The best gift book I received after baby number 3, was "Go the F*ck to sleep. There is a wonderful audible version read by Samuel L. Jackson. On second thought, it might not be altogether appropriate for your boss.
That’s the one @intparent ! I LOVE those books. We had the collection of three small books too.
Children’s Librarian here. I highly recommend Mo Willems. (if you look a the link above you will see that he is the most nominated children’s author and illustrator of the last ten years. With good reason). You could do Knuffle Bunny, but if they have older kids they most likely have it already. Any of the Pigeon Books ( I would recommend Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late or Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus) , but my personal favorite and one that people are less likely to already own is City Dog, Country Frog. Different in both style and tone than much of his other work, this book is a funny, gentle, thoughtful book. It is one of my 5 go to books for when Story Time needs to calm down, yet kids ask for it all the time.
My grandson’s favorite books as a two month old are Hot Dog, Cold Dog and Hello, Bugs!. Hello, Bugs! especially keeps his interest because of the high contrast illustrations. If you are buying for very first books, these are great. If you want ones for an older baby, all of the other recommendations are great.
https://babylit.com/collections/books/Classic-Lit
My D and I stumbled across a few of these books recently when we were browsing a book store. They look like fun, one example is using Pride and Prejudice as a backdrop for a counting book.
We always loved all the Eric Carle books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar being a special favorite.
@gallentjill This has been a go to shower gift from me for those circles that can embrace it, always gets passed around a good laugh, especially by those of us BTDT. Though a few times I’ve stuck with the traditional Pat the Bunny, etc.
I love the new (new just to me maybe?) tradition of using a book instead of a greeting card and signing the inside cover. A friend’s D was expecting a baby boy and I gave him a nice hardcover copy of Peter Pan and inscribed: “The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” Nice way to start a library for your kids.
I am one of the storytime leaders at my library. My new favorite board book is “Quantum Physics for Babies.” Yes. It’s adorable, good for a laugh, and the adults will learn something!
We loved books by Stevenson. They had detailed and fascinating illustrations and were in comic-book-like panels.
I loved so many picture books—our D chose books by how well they were illustrated for some time.
My dear friends daughter’s baby shower for her first child was a library shower. As she was an avid reader herself, and as the oldest child in her family, she had all her childhood favorites already. She requested we bring newer children’s books that she did not already own. It was a beautiful shower, and she received tons of books that will be shared with her second child due this summer. Like mom, her daughter is a lover of books!
I love when the gift giver, like @NEPatsGirl , includes an inscription inside the cover. It is a constant reminder of the gift giver and should bring a smile to the face of the parents and child.
Oliver Jeffers : Everything But the Whale, or Lost and Found, or The Way Back Home. Marla Frazee’s All The World. anything by Mo Willems. But honestly, children will attach themselves to all sorts of books in ways that can be inexplicable to adults. The best children’s book is the one that someone snuggles up and reads with/to you.
Also, the Going to Bed Book. My adult kids can recite it!
I was also going to suggest…consider choosing a book, writing a message in it - and including a local bookstore gift card - even for $10-$20 to invite them to hang onto it and make a family trip to the bookstore to pick out additional books as baby grows a bit. Parents who are invested in picking out their child’s books are more likely to read aloud to them! (fact!)
While I like the idea of writing in the books like a card…if you want to be practical…just include a card.
We were at a shower where the baby got many duplicate books, and many could not be returned because of these written notes. It would have been nice for the new baby parents to have been able to replace the duplicates with other books.
One of the best showers I went to…one person (a relative) gave a bookshelf. The guests were eached asked to include a book in their gifts.
It was fun to send the family home with a bookshelf…with a lot of books to be put in it.
We also wrote why the book we chose was chosen in our cards. For example, i gave two books that were favorites of my two kids (Harold and the Purple Crayon…and Blueberies for Sal).
I’m sort of a fan of some of the older classics. Most parents will get the newer trends because those are what is being marketed now. But there is a lot of charm to the classics.
^^^ I agree with this. Or buy an inexpensive bookmark or make your own and include THAT with your message on it.
My program gets thousands of children’s used books donated each year - when we sort through them it always feels “weird” when we find one (and this happens often) where there is a message inside the front cover from grandma, Aunt Nellie, Godparents, etc. - I always feel bad that someone donated it AND it also makes it harder to recycle with other children as a gently used book - we try to cover up the messages - but that feels weird also!!!
We have decided to buy the book locally with gift receipt and include on the card that if it’s not a duplicate we will then lovingly inscribe it at the shower, or do the same later with another book. Thank you all for the great ideas. I think I’m going with Pocket full of Posies. That art is fantastic.
Probably more involved (and more $$$) than you want to go for, but I grew up on My Book House, which is a six volume set of reading for kids as they grow from nursery rhymes onward. I can’t guarantee that every volume is PC by current standards, but I bought a set for my brother’s oldest [now 34] when she was born, and neither she nor her sister has incurred any harm as far as we can tell, and my brother returned the favor when my daughter [now 27] was born.
Great memories of reading
“Are you my mother ?” ( baby bird has fallen from nest and searches for mother
"Quick as a cricket " - stunning animal pictures, no plot description of feelings
"The Little Mouse, The red ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry bear " for toddler
I still have Golden Books from the early 60s that my Mom, Nana and Meme all wrote in wishing me a Happy Birthday or Easter, etc. I treasure those inscriptions. The key is to find a book that most likely wouldn’t be duplicated. I guess its a chance you take.
I love the idea of a gift card too. My kids and I spent at least one afternoon every week in the local library (its a great one for a small town) and many hours at the local Borders Books/Barnes & Noble. I had little money for outings and they would spend hours just reading through the books and doing activities set up by the librarians and book stores. Love when they put the bean bag chairs out for the kids and sometimes had story hour. Ice cream on the way home and they always felt it was a special day.
Good Dog, Carl.
Love love love The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear. It was given as a gift for my daughter when she was born, she is now 27. It is a favorite, we can still quote the book. It is my go to book for a baby or toddler.
Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom is a great read aloud. I frequently give this as a gift along with the Boynton Going to Bed Book. IMHO you can also never go wrong with a classic such as Make Way for Ducklings, Madeleine and Babar