15 Best Children's Books To Help Develop Creativity

Nursery Book Must-Haves

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There are so many wonderful children's books out there, and every child ends up with their own special collection. When it comes to the books that we have for our son, we have many go-to favorites. Some of our books never get read, but there are many that ALWAYS get read. The following are our top 15 favorites, and why we enjoy them as much as we do.

1) Dragons Love Tacos: Our son received this book on his first birthday from a good friend. This book is so fun to read. The story is quirky, funny, silly, and cute. The illustrations are adorable. After reading the story of how Dragons Love Tacos, you are left wanting to meet the author and illustrator and wondering what type of creative nature their other books must have. This book is simply FUN!

2) Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: I know that this book is probably a favorite of many - I have seen it in many other strollers when out with my local mom group. I am so curious as to how others read this book out loud - we rap ours. This is one of those books that we have memorized, which makes it easier to read when our baby is turning the pages before we are ready for a page turn. Skit skat skoodle doot. Flip flop flee.......

3) The Little Boy Who Lost His Name: This personalized book is a story about a child who wakes up and has lost his name. The child then goes on an adventure, where he encounters characters along the way. Each character presents him with a letter, which will eventually spell out his or her name. This book makes spelling fun - I envision my son being able to anticipate which character will come next as we continue to read this book before bed time.

4) Inspirational Nursery Rhymes: These books have science behind their teachings, which I love! This line of books teaches positive values, personal inspiration, manners, gratitude, and personal responsibility. Yes please!

5) When The Ground Shakes: Yes, we certainly do have earthquakes here in the Midwest! This book is an excellent teaching tool for relaxation and safety tips in the event of an earthquake. This book give techniques such as singing and counting as a way for children to comfort themselves during this type of natural disaster. 

6) Things That Go: Our son caught on to this lift-a-flap book right away. He loves to flip down the cardboard flaps to see what is hiding behind each scene. Once he begins talking, I am hoping he will be able to answer some of these questions out loud - What goes clackety-clack on the tracks?! A train, A train (another quirk that I have, I read the answer twice!)

7) I Love You Snugglesaurus: We discovered this lift-the-flap book in our Bookroo box last month, and it was an instant hit. Bookroo is a monthly subscription service box that delivers either 3 board books or 2 picture books per month. I LOVE each of the three board books that we received this month. My son instantly gravitated to the soft snugglesaurus heart on the cover of this book. He is always curious as to what is behind each lift-a-flap!

8) Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? My husband and I will break out into this memorized classic on car rides. Then, we look at each other and wonder "Who are we?!" We love this story, and so does our son. This was one of my favorites when I was little. It has been around since 1967!

9) Highlights Hello Magazine: Okay, technically this is not a book, but these mini 16 page magazines that come to your door monthly are for babies ages 0-2. Highlights has books for every age range. I love the Hello series because the stories/activities are short and engaging. The Highlights website is a great tool for parents, as it offers many other articles and activity ideas for your little ones.

10) Peek-a-Boo Forest: This soft book is just what we need when we are out and about! I can easily toss this book in our diaper bag or weekend bag - it travels nicely. Our son reaches for book pages, and it is great to know that this book cannot be torn! Each page features a crunchy peek-a-boo flap with a forest animal hiding beneath it. Major perk right now is that when he throws Peek-a-Boo Forest at me, it does not hurt! Yay!

11) Let's Go, Thomas: A book with a horn and a steering wheel?! Well, of course this is a fave. Each button makes a fun noise that Theo wants to hear again and again. In this book, you read along and push buttons as Thomas takes you on a tour of the Island of Sodor. Get your cameras ready!

12) Hide And Seek: This book is too cute. This is another great read that we discovered in our Bookroo box. This book asks the child to find hidden objects within the characters that are presented in this book. Which giraffe hides candles? Which crab hides a magnet? Even I take a few seconds at times to find the hidden object. This book shows that not everything in this world is as it seems.

13) Giraffes Can't Dance: Meet Gerald - a Giraffe who feels that he is not quite fitting in with the other jungle animals because of his clumsy dance moves. He eventually finds his tune, once he believes in himself. This wonderful book teaches children to aspire to greatness, which is a message that any parent can agree with.

14) Daddy and Me: My husband can really connect with our son through this book. He is a contractor, and I know that he envisions teaching Theo many construction skills as he grows up. This is their favorite, and I love seeing the hubs read it to Theo.

15) Home Sweet Home: This is another book that our son received as a first birthday gift, which was very fitting because the theme of his party was Woodland Animals. The main character, a baby owl, flies far and wide visiting different animal friends in their habitats. In the end, she finds that the best place of all is right at home, back in the nest. Theo gets a kick out of lifting the lift-a-flaps, and I cannot get over the cuteness of the illustrations in this book. Plus, this one drills in the fact that there is no place like home.....remember that one, son!

There you have it! These are our top 15 favorite books. We have been reading some of these books to our son since birth. Repetition is a wonderful thing for babies, and reading these books has resulted in many of them becoming favorites of mine, too. I love when Theo brings a book to me to read to him. Reading is so important, and I am thankful for creative authors and talented illustrators out there who have brought these stories to life.