Your Favorite Toys & Books for a 1 Year-old

try books by sandra boynton. they are wonderful!

Books are a must in our house. We have fostered a love of reading and this has helped my children excel in reading levels and school.

Its been a while since my children were that age, but we kept all their favorites. I remember the Berinstein Bears A book & B book etc. My son had that memorized we read it so much and he could read it to me when he was 3 just by looking at the pictures!

Some more of my sons favorites were Who Am I? by Sesame Street, Dinosaur ROAR! by Paul & Henrietta Stickland, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, The Very Hungry Caterpiller by Eric Carle.

My daughters favorite books were Biscuit books, Moo, Moo, Peekaboo! by Jany Dyer, Fluffy Bunnie by Creative Child Press, Chyrsanthemum by Kevin Henkes.

and many, many, many others. To many to list them all!

While some of those I gave you are a not the kind you want to let a 1yr old hold, its always nice to sit and read together. It was our special time before bed and they got to choose the book. We had lots on hand and still do. Going to a used book store, garage sales or thrift stores, you can purchase lots of variety on a low budget.

Enjoy your time together and foster the love of reading, its a gift to last a lifetime.

S. M
www.EmpoweringWomenForSuccess.com

eric carle, todd parr, leo lionni, roger priddy, all great. as for clothes, i love old navy, gap, hanna andersson, gymboree (can be frilly and pricey, look for sales, but they look like brand new forever)and i really like h&m for girls clothes, not always the best quality, but they are reasonable (cheap!) and they have some really really cute stuff imo, not too foofy, great for play clothes, and adorable accessories.

Hi G.,
My daughter loved Brown Bear Brown Bear what do you see? by Eric Carle. You could also try some bath books. They're pretty sturdy and easy to wash. We have Spot the dog books, baby einstein and Blues Clues.

Both my children have loved the Usborne Books Farmyard Tales from about 10 months on. You can find them with the touchy-feely and lift the flaps in the same book. My daughter especially fell in love with them. The series also has a little tiny baby duck "hidden" on every page so my 4 year old still likes to hunt him out. These books are great and grow with the child. They go from the touchy-feely to first readers. These books are super sturdy so even if you're child is rough on them they stand up pretty well...all of our books are hard cover with nice thick board pages.
Hope this helps

Goodnight Gorilla and Big Red Barn are two of our favorites. We got the board versions from Barnes & Noble.

As far as books, my one year old just likes to eat them. She does have a few books that she plays with, I found books ar Barnes and Noble with things in them that she likes, like Elmo and dogs. She really doesn't sit to be read to yet. As far as clothes, I absolutlylove Carter's. I noticed you are from Pennington, I hightly recommend going to the Carter's outlet in Jackson by Great Adventure. I was there yesterday and bought my daughter's entire summer wardrobe and only spent a little over $100. My older daughter is 5 and my little one is even wearing some of her old Carters stuff. the outfits I bought yesterday were mostly one piece rompers/sundress. They were only $5 each!!!!! Good Luck!!

carter makes basic simple clothing with cotton, some have ruffles and stuff, but most are simple, basic, and cute. as for the books, at that age MOST books that aren't basic hard page books, are at risk to be destroyed, ESPECIALLY if there are pop up pages! my daughter is 2, "reads" her dr. suess books great without ripping pages, plays with her coloring books without ripping pages (may tear the covers, but not pages) BUT anything pop up she completely destroys....it's just an age. i keep those books away from her, and sometimes read them to her, but once i'm done, they get put out of her reach! just a suggestion. gl.

We love the Helen Oxenbury books, Tickle Tickle, Clap Hands, All FAll Down and Say Goodnight.

My kids adored all the Sandra Boyton books. They are sturdy board books with simple, colourful pictures and wonderful, funny rhymes. My girls are now 8 and 11 and these books have survived all my attempts to purge the baby books from their bookcase, since they refuse to give them up.

Hi G.
Hope you are having a great day. Out of touch with what toys might be out there for babies and toddlers, but I love LLBean and Lands End for clothes. They also last and wear like iron, yet soft and cuddly.
Enjoy that little one, time goes by fast and before you know it they are off to college.
SAHM of 4, including twin girls, who we homeschooled, & are headed off to college in the fall. Married almost 40 years, and soon to have an empty nest for the first time in our married lives. Our oldest was born almost 11 months into our marriage, and he was a college freshman when I had the twins 3 weeks before his 19th birthday. We'll be grandparents in August for the first time.
God bless you
K.

Hello!
The sturdiest flap book that we have in our collection is "Tails" by Matthew Van Fleet. We also love "Peek-a-who" by Nina Laden, "Animal Kisses" by Barney Saltberg, "The Cheerios Play Book" by Lee Wade, all of Sandra Boynton's board books...and so many more! Happy reading!

We found that our four (now 25,23, 15 and 9) always preferred "books" that we made. We would take the small photo albums (snapshot sized), and put in photos of mommy, daddy, family pets, etc. including magazine cutouts as their vocabulary increased. Very durable, very portable, and can be changed as they grow.

Both of my kids loved the Fisher Price Little People lift the flap books.

Two things that my kid loved where Manhattan baby's circus tent with animals inside and a Melissa and Doug pull toy

For my daughter's first birthday she received the Baby Einstein ABC books. They come in a square box and they are little board books with about 3 pictures for each letter. They are fabulous. She loves to play with them and will sit and look at the pictures and will ask us to read them. She has not tired of this as a toy(taking them out and putting them in the box)and as a book. They are fabulous!!!!!

My daughter also loves to hear and look at the little Dr. Seuss board books. The big ones have too much writing but the little ones ie. Foot book, Hand Hand Fingers Thumb etc

Sandra Boynton and Eric Carle are favorite authors around here!

Dear G.,

My son's absolute favorite book was called "Where's the Kitten?" It's a lift-the-flap book, where you "find" the kitten on each page. I think there's also a "Where's the Puppy" and "Where's the Baby" in the series. My guy was also a big Eric Carle fan, especially "The Very Lonely Firefly," where the fireflies light up on each page and "The Very Quiet Cricket" where the crickets chirp on the last page. "Pat the Bunny" is also wonderful.

I also second the recommendation of making your daughter her own book. When my son was 17 months, I "wrote and illustrated" a book for him called "The Book of Noah." Each page just had a single activity he liked, e.g., "Noah can drive his car. Vrooom!" When I gave it to him for Hanukkah, his little eyes just about took over his face, he was so thrilled and amazed that a real book had been written about him.

They're so sweet and easy to impress at that age, as long as you get her something sturdy and nontoxic (and read it to her a few thousand times) you can't go wrong.

Enjoy!

Sandra Boynton is my favorite for simple board books. She also does a lot of rhyming books, so they continue to be fun even for a 3YO (that age group loves rhymes). Toys should be simple, open-ended, and bright: balls, blocks, books, simple instruments. Favorites are Weebles and Fisher Price Little People (more chewable than Weebles, IMO). Both of those are good grow-with-me toys, as you can add cheaper or fancier items with each birthday/Christmas/etc. As the child gets older, these toys also encourage imaginitive play and interaction with other types of toys (my 3YO daughter uses her Weebles tree house as a "playground" for her 5" Disney princesses).

For simple clothes, try Babies R Us. They usually have 1 rack of solid color, unembellished tees and shorts for summer, not sure about winter, in sizes up to 48 months. I have also seen very simple classic designs from Lands End and LL Bean (don't forget to check the Sale/Outlet link).

Hi G.! One book that stands out in my mind is "Good Night Moon"... it is a cute book and there is a little mouse on each page. Your daughter (I assume because of the non-ruffled clothes inquiry) ;-) will love searching for the little mouse as you read through. Another book is "Guess How Much I Love You" - about a little bunny and his parent comparing how much they love each other... Enjoy your little sweetie - they grow very fast! :-) - K.

Try Dear Zoo and board books by Sandra Boynton both favorites that held up for us from about that age. Also if you are looking for basic t-shirts and onesies try my online shop at www.totstops.com for unique nyc destination t-shirts including a super cute Brooklyn Bridge t-shirt. check the member perks section for a coupon code.

Another vote for Sandra Boynton. When she's a bit older, check out John Farrell's books, www.johnfarrell.com