20 Best Montessori Books For Toddlers And Babies

Our favorite Montessori-inspired children books for newborns, infants, and toddlers

Updated On: July 31, 2023
Best Montessori books for toddlers

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With so many Montessori book options, it can be hard to select those that will help your child enrich their vocabulary and nurture their language development.

Here is a list of the 20 best Montessori books for toddlers to teach your little ones about the world around them.

We love these books because they are based on real life and most of them have real images that allow your child to connect what they see in the book with real objects.

Simple images and words will help improve your child’s attention span, focus, and engagement, which is important for their overall development

This is why we use them in my Montessori classroom and at home with my child. Here are the books we recommend for all stages of development, from newborn to toddlerhood.

Best Montessori books for Newborn to 3 months

1. Black and White by Tana Hoban

Newborns can distinguish black and white images better than color since they are still developing their vision. This accordion-style foldout book features fourteen black-and-white high-contrast images to make your reading experience with your baby fun and engaging.

Read more on the benefits of black and white cards.

2. Art for Baby 

This is a great book featuring high-contrast black and white images by some of the world’s leading modern artists. Each image has been selected to help babies recognize pictures and connect with the world around them.

3. Touch and Feel Baby Animals 

This is an excellent book to help your infant develop reading and vocabulary skills. In this book, babies meet different kinds of furry and feathery animals. The book allows the child to touch and feel each animal’s fur, offering a great sensory experience.

4. That’s not my Puppy 

Our daughter LOVES this Montessori book! We have been reading this book since she was a newborn and still loves it. Babies and toddlers will love touching the textured patches as they meet puppies with fluffy tails, shaggy ears and bumpy paws.

5. Global Babies 

This is a great board book to introduce culture and diversity. The book features images of babies from different parts of the world like Guatemala and Bhutan.

6. Baby Faces

This is another of our favorite books. This is a great Montessori book for babies to learn and recognize feelings and expressions like happy, sad, sleepy, and more.

7. My First Body 

This is an amazing information board book that teaches babies about parts of their body. The book features visual images that are labeled clearly and promote early learning and language development.

8. Baby Up, Baby Down: A First Book of Opposites 

This fun and engaging book introduces sets of opposites for babies to identify, from up and down to quiet and noisy, and features real images of babies.

9. Day of the Dead: A Count and Find Primer

This is our daughter’s favorite book! What we like about this book is that it aligns with our culture. The book introduces babies to Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and is a great activity book for the entire family!

10. La Catrina 

This is another great book that introduces babies to emotional expressions and their first English and Spanish words. It helps them recognize feelings like emocionado (excited), triste (sad), and confiado (confident).

11. My First Book of Tattoos 

From cultural tattoos to fun and quirky tattoos, they all have a meaning. Many parents, like my husband, have tattoos and this is a great book to teach children that tattoos are OK!

A great memory we have about this book is my daughter finding a character that resembled her dad and saying, “Papa!”

12. Families Can 

Families can look different, they can be any kind of number, they can have two moms or two dads. This is another Montessori infant book we love because it teaches children that each family is unique and special.

Montessori books for toddlers

13. Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race 

This is an excellent book about race that was developed by experts in the fields of early childhood and activism against injustice. This book offers a great opportunity for parent and child to have a discussion about race and equality.

14. Bodies Are Cool 

This is a book that celebrates all different types of bodies across the world, highlighting various skin tones, body shapes, and hair types. This is a must-have inclusive book that promotes body positivity.

15. My First Book of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle 

This is a beautiful introduction for babies and toddlers to the simple steps we can all take to help the environment while helping them to develop a connection with the natural world. 

Children will learn how to reduce water and energy use, how to reuse plastic containers and paper, and how to recycle.

16. Counting on Community 

This is another book we love reading to our toddler. In this Montessori book, children are encouraged to recognize the value in their community to make positive changes. 

Best Montessori books for kids 3 to 5 years

17. Frida Kahlo

This is a great empowering book that offers inspiring messages for children of all ages. The book tells the story of Frida Kahlo and how she became one of the most famous artists of the twentieth century.

18. Gratitude is my Superpower 

This awesome Montessori book for children teaches them how to be grateful for the things they have. Gratitude is my Superpower will teach your child to appreciate the warmth of home, time spent playing with friends, and family relationships.

19. My Little Golden Book About Ruth Bader Ginsburg 

In this book, children will learn all about the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg!

She studied and worked very hard to become just the second woman, and the first Jewish woman, to be a United States Supreme Court Justice.

20. Side by Side/Lado a Lado 

This is a great bilingual book about the story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chávez.

After seeing the injustice towards farm workers, Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez teamed up and together they motivated the workers to fight for their rights and, in the process, changed history.

What to do next?

These are the best Montessori books for toddlers we recommend because they closely align with the Montessori philosophy.

You can also do fun movement activities as you read these books to further improve their overall development.

About Leslie - Latinx Montessori

Hello, I am Leslie. I am on a mission to help you support the growth and development of your child. With the right tools and proper guidance, you can navigate parenthood with confidence and assertion! My goal is to equip you with knowledge to help you construct a strong foundation for your child’s life.

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