This is a predictable story in which children see a variety of animals, each one a different color, and a teacher looking at them.  This has been one of our favorites from the start.  I don’t “read” this to Gertrude.  I have always sung it to her to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” or “Old MacDonald”.  She has known this story by heart since she was able to talk.  I attribute her knowledge of colors to this story as well.  It doesn’t hurt that the teacher at the end of the book has blue glasses like “Mama” and she gives woman on the page a kiss each time.

A sniffly little panda worries that his enormous sneezes will be disruptive when his mother takes him to a dusty library and his father takes him to a diner where other customers use plenty of pepper.  Since before Gertrude could talk this was a favorite and she was able to imitate the sneezing sound.  This is a great story to introduce your child to all sorts of animals and is amusing for the adult reader as well as the child who is listening.

A country truck feels out of place in the speedy, noisy city until he comes to the rescue during a giant traffic jam.  Just when you think there is no way your toddler will listen to a book with this many pages and words Little Blue Truck will surprise you.  The sing song rhythm of the text and the cute illustrations will keep your toddler’s interest.  Every book in this series (Little Blue Truck; Little Blue Truck’s Christmas) is an everyday read in our home and has helped us teach Gertrude kindness, animal sounds, counting, and more.

Three owl babies whose mother has gone out in the night try to stay calm while she is gone.  This is the first story I remember reading to Gertrude where she started asking “why?”  “Why is Bill sad?”, “Why did their Mama leave?” .  Her curiosity is only one reason we love this book.  It helps to teach about different emotions and has always been a favorite at storytime at the library as well.

An interactive picture book encourages young readers and listeners to mimic the movements of animals in the story.  I love this one at home with Gertrude and in the library at storytime because it promotes exercise and helps to develop listening skills as well as learning how to follow directions.  There is nothing cuter than a toddler pounding their chest like a gorilla.

In a tale told in rhyme, little bunnies begin turning up in the strangest places all over Sesame Street early one Easter morning.  Honestly when I bought this for Gertrude it was only because it had Elmo on the cover and in no way struck me as quality literature.  But as soon as I read it to her I changed my mind.  The rhyming story is fun and the illustrations encourage listeners to pay attention and find the bunnies.  We even practice counting with this book.

A small child learns the difference between No No things, such as running away, and Yes Yes things, such as holding an adult’s hand.  We love Leslie Patricelli and get a kick out of all her stories so it was hard to pick just one for this list.  I chose No No Yes Yes because it was the first book that Gertrude “read” to me.  She is able to look at the illustrations and tell me the story.

A small boy discovers that he can throw snowballs, make angels, and slide down hills in the fascinating world of snow.  This is a new favorite and I love it because we can mimic the story when we are playing in the snow.  We make angels like Peter and walk like Peter and drag a stick to make tracks like Peter.  

Each animal arriving from the zoo as a possible pet fails to suit its prospective owner, until just the right one is found. Movable flaps reveal the contents of each package.  Such a fun book to read with a child who is able to lift the flaps and even to an infant that isn’t able to yet.  We practice our animal sounds with this book. 

In this book with rhyming text, the dream train pulls into the station and all the different cars are loaded by the animal workers, each with the appropriate cargo.  We came across this book by mistake when buying a gift for my nephew.  I am glad we did.  Not only does it help teach with colors which would be the obvious purpose but it also is great for prediction.  Gertrude is the one who picked up on the fact that you can see the color of the next train car on the previous page.