Are you looking for baby board books that promote language development for babies? This post will give you the top 12 baby board book recommendations for baby language development (from a Pre-K teacher!). Encourage your baby’s first words with these must have baby books. With expertly crafted cadences, these fun and engaging board books are perfect to read with your baby and encourage them to say their first words! [* Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission for items purchased through these links at no additional cost to you. You can read the full disclosure here.]
Why are books important for language development in babies?
Reading to your baby is so important! Not only is it a beautiful way to bond with your little one but it’s also one of the best ways to nurture your baby’s early brain development and enhance early language skills. Reading to babies exposes them to new vocabulary and to the rhythm and sounds of speech. Language development starts in a baby’s brain before they actually begin to speak. As a now mom and former Pre-K teacher with over a decade of teaching experience and an educational background in early childhood development, I cannot express enough the importance of reading with your child! Reading to your baby is the most crucial activity you can do to promote language development and encourage your baby’s first words! If you haven’t started reading with your baby yet, it’s not too late. Start today! Read any books you have on hand to start boosting your baby’s communication skills.
Specific Books That Promote Language Development for Babies :
Did you know however, that certain types of books can be particularly beneficial for baby language development? If you’re looking for books that will help you develop your baby’s language and communication skills here are my top 12 baby board books that promote language development for babies (in no specific order). These baby board books will have your little one babbling, gurgling, and talking up a storm in what seems like no time!
Top 12 Board Books that Promote Language Development for Babies
1. Who Says Peek-a-boo by Highlights: This interactive board book engages babies with real photos of babies and animals.
How this book promotes language development:
Repetition and surprise are key elements in this book. Repetition is key in language development! Peek-a-boo is a simple game to play with your baby that babies love. This book uses repetition of phrases combined with simple animal sounds to promote babies making their own sounds. There’s also a surprise mirror at the end of the book. Babies love looking at themselves!
What you can do:
Make silly peek-a-boo faces, sounds, and gestures as you say peek-a-boo on each page. Encourage your baby to vocalize back at you. “Can you say peek-a-boo?” Say peek-a- and pause before boo encouraging your baby to say boo. Make the animal sounds and repeat them.
2. Ten Tiny Toes by Carolyn Jayne Church: This adorably illustrared book celebrates the wonder of baby’s different body parts with rhyming words and interactive actions.
How this book promotes language development:
Rhyming text paired with adorable illustrations and interactive text, makes this book a winner. It introduces basic body part vocabulary in a simple and fun way. The repetitive words and rhyming text are the perfect combination for language development. They both stimulate brain development and help children recognize word patterns. The text is also interactive prompting you and baby to perform actions like reaching way up high or touching your toes.
What you can do:
Point to your baby’s fingers and toes as you read, and gently wiggle them while saying their names. Do the motions when it comes to the action words. As your baby gets more familiar with the book, pause at the end of the sentence before saying the last rhyming word. This will give your baby a chance to say the word (their version of it).
3. Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill: This lift-the-flap book follows a playful puppy named Spot as he hides around the house.
How this book promotes language development:
Babies will love searching for Spot under the flaps, as the story introduces simple prepositions like “on,” “under,” and “behind.” This book asks questions, giving babies a chance to respond while lifting all of the flaps.
What you can do:
Encourage your baby to lift the flaps and say “Is Spot here?” Make sounds of surprise when you lift the flaps to look for Spot. Go off script and say things like, “Spot isn’t here, let’s keep looking.” Ask your baby questions like, “Where’s do you think the puppy is hiding?” “Is this spot?” Exaggerate “yes” and “no” with head movements.
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle: This colorful and engaging story is a classic! It follows a hungry caterpillar as he munches his way through the days of the week.
How this book promotes language development:
With its vibrant illustrations and fun tactile holes, this book is a feast for the senses. Babies will love the repetition and exploring the pages. It also introduces counting concepts and the days of the week in a fun, simple way. The repetive phrase is great for speech development and helps children recognize patterns in speech as well ss remember new words.
What you can do:
Point to the holes and make munching sounds as the caterpillar eats. Count the fruits together. Point to each fruit as you say the number. During the repetitive phrase, “But he was still hungry”, pause before the word “hungry” giving baby a chance to respond in their own way.
5. Moo, Baa, La La La! by Sandra Boynton: This silly book is full of animal sounds and playful illustrations.
How this book promotes language development:
Repetition, rhyming, and animal sounds are a winning combination for babies! This book encourages babies to make simple animal noises. The rhyming and repetitive cadence give the book a pleasant rhythm that will encourage babies to repeat sounds they hear.
What you can do:
Make the animal sounds with exaggerated expressions, and encourage your baby to copy you. Repeat the animal sounds. Ask baby things like, “What sound does the cow make?”. Read the story again but pause before making the animal sounds to encourage your baby to say them.
6. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown: This soothing bedtime story is a classic for a reason.
How this book promotes language development:
The calming rhythm and repetition of this book gets babies ready for sleep while introducing basic vocabulary of everyday items. The simple text is a great way to introduce new words.
What you can do:
Point to the objects in the room as you say their names. Create a calming bedtime ritual by reading this book every night and say goodnight to familiar objects in your home. Touch the objects as you say their name.
7. My First Learn to Talk Book (series) by Stephanie Cohen: This amazing baby book was designed by a speech expert and is one of my absolute favorites! It features real photos of babies, rhyming words, and fun, simple sounds with matching facial expressions.
How this book promotes language development:
Each page incorporates a sound with a facial expression accompanied by a photo of a real baby making the correct sound with their mouth. This combined with rhyming words and simple, fun exclamations, encourages babies to make their own sounds. Babies will be enticed to repeat words and sounds they hear as well as make facial expressions. Rhyming words help babies hear individual word sounds. The rhyming text and real photos of babies will also keep your little one engaged and happy.
What you can do:
Repeat the sounds slowly and clearly. Ask baby if they can make the sounds. Draw attention to your mouth wjen saying the words. This book also comes with a parents guide in the back to tell you exactly how to interact and help promote language development!
*I also recommend the rest of the books in this series:
8. Old Macdonald Had a Farm by Page Publications: This gentle songbook is a classic children’s song with adorable animal illustrations.
How this book promotes language development:
Books that are songs are excellent for language development. It introduces simple concepts in a familiar melody with repetition that is pleasing for babies. The song keeps babies engaged and the animal sounds are great first sounds for babies. Repetition supports brain development and helps babies make connections between objects and words. Music had also been linked with brain development.
What you can do:
Sing the song with your baby. Point to the animal when you sing or say their name. Make the animal sounds with lots of energy and exaggerated facial expressions. Ask your baby if they can repeat the animal sounds and wait for their response.
9. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. And John Archambault: This classic book is full of silly sounds and Rhyming words, while introducing the alphabet.
How this book promotes language development:
Nonsense words and sounds make this a fun and silly read. It encourages babies to experiment with different sounds. The rhyming words and rhythmic cadence engage babies and help them absorb language. Rhyming in books encourages babies to repeat sounds. It also helps babies hear the sounds and syllables that make up words.
What you can do:
Make the silly sounds with your baby and have fun together. Emphasize the rhyming words. At the end of the book on the alphabet page, sing the ABC’s together.
10. First 100 Words by Roger Priddy: This padded board book features bright, vibrant colors and real photos of everyday objects, paired with simple text.
How this book promotes language development:
This book introduces babies to a wide range of first words. The photos and words are displayed in a clear and visually engaging way. The everyday objects are familiar to babies, which helps make the connection between words and images.
What you can do:
Point to the pictures and name the objects in a clear, slow voice. Repeat the name of the object and throw in an adjective like “yellow duck” or “flower. This is a pink fkower.” Encourage your baby to touch the pictures and turn the pages. You can also describe the objects and their uses in simple sentences.
11. Little Blue Truck by Alice Shertle: This delightful classic features a friendly blue truck who helps others and makes a bunch of new farm animal friends.
How this book helps promote language development:
This book features rhyming words, animal sounds, and a pleasant rhythm. This is a winning combination for children’s books! The rhythm and rhyming words help babies hear individual sounds in words. This is called phonological awareness.The animal and fun truck sounds keep babies engaged in the story.
What you can do:
Make the animal sounds and ask baby what sounds the animals make. Give baby a chance to respond in their own way. Make the beep beep sounds and use a hand gesture to accompany it. Gestures help babies understand language.
12. Baby Signs by Joy Allen: This baby board book features adorable illustrations of a baby doing daily activities, while doing the signs for common words.
How this book promotes language development:
Using baby sign language, gestures, and facial expressions can help babies learn to communicate often times before they can verbally say words. Babies will start to imitate the gestures and connect it to their verbal words meaning.
What you can do:
While reading the book, perform the associated sign. Don’t worry the book tells and shows you how! Repeat the word and sign movement to baby. Choose three signs to continuously use in your daily routine. The three we started with were “milk”, “more”, and “all done”.
Additional Language Development Tips :
- Pause after repetitive phrases and before rhyming words to give your baby a chance to respond. This could be babbles, coos, sounds, words, or a simple smile. All are amazing!
- Use lots of positive reinforcement when your baby makes sounds when you pause, or any sounds while reading together.
- When your baby starts pointing at pictures and making sounds say things like, “Yes, that’s a duck!”. Make it a really positive experience.
- Use exaggerated facial expressions and hand movements to give your baby a visual representation of words. Get silly with it! Baby’s love to laugh!
- Repetition is key! The more you read to your baby the more they will love it. The more you read a familiar story the more engaged your child will be and eventually you will hear them explode with language!
Looking for more ways you can help your baby with language development? Check out these language development activities for babies!
The most important thing is to make reading time a positive and interactive experience for you and your baby. I hope this list of board books that promote language development for babies has helped you find the perfect language inducing books for your baby. So cuddle up, have fun, and read to your baby everyday and as much as possible. Watch as your little one’s language skills bloom and grow before your eyes!
