Best Books for 2-Year-Olds

Your baby makes a big language leap once they become a toddler. Their vocabulary is not only growing, but they’re also starting to make connections between the books they read and real life. Discovering the best books for your two-year-old can help improve their cognitive ability, social-emotional understanding, and future literacy skills.

Interactive Board Books and Early Educational Titles

From a young age, children explore the world through their senses. Some board books have a focus on sensory stimulation and encourage children to touch, explore, and learn about different textures. Such books are not only a great way to introduce your toddler to simple concepts like counting, animals, opposites, and so on, they also lay a strong educational foundation and help build important reading skills. In addition to the educational benefits, an interactive book can be a good way to get children who don’t yet have the attention span to sit through a story interested in books.  

My Busiest Book Ever! is a Scholastic Early Learner full of fun touches on every page. The embedded popper on the back cover and singsong text helps children develop fine motor and early literacy skills. And for little ones who love animals, Touch and Feel Baby Animals is a padded board book filled with tactile areas to touch and explore. 

The “I am…” series is the perfect way to teach your two-year-old about different vehicles and how to identify them. I Am a Garbage Truck shows us what happens to our trash after it’s collected, and I Am a Train will have your two-year-old chugging along with excitement as they travel from town to town delivering passengers and cargo.

Books About Everyday Life 

As your two-year-old toddler gets into the rhythm of a routine, such as eating, potty training, naptime, and going to bed, reading books about these everyday experiences can help them understand their importance.

Making bedtime stories a part of your child’s evening routine is the perfect bonding opportunity at the end of a long day and a healthy way to adopt a daily habit of reading. Seeing their favorite characters get ready for bed models good behavior for your child and lets them know it’s almost time for them to say goodnight, too.  

In Clifford’s Bedtime, the adorable little red puppy exasperates his mother by thinking of creative ways to postpone bedtime. For older two-year-olds, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen is a rip-roaringly funny page-turner that shows us that we all go to bed — albeit, kicking and screaming — one way or another.    

Introduce potty training with George Goes to the Potty. In this title, Peppa helps her younger brother learn how to recognize the signs of needing to go. 

Best Books for 2-Year-Olds About Feelings

Big feelings can be difficult to understand and express for everyone, but especially two-year-olds. Family read-aloud time is a good opportunity to talk to your little one about their emotions and teach them new skills for recognizing and expressing the way they feel.    

Social-emotional learning (SEL) books help young readers make sense of their emotions while guiding them on how to manage and resolve them. When reading these books, channel your inner actor by using exaggerated facial expressions and body language, silly voices, and mannerisms to evoke different emotions.

Endearing Books About Friendship 

Making and maintaining healthy friendships is an important part of growing up. Friendships allow you to find your true self, feel supported, and discover the world around you through different perspectives. At this stage, your toddler is learning valuable friendship skills, like sharing and turn-taking. Books that celebrate friendship and emphasize empathy and kindness can help foster these early skills and set your child up for social success when they start school.  

Bear Learns to Share is an adorable book that teaches young kids the timeless lesson of sharing and what it means to be a good friend. Meanwhile, We Are Better Together carries a great message about the power of community and getting along. 

Stay up-to-date with the best new children’s books every month to grow your home library and keep your young readers learning. Plus, explore more children’s books by age and popular read-alouds that other parents love. 

Find all books and activities at The Scholastic Store.