2023 Gift Guide: Board Books for Ages 0-4
December 14, 2023 § Leave a comment
We’ve done it! We’ve made it to the end of this year’s Gift Guide! And by “we” I mean a very tired, very grateful, me. Thank you for showing up, once again, with lots of enthusiasm for this year’s Guide. It is an enormous amount of work, but it always feels worthwhile when I hear about the gems you’re gifting and how well the books are received. A special thanks to those of you near and far who have supported my work at Old Town Books by choosing to purchase your books there. Indie bookstores forever!
Thankfully, I’m not too tired to sing the praises of some of my favorite board books of the year. Last year, I didn’t do a board books installment on the Gift Guide, and y’all begged me to bring it back. I hope these picks bring a big smile to the littlest people in your life! (I know my nephews will be quite excited.)
This is by no means a comprehensive list. But it is a list of some of the most original, interactive titles of the year, including those with extra-special gift appeal. Many are part of a series, so I’ve listed any additional titles in the reviews.
I know you’re shocked, but I’m not going to regale you with long descriptions of each. (See tired me.) But they’re board books! They barely have any words! Plus, the art speaks for itself!
Finally, a note on ages. We typically think about board books as serving babies, and that’s certainly true for some of these titles. But I’m also including some that are geared towards the toddler and even preschool audiences! Age ranges are noted in the headlines, and the books are presented in no particular order. Here we go!
Splash Goes the Whale
by Matthew Van Fleet
Ages 2-4
It’s a wowzer of a title right out of the gate (and one with sticking power for years to come)! Matthew Van Fleet is the king of hefty interactive books, and in Splash Goes the Whale he tackles the alphabet with a fleet of animals, an interactive pull-tab, and two grand finale pop-ups. Once there was a little whale swimming in the sea who said, “I’m so hungry I could eat from A to Z!” Well, our whale does just that, eating the foods (and their letters) offered to him by his twenty-six animal friends. What do his friends get out of the deal? A ride on the whale’s back, of course!
The Nose, Toes, and Tummy Book
by Sally Nicholls & Gosia Herba
Ages 0-2
I don’t say this lightly, but this is hands down the best body board book I’ve ever found. The playfulness! The diversity in the illustrations! The color palette! The bold, modern aesthetic! The way it invites interaction! If you’re prone to peekaboo, or nibbling on squishy tummies, or using your mouth to make funny noises, or playing with your baby’s feet while they’re waving in the air on the changing table, then you neeeeeed this lap book. The Nose, Toes, and Tummy Book is my new go-to baby gift!
Who Works At Night? Jobs People Do While You Sleep
by Peter Arrhenius & Ingela P. Arrhenius
Ages 1-3
I’m absolutely wild about these new large-format, lift-the-flap books from Nosy Crow (see the next title, too), collaborations by a Swedish husband and wife team. The books have all the charm of a full-scale picture book with none of the fragility! Who Works At Night? showcases the goings-on in the world while our little ones are (hopefully) sleeping. Different spreads span a variety of industries, revealing hospital doctors, bread bakers, construction crews, and train conductors hard at work. On every page, flaps peel back to reveal cute bonus images.
My First Lift-the-Flap Nursery Rhymes
by Ingela P. Arrhenius
Ages 0-2
Raise your hand if you remember the early Disney animator Mary Blair? Ingela P. Arrhenius’s art in My First Lift-the-Flap Nursery Rhymes recalls Blair’s sweet, brightly-colored charm, only with a contemporary spin. I adore it! But let’s chat nursery rhymes. Are they nonsensical? Well, yes. But that’s no reason to discount them! I can attest from my own experience that “Humpty Dumpty” and “Little Miss Muffet” are still a big, big hit as they roll off our tongue and into little waiting ears. Plus, more flaps! (If you feel like your own voices aren’t cutting it, you can scan a QR code at the end of the book and hear the songs.)
Hot Dog Cold Dog
by Frann Preston-Gannon
Ages 0-2
“Hot dog/ cold dog/ new dog/ old dog/ likes to travel slow dog/ go, go, go dog!” The mark of a good board book—Sandra Boynton and Mem Fox get this right again and again—is when its rhythmic language imprints itself on your brain until you can recite the words even without the book in hand (an especially effective trick in the car!). British author-illustrator Frann Preston-Gannon has nailed the sing-songy vibe in Hot Dog Cold Dog, employing an abundance of whimsically rendered wiener dogs and plenty of white space to make them pop. Plus, the book ends with a bedtime scene, so light’s out just got easier. (Note that this book is a revised edition of an older title.)
Whose Prints?
by Kari Allen; illus. Kim Smith
Ages 0-2
Here’s something you don’t see very often: a board book going into reprint almost immediately after releasing! Well, Simon & Schuster might not have expected Whose Prints?, a look at a forest through the tracks in its snow, to be so popular, but parents know a sweet and educational winter book when they see it. With die-cut holes throughout, little ones will love guessing which woodland creature made each set of tracks, from a bunny to a deer to a child and parent! The soft, glowy winter palette gives all the feels.
One Little Bug
by Becky Davies; illus. Jacob Souva
Ages 1-4
One Little Bug is the newest of three titles in the “Exploring Nature for Curious Kids” series—the others being One Little Egg and One Little Seed—and trust me when I say that if you like to talk to your kids about bugs and birds and flowers and other backyard happenings, then you need all three of these non-fiction treasures. They are packed with facts, served up outside and inside of flaps and with the prettiest aesthetic to boot, whether that comes from Jacob Souva (here) or Charlotte Pepper (the others).
How Weird!
by Mark Janssen
Ages 1-4
I adore Dutch author-illustrator Mark Janssen for how he breaks with convention to give kids new ways of seeing the world. In How Weird! he explores mirrored reflections, as a group of animals stumble upon a mirror lying on the floor. Sloth quickly picks up the mirror and parks it “in the middle of the book,” where one by one the different animals take turns looking at…themselves. Little Gorilla reaches out a tentative hand to see if the reflection might want to play, while Iguana turns away in disgust at the grumpy puss. Big Gorilla growls at it, and Little Elephant connects trunks and has an epiphany: “That’s me! I’m stuck to myself!” And so it goes, with each reaction more original than the last! A full-page mirror at the end of the book encourages kids to experiment with their own reflection. (Psst, anyone else have a dog at home who, two years and counting, still growls his reflection in the window? We’re raising geniuses over here…)
Make Tracks: Cars
by Johnny Dyrander
Ages 1-3
Meet the bestselling board book at the shop this fall! We have sold scads of Cars AND Building Site, the first two titles in this interactive series (with two more to follow next year!) and for good reason. They cleanly showcase different models of cars (and construction trucks) opposite spreads with movable pieces that allow you to drive said car (or construction truck) around a city street or track. Plus, Swedish illustrator, Johnny Dyrander, has a terrific modern aesthetic making this easy on the eye for parents who are now going to be listing car parts in their sleep.
Some of These are Snails
by Carter Higgins
Ages 2-4
Carter Higgins is another creator who is forever changing how we think about the world—and picture books! Some of These are Snails is a follow-up to Circle Under Berry, a deceptively simple concept book that was a Gift Guide pick back in 2021 (the last time I featured board books). If it’s possible, this one is even more fun to read aloud, showcasing imaginative language alongside thought-provoking design to tickle the brain and show young listeners how even the most familiar things can be seen anew. The book expands children’s basic understanding of shape, color, and animals by playing with patterns, classification, and problem solving. (all of these are triangles/ all of these are pink/ some of them go/ tweet-tweet-tweet/ some of them go squeak) While I recommend it for all kids, the book feels like a love letter to the neurodivergent brain, a truly spectacular showcasing of the way creative thinking overlays with everyday life.
Alma Head to Toe de pies a cabeza
by Juana Marinez-Neal
Ages 0-2
This darling bilingual series (second title is Alma and Her Family y su familia) is based on the protagonist from Juana Martinez-Neal’s Caldecott Honoree picture book, Alma and How She Got Her Name. With simple declarations presented in both English and Spanish, Alma celebrates her mighty body parts and her loving extended family. As always, Martinez-Neal’s art is the headliner. The way she plays with line and form to capture movement and create whimsy! Her soft, expressive shading! That endearing rosy palette! (And how about those adorably pointy shoes?!)
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