Updated 17th July 2023
Why is it important to read to your 1 year old? Partly, it’s because reading to kids at any age is good for them and good for you. As children’s author Hilary Robinson told DaddiLife: “Reading together is an essential part in helping to encourage a love of stories and of later independent reading. It helps to develop comprehension, nurture empathy and language development – children hear words and use them in conversation.”
But - while reading to children of any age is good - reading to 1 year olds has specific benefits. So in this guide you'll learn about what to consider when buying the best books for 1 year olds, as well as our reviews for 15 of the very best for you to buy and enjoy together.
Why is reading to your one year important?
According to one study, both the quality and quantity of shared book reading in infancy predicted later childhood vocabulary, reading skills, and name writing ability. In other words, the earlier you start, the better the outcomes for your chid.
It’s not just about the act of reading though, it’s also about what you read. Lisa Scott, associate professor in Psychology at the University of Florida, has studied the effects different books have on infants. She concludes that, “to reap the benefits of shared book reading during infancy, we need to be reading our little ones the right books at the right time.” It's similar in principle to what to look for in buying the best gifts for one year olds.
Reading to your child from a young age is also brilliant for bonding, not just academic development. According to the Governor's Early Literacy Foundation, reading to and with your child helps to form the 'secure attachment', the bond of mutual trust between a parent and child. This secure attachment is the basis of forming positive relationships, regulating emotions, having strong self-worth and creating meaningful relationships.
What to consider when buying books for one-year-olds
Lisa’s research found a specific difference between books that label characters and those that don’t. Put simply, in children up to one, it seems that books with colourful characters that are named promote more cognitive activity than those with generic characters. So books featuring a character called Larry the Lion might be better for infant development than books that simply feature a lion.
We don’t know why that might be, but we can take a guess. Calling a lion Larry is just more fun, and might promote more expressiveness in the mother or father on reading duty. Your enjoyment also might be infectious, making the whole session more memorable for your baby (if you have baby books that don’t name characters, that’s fine - just name them yourself!).
Whatever it is, it seems to work. Lisa states: “For infants, finding books that name different characters may lead to higher-quality shared book reading experiences and result in the learning and brain development benefits we find in our studies.”
But it might not be the naming itself that promotes these benefits, but the fact that colourful characters get parents talking, and talking seems to be key. Talking to babies helps their development. Books that encourage parents to talk through pictures or explain simple actions or events might be especially worthwhile for babies around one year of age. Beyond just the talking there's a few other factors to consider:
The 15 best books for one year olds
Editors Review
“I have a 1 & 2 year old and they both love the fabric lift a flaps. Highly recommend instead of (a) normal board book lift a flaps, because those do tear easier."
'Where's Mr Duck?' is a brilliant lift the flap book for young readers. Mr Duck embarks on a journey around his home pond, and discovering lots of other friendly animals. The book uses felt flaps to hide and reveal the other animals that Mr Duck meets along his journey.
It's a sweet book one 1 year olds, filled with beautiful illustrations and bright colours and even a mirror on the final page - an excellent idea to draw baby's eyes.
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2. First Words
Editors Review
“Bright, obvious illustrations, hidden surprises and simple sentences make understanding easy."
'First Words' is a fun book designed to introduce your little one to a handful of... first words. A thick board book, it features a range of a cheerful illustrations and lift flaps to bring you 10 simple sentences, introducing words like 'dog', 'cat', 'ball', 'shoes, and 'socks'. The illustrations also prompt you to point out other things on the page, like a small bird that doesn't feature in the sentence.
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Editors Review
“Babies love searching for adorable Spot, and have done for 40 years! The surprises along the way and eventual pay-off (spoiler alert: you find Spot!) make this a great read.”
This is the board book version of Eric Hill's classic book, 'Where's Spot?'. It's remained in the baby book charts ever since it was first published in 1980, and is often seen as a great gift from grandparents and other family members.
You and your little one will go on an adventure to lift the flaps and find where Spot is hiding. Finding Spot will no doubt bring your child so much joy. 'Where's Spot?' is the first in a wonderful series, so there are plenty more Spot's adventures to enjoy.
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Editors Review
“There’s just so much going on and so many places to visit - it seems like there’s something else to find every time your baby opens the book.”
Although 'Busy, Busy Town' is designed for young readers, it also a brilliantly engaging book for 1 year olds. With a cast of colourful animal characters, it introduces all the things go on in a busy town just like yours. While your infant might not engage with story itself, each page is filled with plenty of wonderful things and fantastic illustrations. Join a cast of colourful animal characters as they show you all the amazing things that go on in a town just like yours.
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Editors Review
“Absolutely adorable book. 3 year old and 11 month old love it. I sent a copy to a friend with a 2 year old and another friend with a 1 year old. Fun little book. Love it!"
'Little Avocado's Big Adventure' is a brilliantly quirky and sweet rhyming book. The main feature of this book is the central finger puppet, encouraging grown ups to practice their best avocado voice and making funny sounds. The story itself isn't the greatest, but the colourful pictures and finger puppet will have your child hooked from an early age.
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Editors Review
"This is great for parents who want to tell the story in their own inimitable style, but also great for kids’ coordination and fine motor skills."
Love it or hate it, there's not been anything quite like 'Baby Shark' to engage young children. And now you can be part of the fun too, with the finger puppet interactive book version of the hit song. In a change from the song, however, the book actually cycles through a range of emotions and experiences from 'silly shark' and 'happy shark' to 'hungry shark' and 'bedtime shark.
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7. Dear Zoo
Editors Review
"This children’s classic will keep your baby guessing till the last page. Great illustrations, thick pages and sturdy flaps."
'Dear Zoo' is a classic children's book that'll you find in almost every baby's library. An interactive board book, Dear Zoo tells the story of a Zoo that keeps sending the wrong pet. It not only introduces a range of zoo animals, but teaches a key trait about each one - like the giraffe being too tall.
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Editors Review
"It’s the Very Hungry Caterpillar - enough said. (OK, it’s a classic, beautifully illustrated, great layout, and there are holes in the pages that the caterpillar has eaten through!)"
Another classic story, we all know what happens - a caterpillar eats his way through a mountain of food on his way to becoming a beautiful butterfly. Another staple in every baby's library, 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' is so well designed and wonderfully illustrated.
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Editors Review
"It’s a simple, gentle, peaceful story that ends with Little Nutbrown Hare fast asleep. Perfect bedtime reading for parents and babies."
Another classic book for early age children, 'Guess How Much I Love You' is well-loved as arguably the most heartwarming story out there. It tells the story of Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown as they express how much they love each other. Not only is it a truly sweet book, it's a fairly unique tale where it depicts the story of a father and child, especially for an older story. It really is an adorable story.
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Editors Review
"Big, bright illustrations help your child follow this delightful little story, taking them on a colourful journey into a new world of adventure."
'Welcome to the World' follows the adventures of a charming baby elephant as it takes its first steps into the big wide world and discovers all the wonders it has to offer.
However, because it's written in the first person, it doubles as a sentimental message from a parent to their child. It's packed full of inspiring life lessons and reminder to your child about the impact they had on your life when they came into the world.
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Editors Review
“Babies will love the illustrations, and as they grow they will also start to explore the text, which teaches them about colours, numbers and animals.”
The Gruffalo is definitely a classic story for little readers as they get a bit older. For now, though, there's the 'My First Gruffalo Little Library' - a collection of four small board books set in the Deep Dark Wood as the Gruffalo, Mouse, Fox, Owl and Snake to teach help your child learn about colours, numbers, opposites an animals.
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Editors Review
“These are funny stories about the UK’s favourite bear, full of charm, warmth and adventure. Babies will love the exciting illustrations; older children will start reading the simple text."
Just like the My First Gruffalo series, the 'Paddington Little Library' introduces a classic series of books in a way that is ideal of 1 year olds. This Little Library consists of the original story of Paddington's arrival in London, 'Paddington at Home', 'Paddington at the Seaside', and 'Paddington Goes Shopping'. Despite its recent adaptations as 'live action' films and animated TV series, this collection features the classic illustrations of R.W Alley, giving an extra hint of nostalgia for parents who grew up with the Paddington books.
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Editors Review
“Bright illustrations and lots of different textures and surfaces to touch and feel help your child’s sensory development.”
'That's Not My Robin' is a Christmassy addition to the 'That's Not My...' classic book series. These padded board books are packed with different textures on all the animals for little one to touch and feel, making them excellent interactive books. It's also a great opportunity to teach and practice animal sounds.
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Editors Review
“When you turn the pages the stars light up! Babies will love the night sky twinkling before their eyes.”
The 'Twinkly Twinkly Bedtime Book' is the perfect bedtime story for a 1 year old. A thick board book with twinkly lights built into each page to light up the bedroom to mimic the story. The story follows Little Bear's own bedtime as he gets distracted by the night sky.
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Editors Review
“My son absolutely loves these books and spend a lot of time at bedtime playing with them, dancing to them, and investigating the pages. It was a worthwhile investment for bedtime routine."
This Winter Wonderland Sound Book is a whole lot of fun with bright, colourful pictures and plenty of (good) noise. With holes to peep through, finger trails to follow, and buttons playing animal sounds and other noises, there's plenty of wonderful things to keep 1 year olds engaged.
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How to read to a one year old
The best piece of advice about reading to babies is simply to do it often, from a young age. You should do it at all ages, but from six to nine months reading has measurable effects. For example, a study published in the journal Pediatrics found that babies who were read aloud to regularly from six months had a 40% increase in receptive vocabulary at 18 months. However, there was only a 16% increase in baby's vocabulary when they were not read aloud to.
Dad stories - reading to one year olds.
There's nothing we love more than seeing dads reading with their one year olds. Here are some of the stories we've loved and been inspired by.
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(@booksbyjulz)FAQs
Why is a lift a flap book good for 1 year olds?
Lift a flap books are often seen as the best books for 1 year olds. They're usually small enough to fit inside an infant's hands, while the thick cardboard pages make it easier for them to turn to the next page. Combine those with lifting the flap itself and you get a good, repetitive development of the fine motor skills. Plus, the flaps add a sense of wonder and anticipation for a young child about what's behind it. You can also play a little game of peekaboo as well, which only adds to the engagement.
Why are board books so good for 1 year olds?
Board books are children's books made from thick cardboard, rather than paper. They're built this way for two reasons. Firstly, the thicker pages make it easier for little hands to turn the pages. Secondly, paper is easily torn and ripped when you don't have a fine-tuned dexterity in your hands and fingers - so board books are also more durable. Just watch out, 1 year olds can tend to chew on them!
What makes the perfect book for 1 year olds?
There might not be such thing as the perfect book for a 1 year old - sometimes it can tick all the boxes, but your child just might not engage with the story or the illustrations. We all have different tastes and preferences, and your child is still developing theirs.
However, there are some things that the best books have in common. They're full of bright, bold, colourful pictures and have interactive elements - whether it's a range of textures to feel or flaps to read. A great book for 1 year olds will help a child learn about so many different things, whether it's introducing them to basic colours or shapes, how the world works, or the different emotions we feel.
What's are the best books for 1 year olds and their dads?
We can't help but love 'Guess How Much I Love You'. Even today where more and more books are reflecting the modern make up of society, it's still quite rare to see a children's book at only depicts a dad and his child. As a dad, it feels really quite special to tuck your child into bed at night and read this one. Then, when you're finished, turn to your child and say 'guess how much I love you...', before a kiss goodnight.
