elizabethadventuresblogDoes your toddler love reading board books and exploring the great outdoors? Then this gift guide is for you! My son could spend all day reading board books, but could also spend all day adventuring outdoors. Because of that, he loves to read board books about nature and animals.
Below are our top 30 board books for the adventurous toddler, reviewed by an adventurous toddler! We are all about books over here so finding books that build upon my son’s adventurous spirit is important to me.
1. B is for Bison
B for Bison is a fun board book that incorporates the national parks into the letters of the alphabet. The wording is simple for toddlers yet a great learning tool. The artwork inside is very kid-friendly and beautiful as well. If you are a national park lover, this is the book for you! It is by far my favorite board book on the national parks.
2. From Head to Toe
This is such a great board book for encoporating physical movement with reading. Every page calls the child to partake in an action of an animal. Not only are they getting familiar with animals, they are learning to follow directions and get out some wiggles with movement. This book continues to be one of my son’s favorites that he always comes back to.
3. My Mountain Baby
My Mountain Baby is a simple story about a bear family that goes camping. It talks about setting up camp and the things they see in the forest. The illustrations are very sweet and it’s a fun story to discuss camping with your toddler. The author has various version of this book from nationality to destinations.
4. Mrs. Peanuckle’s Hiking Alphabet
The Hiking Alphabet board book is an amazing book at teaching letters and nature. Every page has multiple nature-related words for each letter. It teaches a lot of vocabulary in one book, all centered on the great outdoors! Mrs Peanuckle’s has a handful of other educational books all centered around the alphabet as well. This is one of my favorite books!
5. Nature Baby: Rocks
This board book is a simple yet educational board book about various types of rocks. I never would have guessed it would be such a big hit but my nature loving son is obsessed with this book and now knows the name of every rock inside! If your toddler loves the outdoors, especially rocks and dirt, this is the book for them! Nature Baby has other books as well, all about a nature topic.
6. Indestructible Book: Lets go Outside!
Although this one isn’t actually a board book, it is a must for this list. Let’s Go Outside is a simple book to discuss getting outdoors with your toddler. It has hidden animals for them to search for, making it fun for them to engage with. It is one of many indestructible books, meaning they can freely play with it and not worry about it ripping or getting wet. They have various books from shapes to travel and vehicles. We have multiple and I love taking them on trips because they take up so little space and I don’t need to worry about them being damaged.
7. First 100 Animals
If your toddler loves animals, this is such a great board book to help learn about them! It includes common household pets to more unique wildlife. It’s a great tool to help them learn and increase their vocabulary. Priddy Baby also makes various versions of this book from transportation to colors and counting. They are simple books that teach babies and toddlers about the world around them. We have bought a few book sets as well as individuals of these books and are always reading them.
8. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a classic and very popular board book for children. It teaches children the lifecycle of a butterfly in a fun and engaging way. It encourages counting all while being a simple and fun story. The artwork is playful and kid friendly. My son picks this book time and time again!
9. Ocean Life
Hello World’s Ocean Life is such an engaging and well written book about ocean wildlife. The artwork is beautiful and kid friendly. The book is also educational by having small facts on each page about the animals being featured. Hello World has countless amazing books and they are all so educational! We have dozen’s of books that teach things from musical instruments, camping, wildlife and more! They truly do an amazing job at producing educational and engaging books for toddlers.
10. Peek-a-Who?
This is a simple beginner peek-a-boo book for babies and toddlers. Each page gives glimpse at what animal is to come, so as your kid gets older you can see if they can predict what animal is coming. It also throws in some twists with a ghost and train for rhyming. It is a small book making it easy to travel with as well.
11. Peekaboo Farm
Peekaboo Farm is a great interactive board book for toddlers. It is consistently one of my son’s favorite books that he will stay well engaged with for long periods of time. Every page has a pull/push, spin or mirror to keep them busy. It is all about farm animals, but they have a lot of versions of this book that feature other animals. We have 5 of these books now and are constantly taking them on trips.
12. Counting on the Earth
Counting on the Earth is a fun and interactive book to help toddlers learn to count. The entire book is centered around nature and tings you would find on earth like birds and bees. It is a great book at teaching about nature, earth and numbers.
13. Poke-a-Dot! The Wheels On the Bus Wild Safari
This poke-a-dot book is a fun way for kids to practice and learn about counting. There are circular pop buttons they push on each page. It incorporates wildlife with physical engagement and song (if you wish to sing instead of read it). This also comes in various versions if your child loves it or would be more interested in the other storylines.
14. Little Owls Night
Little Owl’s Night is a cute story of an owl and his forest friends. It shows the various animals that live in a forest and talking about things they do and eat in an easy way for kids to understand. The artwork inside is fun for kids and beautifully done. The author has put out a handful of other Little Owl books to add on to this one if you child loves the book.
15. My Little Forest
This is a simple story about woodland animals and all that can be found in the forest where they live. Instead of sentences, each page has a short sentence followed by the photo of the objects and its title. It’s a great way to teach your toddler nature words in a fun and engaging way. The illustrations are very sweet and simple.
16. Baby Bear
This board book is a finger puppet book, making it a cute and engaging book for your toddler. It’s a small, chunky book as well. You can make the bear move throughout the story and you toddler can interact with the bear on each page. My son loves to hug the bear. Baby Bear is also just one of many animal finger puppet books. If your toddler loves this one there are so many fun animals to add to your collection that help them learn about the animals they may encounter on your adventures.
17. Baby Loves Aerospace Engineering!
This is a fun board book that allows toddlers the chance to learn how things work when it comes to flying and planes. The book compares how birds and planes fly and what vehicle is needed to reach space. There are dozens of other Baby Loves books that all focus on a different scientific topic to help you kids learn about the world around them.
18. Mountain Baby
Mountain Baby is a perfect board book for the family who loves the outdoors and all the activities you can partake in. Each page shows an outdoor sport and the equipment needed to do the sport. It’s a fun way for kids to learn about activities you may already do as a family and the words that go with that sport. The author has also put out a dozen other books revolving around other sports and activities .
19. Planes Go
If youre toddler loves planes and traveling, this is a must! The board book is sure to make them laugh and be engaged as each page features a different plane and corresponding sounds they make. It’s not a song book though. You, the reader get to make this book a fun and engaging book by making the sounds yourself! My son loves learning about the planes and sounds they make. Steve Light, the author, has written a handful of other books with vehicles like a garbage truck and train.
20. Peek-a-Flap WHO
Kids love board books with interactive elements like flaps. This book’s flaps are thicker as well, so they don’t bend and rip off like other books do. It’s a fun book to discover animals you may encounter outdoors while providing physical engagement for you toddler.
21. All Aboard! National Parks
This is a simple board book about some of America’s national park. Each page features an iconic part of a national park and talks about that landmark. It then shows an animal with its name written under. Each national park is written on the page as well. It’s a great way to share the national parks with your toddler.
22. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
This is a classic children’s board book about wildlife. It can be made a fun interactive book by encouraging kids to make the sounds of the animals on each page. It’s a fun tool to help toddlers learn the various sounds animals make.
23. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What did You See?
This is a popular board book like it’s sister book, “Polar Bear” above. Instead of focusing on the sounds the animals make, it calls on the reader to use their eyes to identify the animals. It is another kid favorite book and one that they will pick up time and time again.
24. 1•2•3 Moose
This is a fun counting board book that uses real photos of wildlife. It is a great book to help toddlers learn about the names of wildlife they may see outdoors and learn to count. Because it features real animal photos it’s a great book at helping children get a realistic learning experience over books featuring artwork.
25. The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s abc
This board book is a great expansion on a kids favorite “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. It uses a different animal for each letter of the alphabet. It’s a great way for children to learn their letters while identifying and learning about wildlife.
26. Cuddle Close, Little Koala
A sweet story about a little Koala and it’s mama. This is a fun board book to introduce your toddler to animals found in a different part of the work. It follows the little Koala as it visits other Australian wildlife animals on its trek back to its mama for bed.
27. Little Camper’s ABC’s
This is another outdoor themed board book that helps kids also learn their ABC’s. Each page features an animal or object that revolves around the outdoors and camping. Your toddler will love learning through this book. The author has a counting version as well as a shapes version as well.
28. Noisy Farm
Noisy Farm is a great board book to learn about farm animals. Each page shares fun facts about each animal and has an interactive button for your kid to push. When they push the button they get to hear the sound of the animals on the page, which is a fun way for them to practice fine motor skills and hear animals. Another fun feature is that every page has a different texture to explore based on the animal on the page. It has been a favorite for my son from the beginning and they make other noise books with various animals and modes of transportation!
29. Busy Airport
If you love to travel and fly with your toddler, this is such a great interactive board book about flying. The book talks about all that you experience at the airport and includes push, pull and slide tabs throughout. Toddlers love being involved in the story, so having these physical pieces make it an engaging book all while talking about travel. It’s a great tool to use before taking a flight, during a flight or just discussing planes.
30. Things That Go
This is a fun board book for toddlers because it is interactive while they learn about various means of transportation. It has sturdy flaps on each page they get to help open that won’t bend or rip easily like other books. The artwork is playful and fun for kids to look at.
We are all about reading board books in my house and I hope you love of books helps you discover some new books to share with your little adventurer. If you’re looking for more board books we love for your baby or toddler, be sure to check my Amazon board books list.
Happy Reading!
Elizabeth
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