For touch and feel type books, the ones by Bright Baby have the most variety in texture in my opinion. From Usborne, my DS has loved the Penguin book since he was 10 months old and still loves it at 3 years.

Xath · August 2014

Oh, and

The Monster at the End of this Book

Another Monster at the End of this Book

I Love You Forever (there's a Hallmark voice recordable version with very durable pages)

shipsshoessealingwax · August 2014

Regal Mama said:
This is where the library comes in handy

Lol - Yeah, I'm going to have to start taking advantage of ours. DH & I are total bibliophiles, so btwn the 3 of us our house is overflowing w/ books! Growing up w/ a home library is one of my fondest childhood memories, so I don't mind too much, but it'd be nice to limit it to books w/ "staying power" IYKWIM!

RamaLamaDD · September 2014

Lilygrace48 said:

IF He can't be trusted with real paper, can you buy the real paper books and use them for when you read together, then store them out of reach? I honestly can't think of any board books that fit the bill. Head over to Barnes and Noble and ask in the kids dept, they are very knowledgeable about their stock.

This! We have tons of "real paper" books that we read with LO - we let her hold them and look through them while we are there. Some pages have been ripped I'll admit, but for the most part they are still in great shape. (I actually kind of appreciate the battered pages because I can really tell which books LO has loved)

Robert Munsch is a huge hit in our house. Lots of repetition in the stories which is great because LOs learn those parts and then get to participate in the books! (i.e. Mortimer Be Quiet - there is a song Mortimer sings several times in the book and LO will sing that now - at the right spots in the story - when we read it to her)

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