Top 10 best books for babies for 2015

“Read to your kids!” says the pediatrician and the librarian, the in-laws and the parenting magazines. Last year, the chorus became even louder when the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a new recommendation that caregivers should read aloud to children every day starting at birth.

Choosing a book for an infant, however, can be a bigger challenge than sitting down to read it. “The options are endless and more and more parents are looking for guidance,” says Lisa Dennis, chairperson of Best Books for Babies–a cooperative project of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the Fred Rogers Company and the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children. To help caregivers, Best Books for Babies prepares an annual list of the top books published in the previous year for babies birth to 18 months.

This year’s list features 10 books hand-selected by a panel of local authors, early childhood development experts, educators and librarians. Chosen books are not only fun and colorful–but also deemed vital to babies’ early development.

Here’s the 2015 Best Books for Babies list:

Dennis has more advice for parents in search of the right read. “Find a book that you like enough to read repeatedly,” she says. “It doesn’t matter how good a book is if it isn’t being read.” Dennis also reminds parents that it’s okay to read just a few pages at a time. “Insisting on finishing a book, whether the child is enjoying it or not, can make reading seem like a chore.”

So when it comes to reading to your kids, start early, do it often and if you need to, take baby steps.

For more resources on reading to kids of all ages, visit here.

Featured photo: Little reader at the library, Photo courtesy of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh