What is a board book? Board boards for kids are usually just simple picture books. The anticipated age group is for children five-years-old and younger. The pages are thick like a board, not thin like a piece of paper and this is why they are called ‘board books”.

Little people have small hands and yet they have not developed their fine motor skills. For this reason they need large object for their small hands – they need large crayons, large Legos, and large hard pages in their books.

The best board books will help to increase the infants’ identification of words and objects. In selecting board books for a specific child try to make them suitable to the age and interest level of the intended audience. Many infants are totally content with a board book with simple paintings or photographs of the alphabet, numbers, animals and everyday objects. The magic of reading to a young child or infant is that they love to listen to the reader’s voice over and over.

The best board books for children have simple words with bold text. The words are repetitive and/or rhyme. Although infants, toddlers and young children have not developed the motor skills required for paper pages, the still want to hear a story.

Board books are very good for children with physical disabilities: like other children, they love reading books on their own.

Board books have bright, simple pictures. Usually, there are not many details. Yet, there is lots of color to encourage the children’s interest. Artists usually tend to stick with the eight basic colors. This allows the child to identify the color of different objects which makes the alphabet book into a book for learning colors.

You are wise to invest in board books for children. And it is never too early; babies love to be read to, they love to hear your voice! Read the books with them, and let them chew on the corners of the pages; they will become comfortable and in love with books when they are surrounded by them. Be glad of the thick and not quite such fragile pages that are provided by a board book and help them enjoy books.

There are new board books published every month. Many books originally published as picture books are now available as board books. Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham , The Foot Book (The Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners) , Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon and Eric Hill's Where's Spot? (Little Spot Board Books) are fine infant and toddlers board books.

Go for Board books when you need a great last-minute birthday gift. Remember, when in doubt, stick to the classic authors, such as Dr. Seuss, Todd Parr and Eric Carle. There is a reason these authors have been around for years, their messages are timeless and you probably remember them and want to share them with your children.

Board books are everywhere. They are on the shelves in the local library, they can be found at the thrift store or bargain stores. Be sure to check garage sales and ‘Friends of the Library’ sales to add to your collection of board books.


Eric Carle's Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me: Miniature Edition (The World of Eric Carle Miniature Edition) is available as a board book. It is a classic bedtime story.


More Children Books

Dr. Seuss Books
Magic Tree House Books

Note: Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me and others are from my personal library.