Baby-School Bug Book Round-Up

I take every opportunity possible to add to Kingston's growing book collection. He has an insane amount of board books, and an even larger amount of books for older readers downstairs in our playroom. My latest fete has been collecting insect related books to have for our bug week! I've been working on it for awhile, hitting various sales, and it has come together quite well. Here is our round-up for bug books that we think are baby appropriate!

One Butterfly - is a counting book using die cuts. Each die cut leads to the introduction of a new bug. This book is simple, cute, and perfect for introducing bugs to baby! Kingston loves turning the pages by grasping the die cuts. It like that it helps baby assist in turning the pages!

Percival the Plain Little Caterpillar (Sparkle Books) - I purchased this book solely because it was bug based  and it was a "sparkle book" These books have shimmery paper embedded in the pages. Kingston goes wild for them, and they are definitely great for baby to touch and explore without it being your traditional touch and feel book. This book isn't exactly a board book. It has thick pages though, and K did very well with it. It is the story of a caterpillar with low self esteem who sees all the other beautiful insects and wishes he were more like them. Although I don't think it is positive to base your self esteem off of other people, I do think that it is okay to admire others and dream about being the best you that you can be! I thought this book was adorable. It is definitely great for teaching colors and held the attention of my baby!

Ants, Ants, Ants by Charles Reasoner - This book is so fun! It is an interactive board book with die cuts and cut out pages. This book takes the reader through an anthill. The group of ants gets larger and larger on every page until they span from cover to cover! This is a quick read and quite fun to play with. Kingston enjoyed poking his fingers in the die cuts. I counted the ants with him for the first few pages. If reading this with preschoolers, it would be fun to see if they could accurately count and label the amount of ants on each page.

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle is such a great book! I read it for the first time today with Kingston. I was nervous because it seemed a bit long, but he sat through the entire thing. He enjoyed flipping the little pages inside. The layout is reminiscent of The Hungry Caterpillar. I loved this book. I think older kids can relate to the ladybug who is just having a plain bad day. I like that its message is basically that being grouchy is a waste of time. It is great for baby's because it introduces a lot of different bugs and animals. It also has some fun mini pages to turn!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle needs no description. This is an absolute classic and a definite must have in every baby and child's library! I read this to K when he was in my tummy and he enjoys it now that he can see it for himself!

Baby Bugs (Photo Baby Board Books) - This book is completely adorable! It showcases babies in different bug costumes. Kingston loved it. I pointed to each page and said "Baby..." and then named the bug that each infant portrayed. Super adorable!

Cozy Caterpillars (Interactive Button Board Books) by Wendy McLean is an interactive board book. Are you sensing a theme here? Kingston is so into touch and feel books, that when I read him regular books he rubs the pages in search for something to interactive. That being said, I try to find as many "interactive" books as possible because they really hold his interest! This is a sweet rhyming book with little caterpillars that baby can touch and feel throughout the story as they each become butterflies!

Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer - This book is awesome! It has a kind of fabric covered slinky caterpillar inside that runs through every page. The last page has a pop-up butterfly. Kingston loved touching the caterpillar as I read him the sweet sing-songy story about a caterpillar who goes to sleep in the spring and wakes up a beautiful butterfly in the summer!

Little Cricket's Song - This book is interactive as well and completely adorable. Anyone who knows me, knows that I DETEST crickets more than any other bug in the world. Uggh. I am cringing just thinking about them. So, go figure that I would LOVE this book! It features two little plastic crickets that remain throughout the book as you turn the pages. These crickets make a fun clicking noise when pressed. Kingston laughed every time I would click them. This is a must for baby and toddler!!

Finger Puppet Book: The Itsy Bitsy Spider (Little Learners) - Oh how Kingston LOVES the Little Learners series!! This one is his absolute favorite! He plays with this like it is a toy. It is a small board book with a spider finger puppet that sticks through the center. He pets it and grabs it! I love that the Little Learners illustrations are both real life objects and drawn cartoons. So adorable! I would definitely recommend these for the baby/toddler set!

The Itsy Bitsy Spider (Board Book) by Iza Trapini is the timeless classic version of the rhyme. I used to read this book 1,000 times a day to my little toddlers when I taught. I love that that it goes through all of the verses. I love singing them to Kingston. This was the first fingerplay that he enjoyed!

Bee & Me: A Mini-Motion Book - We have the larger version of this book. It is a scanimation book about a boy who doesn't like bees because he is scared of them  (I feel ya kid, I feel ya!). But of course, the bee wins him over with his charming bee ways and explains what bees do for the Earth. The boy changes his mind and frees him. Kingston loved it. I loved the scanimation, but come-on people. If bees were like Barry from Bee Movie, we'd be having them over for dinner every night! All kidding aside though, this is a really cute book!

Buzz-Buzz, Busy Bees: An Animal Sounds Book - This book is super fun babies and toddlers because it has a surprise at the end! All throughout the book, which depicts busy bees who are approached by different animals, you can follow along touching the fuzzy bees. Kingston's liked this part of course. On the very last page however, the bees start BUZZING! K grabbed my hand and looked at me hesitantly when we arrived on the final page. I told him "Bees bzzzzzzz!" Then he started laughing. He loved it. I opened and closed it for a good five minutes! Cute book! :)

Ladybug's Lesson: A Sparkly Lift the Flap Book - We received this book from a friend and Kingston loves it! On every page, there are multiple sparkly critters to be explored. This is a great book for teaching acceptance. Ladybug introduces all of her different friends and tells how she loves the color red, but also loves their colors too! It is a great book for teaching colors also.

The Very Clumsy Click Beetle (Eric Carle's Very Series) is another insect book by Eric Carle. We have the big lap book version. The pictures are great and the message is awesome. The concept of the click beetle continuously trying to flip over teaches perseverance. Kingston liked the pictures and the clicking beetle sounds at the end of the story! This is a great book for all ages.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle is another winner! This book has a touch and feel web that K enjoys. It's narrative is simple and cute. I like that it teaches dedication and hard work! It also teaches animal noises because the barnyard animals all talk to the spider. Kingston loves animal noises, so we had fun reading this together.

Big Book of Bugs - This is neither a board book or a book for baby, BUT I couldn't resist pulling this giant book out to show Kingston some cool real life pictures of bugs. If you share this with your little ones, it is definitely a book you need to read with them. Older kids will love it! The pictures are huge and creepy. I can't even look directly at the cricket/grasshopper page - EEK! Really cool book though.

I also pulled out a few books that showcased pictures of bugs so that Kingston and I could go through and point out the different bugs.

 (Books Pictured: Eric Carle's ABC (The World of Eric Carle), Baby Einstein Neighborhood Animals, My First Animals,Big Board First 100 Animals, and Fingerplays and Songs for the Very Young)

We will be reading, interacting, and looking through all of these books throughout the next week or so. I have a bunch of activities planned that will reinforce the different types of bugs found within each one. So far, Kingston has really enjoyed being introduced to them.