Which are the Best Toddler Stories
for One-Year-Olds?

Little tots love simple toddler stories!

Through caring for toddlers in nurseries (daycare) for years I have observed the reactions of hundreds of one-year-olds to many different toddler stories.

Below you'll find child book reviews for some of the toddler books I've come across. I have especially picked firm favourites of many one-year-olds as well as pointing out problematic features to avoid.

I've also worked with many two-years-old as well. I have found that generally two-year-olds prefer more complex stories than one-year-olds. (Of course, there's always exceptions.) If you have a two-year-old in mind, here's my book reviews for two-year-olds.

Would you like to check out educational toddler book reviews too?

For your convenience, there's two links to find each of the books. Choosing either the UK or USA version would hopefully save you on postage.

Have a browse through the children's book reviews and see if any would suit your toddler.

Touchy-Feely Toddler Stories

Rusty's Bone (Board book)
By Stephen Cartwright and Fiona Watt
Rating: 9/10

Pros: Follow Rusty's hunt for his bone through this toddler story. The other animals on Apple Tree Farm are hiding things that look like they might be his bone. Then on each following page, toddlers get to feel and see that Rusty is mistaken, until the end. I know, it sounds boring to us, but the fact that the story is orderly and repetitive is why little toddlers love it so much.

The repetition is worth enduring because babies and toddlers need to hear the same word many times before they can say it. Also repetition helps young children feel secure as they know what's coming next.

Rusty's Bone was definitely a firm favourite with a group of twenty 1 year olds.

Cons: I was disappointed that this book only lasted a few months before the binding gave way to the toddlers' enthusiastic handling. It was in a nursery (daycare) though, so I'm sure it would last much longer with just one or two users. This fact could also be turned into a positive to prove how popular it actually was!

Rusty's Bone (UK) Rusty's Bone (USA)

That's Not My Train (Board book)
By Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells
Rating: 7/10

Pros: This is another firm favourite of many one-year-olds. The very simple, repetitive storyline follows the mouse's search through different kinds of trains. The bold images with clear backgrounds also seem very appealing to them.

These are the only toddler stories that I've seen that focus on describing textures. So, they provide an excellent vocabulary boost about this important topic, which may escape your notice in everyday conversation. Being able to use the sense of touch as well as sight embeds the understanding of these descriptive words.

Cons: Dr. Maria Montessori taught that we should provide young children with stories that help them make sense of the world. Unfortunately this book tells toddlers that mice talk and act like humans.

Animal characters in children's books are common practice, but I think we should try to see it from their perspective, keeping in mind that children cannot reason until 6 years old. I'm glad to see that the mouse is shown in decent proportion to the trains and isn't wearing clothes.

It's bound the same way as Rusty's Bone and was just as popular too so it was loved to death. Saying that though, most toddler books are defaced sooner or later, even after giving guidance on caring for books. After all's said and done though, I think the pros outweigh the cons.

That's Not My Train (UK) That's Not My Train (USA)

Hen (Cloth book)
By Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells
Rating: 4/10

Pros: Hen has a great simple storyline for one-year-olds. The main character follows the textured seeds right though the farm, and the reading tot can find her chicks under a flap at the end.

Cons: Unfortunately this is a cloth book with no padding so it is particularly floppy. It seems that little tots find it harder to hold and turn these pages. I observed that the adults tended to choose this book to read to the children rather than the other way around. The advantage: it's lasted for years!

Hen (UK) Hen (USA)

Lift the Flap Toddler Stories

Dear Zoo (Board book)
Rod Campbell
Rating: 10/10

Pros: I think Dear Zoo is the most popular toddler story among one-year-olds.

The flaps enables toddlers to really get involved and play an important part in the story telling. They also like the simple bold images on the white back ground.

It has a perfectly simple and repeative storyline. It starts out with "I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet and they sent me an... *elephant under flap*. But he was too big so I sent him back." It follows that theme with different animals and reasons why they are sent back, until the perfect one is received on the last page.

The combination of clear bold images, repetition and flaps makes it a winner.

Cons: The only thing I can think of is that the flaps are the first to get ripped. But they can easily be taped back into place. This may also prove how much toddlers love flaps!

Dear Zoo (UK) Dear Zoo (USA)

Where's Spot? (Board book)
By Eric Hill
Rating: 9/10

Pros: Help Sally find her popular puppy, Spot ready for supper. Toddlers can also discover other animals behind doors, under rugs and under the stairs etc along the way. Little tots love this rhymic and interactive story! The pictures are clear and bold, with only the key objects and white backgrounds. There's lots scope for teaching colours, animal names and sounds as well as prepositions (under, in, behind etc).

It's a robust board book with easy to use flaps which are sturdier than many other lift the flap books.

Cons: As I mentioned it That's Not My Train review... since children cannot reason until six-years-old, that fact that these dogs talk like humans might be confusing for toddlers.

Where's Spot? (UK) Where's Spot? (USA)

Stories About Familiar Times

Dressing (Board book)
By Helen Oxenbury
Rating: 9/10

Pros: This also proved to be a popular toddler story among many one-year-olds. It is the basic storyline told by a simple picture per page of a one-year-old getting dressed. Since toddlers love repetition, seeing a familiar process in a book is comforting for them. This book also invites discussion and games involving what toddlers are wearing as well as their body parts.

Cons: Something that I find odd is that in the story the boy's shoes are put on before his dungarees (overalls). Other than that it's a great toddler book.

Dressing (UK) Dressing (USA)

Baby's Bathtime (Bath book)
Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells
Rating: 2/10

Pros: Giving little ones vocabulary in context is the easiest way for them to learn to talk. So what better subject could a bath book be about?!

Cons: Unfortunately it's commonly thought that bath books are good for babies/toddlers to chew on - it's a myth! Baby bath books are made from phthalates (PVC), which is very toxic.

Baby's Bathtime (UK) Baby's Bathtime (USA)

Say Goodnight (Board book)
Helen Oxenbury
Rating: 10/10

Pros: The famous children's book author, Helen Oxenbury show off her talent once again in drawing the most lovable babies. Sometimes I feel like pulling one off the page and giving them a hug. :-) This story is told as a cute poem, a line per page. Say Goodnight shows a few babies of different races going through the bedtime routine.

So, it's a perfect bedtime story for one-year-olds.

Cons: Wow, I can't think of any!

Say Goodnight (UK) Say Goodnight (USA)

I hope you found these reviews of toddler stories helpful!

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