Our Favorite Toddler Books for Spring

Spring has sprung and now it's time to reset our book nook to display all of the wonderful books Spring has to offer!

If you're new here and you're like, "what the heck is a book nook?" let me tell you about it! A book nook is a small section of books that we rotate throughout the year to coordinate with seasons, holidays, birthdays, etc. It doesn't have to be a big or fancy display, just a small space where you can focus on one specific theme. For us, this looks like two wire baskets that hang on the wall in their playroom with a small themed banner hanging above it.

I've linked everything you need to create an easy and simple book nook here.

Now, let's dive in and start talking about some of my favorite Spring books for toddlers. If you want to make sure you have them all in one place, I've linked them in my LTK and you can find them HERE. If you want to have a better understanding of the storyline and rating for each book, then keep scrolling!

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt- Not only do these books have beautiful illustrations, but they have an amazing message. This is a great book for spring, especially if you have a garden, because it walks through the process of cleaning up the garden and getting ready for new growth. It talks about what is happening above the garden (with planting, watering, bugs, sunshine, etc.) and below the garden in the dirt. This is a great way to help your kiddos understand what happens with plants and bugs in the spring!

We Are the Gardeners- This was written by the amazing Joanna Gaines and takes you on the journey of building and growing their garden. I love how this book shares the joys and struggles of building a garden by showing that certain aspects don't always pan out the way we think it will. The illustrations are stunning and the message of the garden being a group/family effort is top tier!

Big Book of Bugs- If your kiddo loves bugs, then this is the book for them! Front to back it covers all of the bugs in the world, where they live, and how to find them. I love how it breaks it down into digestible information for the kids like which bugs come out during the day, night, or certain time of the year. It covers the life cycles of bugs, how bugs hide, communicate, and even love to live in our homes- eekk!! It's a tall book that's easy to hold and has really great illustrations to hold their attention.

Little Blue Truck Springtime- We love Little Blue Truck in our house so a variation of this one is always going to be on our shelf! Little Blue Truck has a fun rhythmic flow and this one specifically has flaps that help keep your kids engaged in the story. It takes you on the journey of the truck's drive on a gorgeous spring day and introduces you to a handful of baby animals that are seen along the way.

Don't Touch that Flower- This is a great story to pair with The Leaf Thief in the fall. It revolves around the same charcters and has a somewhat similar storyline, but helps your kids to better understand the changing of the seasons. Just as spring arrives, the main character (Squirrel) finds a fresh new flower and becomes protective over it from the other animals. Squirrel's friend, Bird, shows him the beauty of flowers and how to let them grow.

The Grouchy Ladybug- If it's written by Eric Carle, then you know it's going to be good. The illustrations are always beautiful and keep the kids engaged in the story. In this one, we follow a grouchy ladybug on their journey of meeting other bugs and just being in a downright grouchy mood.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Another one by Eric Carle, but honestly this is one of my favorites! It's a cute story that follows a hungry caterpillar on its journey of eating many different foods until it's time to wrap up in a chrysalis and become a beautiful butterfly.

Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms- This is a great option to pair with Fletcher and the Falling Leaves in the fall. Fletcher is an adorable character and has such a sweet story. In this book, he mistakes the spring blossoms for a winter snow and tries to tell all of his friends about it. Help your kids to learn about the changing season while Fletcher learns about it, too.

Everything Spring- We love National Geographic Kids books because they use real photos to talk to your kids about the topic of the book which really helps your kids to stay engaged in the book. In this book, you'll find stories about new baby animals, Spring weather, and how the world comes back to life after winter.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit- This is, in my opinion, a Spring staple! We love the story of Peter Rabbit and in case you’ve never read it before, here’s a quick recap. Peter is a little rabbit who boldly goes into Mr. McGregor’s garden against his mother’s warnings. The book follows Peter’s journey into the garden, all through the garden, and his final escape to find home. It’s a cute little book and is perfect for Spring!

From the Garden- This is a counting book revolving around a family garden. It’s a great way to talk to your kids about the benefits of maintaining your garden and how you can use the food you grow. Each page covers different fruits or veggies and encourages your kids to count the different foods you gather from the garden each day. We love this book and highly recommend, especially if you are starting a garden this year!

Birthday Books- I also want to say that we include a handful of birthday books in our Spring Shelf because our boys both have birthdays in the Spring! Find our favorite Birthday Books HERE!

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I hope this gives you a solid place to start as you create an intentional book nook for your kiddos. Doing this for my kids is one of my favorite things and it's also really nice to be able to switch out the books as needed.

The Importance of Switching Out Books

Whether you have a seasonal shelf in your playroom or in each of your kid's rooms, there are SO many benefits to switching out your books with the changing seasons. First of all, it helps your kids to have a better understanding of the structure of the year and the different things you get to do or experience within that time. Second of all, it really helps to keep your books fresh and lively versus reading the same books all of the time.

How We Store Our Seasonal Books

I have a bunch of small buckets (which I'll link HERE) that house our seasonal books and I store them in our game closet, but you could also store them in the garage. I have a bucket for each big season or holiday- Spring, Easter, Summer, Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and so on. I store everything I need for the seasonal shelf in the bucket and each bucket is labeled so it's easy to find. You could also use large ziplock bags depending on how many books you have (you don't need a lot of books in order for this to feel special).

When it Comes to Buying Books

Let's state the obvious- books can be really expensive. That's why I always try to link new books that are $10 or less (when or where I can) because I know how crazy expensive it can be. This is also why I encourage you to shop at a used bookstore or consignment sale when possible! Many of our books are not new and have been purchased second hand, so don't forget to look for seasonal books the next time you go thrifting! Sometimes you can find them for as low as $1 each.

Setting Up the Book Nook

Our current Book Nook is located on a wall in our playroom. It was super easy to put together, but I also want you to know that it didn't start out this way. Our seasonal books started out as a simple basket in the boy's room with the right books for the season or holiday. As they got older and we moved to a new house, I decided to make a more permanent space which is where we are today.

I found the baskets on Amazon and this was probably the most important part because you want to make sure you're finding baskets that are sturdy enough to hold a lot of books. The baskets I use and would recommend are linked with the books and come in a set of four.

Once I have those in place, I add a few simple things to make it a little more festive. A seasonal banner, from the one and only Hunny Prints, hangs above the books and I usually try to add another element for the season like a garland, etc.

This is a super easy thing you can do to magnify the magic of each holiday or season and once you fall into a routine, it may just become your new favorite thing. As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

Stay tuned because I'll be sharing our Birthday Book Nook next and you don't want to miss it! Thanks for stopping by and I'll see ya again real soon.

SB

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