Best Montessori Books for Infants to 12 Months Old

When it comes to Montessori education for 1 year olds, books play an important role in their development. Reading to a child at this age can help develop their language skills, cognitive abilities, and creativity. In this article, we will explore what 1 year olds need in a book and recommend some of the best books for Montessori education.

Guidelines for Choosing a Montessori-Aligned Book

When choosing books that align with the Montessori philosophy of education for your child, consider these few guidelines:

1. Realistic illustrations: Montessori books should feature realistic illustrations that accurately portray the natural world. This helps children develop a sense of appreciation for the world around them.
2. Simple language: Montessori books should use simple language that is easy for young children to understand. This helps children build their vocabulary and develop language skills.
3. Real-life themes: Montessori books should feature real-life themes that are relevant to young children. For example, books about animals, nature, and everyday life are good choices.
4. Cultural diversity: Montessori books should reflect the diversity of the world we live in. This means choosing books that feature characters from different cultures and backgrounds.

For 1 year old toddlers or younger, consider getting board books with sturdy pages that can withstand rough handling.

Montessori-Aligned Books for 0 to 1 Years Old

1. Black & White Board Book by Tana Hoban

Great for stimulating a baby’s vision with bold black and white illustrations. Infants are born with a limited visual range and high contrast images such as those in this book are helpful in developing their visual perception.

2. Baby Animals Spots & Stripes by Phyllis Limbacher Tildes

Features realistic black and white illustrations of baby animals and their unique spots and stripes. It promotes vocabulary building and visual stimulation, as well as an appreciation for the natural world.

3. DK Fun Flaps: All About Me!

Inside you’ll find photographs of babies making different facial expressions. This book helps infants learn about emotions and encourages them to make their own facial expressions.

4. Baby Fingers: All Day Long: Teaching Your Baby to Sign

Since babies can’t talk yet, they try to communicate what they want. Teaching them sign language before they’re able to speak helps both parents and the child understand each other. This book teaches simple American sign language (ASL) to babies as young as six months, with real pictures of children signing and descriptions how to do each sign. We used this in our home and we highly recommend it over other sign language books!

5. My First Touch and Feel Picture Cards: First Words

Set of picture cards features realistic images of everyday objects with different textures for babies to explore. This promotes vocabulary building and object recognition.

6. Making Faces: My First Book of Emotions

Features photographs of babies making different facial expressions. This book helps infants learn about emotions and encourages them to make their own facial expressions.

7. First 100 Animals by Roger Priddy

This board book features realistic illustrations of 100 different animals. It promotes vocabulary building and animal recognition.

8. Global Babies

Contains photographs of babies from around the world. It promotes cultural diversity and an appreciation for different backgrounds and traditions.

9. Eat! Baby Faces by Roberta Grobel Intrater

This board book features realistic illustrations of different foods and encourages babies to interact with the book through peek-a-boo flaps and smiling faces. It promotes exploration of different foods and an appreciation for mealtime.

12. Shades of People by Shelley Rotner and Sheila Kelly

Featuring realistic illustrations of people with different skin tones. It promotes diversity and an appreciation for diversity.

13. Beach Baby by Laurie Elmquist and Elly Mackay

With realistic illustrations of a baby enjoying the beach. It promotes vocabulary building and object recognition of things around the beach.

14. One Gorilla by Anthony Browne

This board book features realistic illustrations of gorillas in their natural habitat. It promotes an appreciation for the natural world, counting, and object recognition.

15. Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi

Features illustrations of different animals pooping. It promotes awareness of bodily functions and normalizes them in a child’s mind.

16. Moo by Matthew Van Fleet

You’ll find in this book realistic images of farm animals and the sounds they make. It promotes vocabulary building and farm animals recognition.

17. Creature Baby Animals by Andrew Zuckerman

Contains realistic photos of baby animals that are sure to delight young children and capture their attention while also teaching them about the natural world. It promotes vocabulary building and object recognition.

20. Oh Dear by Rod Campbell

This book is about a boy who is tasked to fetch some eggs and goes around the farm to find them. With the interactive lift-the-flap feature, it is great for building vocabulary on the different farm animals and the names of their homes in the farm.

21. Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell

Contains different animals from the zoo and adjectives to describe each one. With the interactive lift-the-flap feature, it is great for building vocabulary on the different zoo animals and describing words.

22. Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox & Helen Oxenbury

You’ll see in this book many children with different faces and from different places who all have ten little fingers and toes. It is a perfect book for cuddling and bonding, while appreciating the body parts which have grown more since they were born.

Conclusion

Reading books to infants is a great way to promote their language skills, cognitive abilities, and creativity. By choosing Montessori-aligned books with realistic illustrations, simple language, and real-life themes, parents and educators can help foster a love for reading and learning in young children.

Board books with sturdy pages are recommended for 1 year old toddlers or younger, as they can withstand rough handling. I hope I’ve made it simpler for you to find great books for your infant to 1 year olds. Happy reading! Repetition until you’ve memorized the book is common. They love it! 😉

I will continue adding to this list. Check out my other Montessori book recommendations for these ages:

• Montessori Book recommendations for 1-year-olds
• Montessori Book recommendations for 2-year-olds
• Montessori Book recommendations for 3-year-olds and beyond