Recommended reading for the first three years of your child's life, the Books to Grow On series comprises book lists compiled by the librarian members of the American Library Association-Children's Book Council Joint Committee from April 2003. The book lists are divided into the following age brackets:
| Explores the world through the senses-in relation to books, use of seeing faces and objects and hearing sounds. |
| All Fall Down. Oxenbury, Helen. Little Simon, 1999 |
| Animal Crackers: Bedtime. Dyer, Jane. Little, Brown, 1998 |
| Baby Animals: Black and White. Tildes, Phyllis L. Charlesbridge, 1998 |
| Baby Rock, Baby Roll. Blackstone, Stella. Illustrated by Denise and Fernando Azedo. Holiday House, 1997 |
| Big Fat Hen. Baker, Keith. Harcourt, 1994 |
| Black on White. Hoban, Tana. Greenwillow, 1993 |
| Blue Hat, Green Hat. Boynton, Sandra. Little Simon, 1984 |
| How Baby Grows. Buck, Nola. HarperCollins, 1998 |
| I Love Colors. Miller, Margaret. Simon & Schuster, 1999 |
| Max. Wilson-Max, Ken. Jump at the Sun, 1998 |
| My First Baby Games. Manning, Jane. HarperCollins, 2001 |
| My Very First Mother Goose. Opie, Iona, ed. Illustrated by Rosemary Wells. Candlewick, 1996 |
| Peek-A-Boo! Ahlberg, Janet and Allen Ahlberg. Viking, 1990 |
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| Increasing exploration with hands-able to reach for books, touch and feel pictures; prefers pictures of faces, begins to vocalize. |
| Animal Kisses. Saltzberg, Barney. Red Wagon, 2000 |
| Baby's Lap Book. Chorao, Kay. Dutton, 1991 |
| Brown Sugar Babies. Smith, Charles. Jump at the Sun, 2000 |
| Goodnight Moon. Brown, Margaret Wise. HarperCollins, 1947 |
| I Can. Oxenbury, Helen. Candlewick, 1995 |
| I Smell Honey. Pinkney, Andrea. Illustrated by Brian J. Pinkney. Red Wagon, 1997 |
| Maybe, My Baby. O'Book, Irene. Illustrated by Paula Tible. HarperCollins, 1998 |
| My Colors (Mis Colores). Emberly, Rebecca. Little, Brown, 2000 |
| Red, Blue, Yellow Shoe. Hoban, Tana. Greenwillow, 1986 |
| Time For Bed. Fox, Mem. Illustrated by Jane Dyer. Harcourt, 1993 |
| Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Winter, Jeanette. Red Wagon, 2000 |
| Welcome, baby! Baby Rhymes for Baby Times. Calmenson, Stephanie. HarperCollins, 2002 |
| Where's the Baby? Paxton, Tom. Illustrated by Mark Graham. Morrow Avon, 1993 |
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| Able to hold a book with help, turn pages, point at pictures, and make sounds for a particular picture. |
| The Bear Went Over the Mountain. Wells, Rosemary. Scholastic, 1998 |
| Big Dog, Little Dog. Pilkey, Dav. Harcourt, 1997 |
| Count with Maisy. Cousins, Lucy. Candlewick, 1997 |
| Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z. Ehlert, Lois. Harcourt, 1989 |
| The Everything Book. Fleming, Denise. Henry Holt, 2000 |
| Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. Christelow, Eileen. Clarion, 1989 |
| Freight Train. Crews, Donald. Greenwillow, 1978 |
| Itsy Bitsy Spider. Wells, Rosemary. Scholastic, 1998 |
| Jamberry. Degen, Bruce. HarperCollins, 1992 |
| My First Action Rhymes. Pictures by Lynne Cravath. HarperCollins, 2000 |
| Rabbit's Bedtime. Wallace, Nancy Elizabeth. Houghton Mifflin, 1999 |
| Read to Your Bunny. Wells, Rosemary. Scholastic, 1997 |
| Sheep in a Jeep. Shaw, Nancy. Illustrated by Margot Apple. Houghton Mifflin, 1986 |
| Ten, Nine, Eight. Bang, Molly Garrett. Greenwillow, 1983 |
| Tom and Pippo Read a Story. Oxenbury, Helen. Simon & Schuster, 1998 |
| Where is My Baby? Ziefert, Harriet and Simms Taback. Handprint, 2002 |
| Where's Spot? Hill, Eric. G.P. Putnam, 1980 |
| You Are My Perfect Baby. Thomas, Joyce Carol. Photos by Nneka Bennett. Joanna Cotler, 1999 |
| Zoom City. Hurd, Thatcher. Harper Collins, 1998 |
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| Able to name familiar pictures, turn one page at a time, and carry a book around the house. Able to concentrate on simple stories, but still needs a great deal of one-on-one interaction and physical activity. |
| Be Gentle! Miller, Virginia. Candlewick, 1999 |
| Book! George, Kristine O'Connell. Illustrated by Maggie Smith. Clarion, 2001 |
| Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Martin, Bill Jr. and Eric Carle. Henry Holt, 1992 |
| Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Martin, Bill Jr. and John Archambault. Illustrated by Lois Ehlert. Little Simon, 1989 |
| Color Zoo. Ehlert, Lois. HarperCollins, 1989 |
| Come Along, Daisy! Simmons, Jane. Little Brown, 1998 |
| Construction Zone. Hoban, Tana. Greenwillow, 1997 |
| Dinosaur Roar! Strickland, Paul and Henrietta Strickland. Dutton, 1994 |
| Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs. Barton, Byron. HarperCollins, 1989 |
| Hello Lulu. Uff, Caroline. Walker, 1999 |
| How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? Yolen, Jane. Illustrated by Mark Teague. Blue Sky, 2000 |
| In the Tall, Tall Grass. Fleming, Denise. Henry Holt, 1999 |
| Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? Carlstrom, Nancy White. Illustrated by Bruce Degen. Simon & Schuster, 1986 |
| Little White Duck. Zaritsky, Bernard and Walt Whippo. Little, Brown, 2000 |
| Maisy's ABC. Cousins, Lucy. Candlewick, 1995 |
| Max's First Word. Wells, Rosemary. Dial, 1998 |
| "More More More," Said the Baby. Williams, Vera. Greenwillow, 1990 |
| Mouse Mess. Riley, Linnea A. Scholastic, 1997 |
| On Mother's Lap. Scott, Ann Herbert. Clarion, 1992 |
| Silly Little Goose! Tafuri, Nancy. Scholastic, 2001 |
| The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Potter, Beatrix. Warne, 1999 |
| The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Carle, Eric. Philomel, 1981 |
| The Wheels on the Bus. Raffi. Illustrated by Sylvie K. Wickstrom. Random House, 1998 |
| You're Just What I Need. Krauss, Ruth. Illustrated by Julia Noonan. HarperCollins, 1998 |
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