Triplets turn three! Best books for three year olds

Our friends Heather and The Toddfather have triplets. Yep, a girl and two boys: C, D, and E, all three just as cute and full of fun as a pillowcase full of puppies. It's their birthday - they're three - as well as the birthday of the admirable Heather.

In their honor, I am running down the best books I know for three-year olds. Three is such a great age. They can stand a bit of story in their books, but not much. They get a few jokes. They like strong colors and funny noises. They're a little young for alphabet books, but counting books and colors go over well. Best of all, the end of diapers is in sight.



Ravenous Beast by Niamh Sharkey. Lots of visual cues and repeating elements - our boy Mao started "reading" this one out loud to himself when he was about 3.



Dinosaur Roar! by Henrietta and Paul Stickland



The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman



Chicka chicka boom boom by Martin and Archambault. This book taught our Zhou all his letters before he was two. He was like a bar trick there for a while.



Sunshine by Jan Ormerod.



Bark, George by Jules Feiffer



I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by local hero Kevin McSherry, the t-shirt pimp of the Mt. Royal corridor.



The Pigeon books by Mo Willems, plus Leonardo, the Terrible Monster. I recently reviewed The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! here.



Not a Box and Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis. Here's what I wrote about Not a Box.



Penguin by Polly Dunbar



Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers



No, David! and the other David books by David Shannon



Bubble Bath Pirates and Good Night, Monkey Boy by Jarrett Krosoczka



Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. I just want to see Todd going, "Chee! Chee! Chee!".



Henny-Penny and Mrs. Mustard's Beastly Babies by Jane Wattenberg.



Good Night, Gorilla and 10 Minutes to Bedtime by Peggy Rathmann



Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett. Reviewed here earlier.



Living Color, Sisters and Brothers, and What Do You Do When Something Wants To Eat You? by Steve Jenkins. Living Color reviewed here.



Runaway Dinner by Allan Ahlberg. This is the one that I said reads like Tom Waits.



Pigs from 1 to 10 by Arthur Geisert. I like the rest of Geisert's books for older kids.



Hello, Day by Anita Lobel. Reviewed here just the other day.



Color by Ella Doran. Reviewed here previously.



Grumpy Bird and Me Hungry! by Jeremy Tankard. Reviewed here previously.



Where is Coco Going? and the other Coco books by Sloane Tanen. Except the grown-up Coco books: Bitter with Baggage Seeks Same: The Life and Times of Some Chickens, Going for the Bronze: Still Bitter, More Baggage, and Hatched!: The Big Push from Pregnancy to Motherhood, although I totally recommend those for Heather.



Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Last but not least. A classic.