RIP Best Books for Babies

[Ed. 5/19/11: Great news! The Best Books for Babies lists will continue under new sponsorship!]

Oh no! I hopped over to the Beginning with Books website this week, wondering if they had posted a new “Best Books for Babies” list for the year, and found NO website, and this message in their site’s Google cache:

After 26 years of service to young children and families in Pittsburgh, Beginning with Books will be closing its doors and ceasing operations, as of August 6.

Many factors necessitated this difficult decision. They include the challenging economic conditions which resulted in fewer donations and changes in funding priorities from some of our foundation supporters.

Well, poop.

Beginning with Books was a fabulous service to the Pittsburgh area, and their annual “Best Books for Babies” lists were a fabulous service to the rest of us! So I poked around Google’s cached pages some more and copied out the last few years of lists, which I am posting here, to help keep them available a little longer. Board books especially go in and out of print quickly, so the older lists here won’t help you build your collections, but as a group these books help us learn what great books for our youngest children can look like.

2010

All Fall Down, Clap Hands, Tickle, Tickle and Say Goodnight, by Helen Oxenbury
Baby Woof Woof! by Dawn Sirett
Carry Me by Rena D. Grossman
Daddy, Papa, and Me and Mommy, Mama, and Me by Leslea Newman, illustrated by Carol Thompson
Hello Baby! By Mem Fox, illustrated by Steve Jenkins
In My Nest and In My Pond by Sara Gillingham, illustrated by Lorena Siminovich
Little Dump Truck by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Bob Kolar
Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw Posy by Linda Newbery, illustrated by Catherine Rayner
What Colors Dwell Studio/Blue Apple Books

2009

1, 2, Buckle My Shoe, by Anna Grossnickle Hines
All about Me! , by Dawn Sirett
Baby Signs: A Baby-sized Guide to Speaking with Sign Language, pictures by Joy Allen
Calm & Soothe, illustrated by Sanja Rescek
Haiku Baby, by Betsy E. Snyder
Just Like You, by Emma Dodd
Peekaboo Bedtime, by Rachel Isadora
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
Toot Toot Beep Beep, by Emma Garcia
You and Me, Baby, by Lynn Reiser, photographs by Penny Gentieu

2008

Fruit and Vegetables, by Anderson, Sara
Maisy’s Amazing Big Book of Words: 300+ Wonderful Words and 25 Flaps. by Cousins, Lucy.
Tip Tip Dig Dig. by Emma Garcia.
Global Babies. Charlesbridge, 2007.
A Good Day , by Henkes, Kevin.
Black & White, by Hoban, Tana.

2007

Mama’s Day. Ashman, Linda and Ormerod, Jan.
Whose Toes are Those? Asim, Jabari. Illustrated by LeUyen Pham.
Easy Street. Gray, Rita. Illustrated by Mary Bono.
Welcome Precious. Grimes, Nikki. Illustrated by Bryan Collier.
Look at You! A Baby Body Book Henderson, Kathy. Illustrated by Paul Howard.
Look at the Animals. Linenthal, Peter.
Wee Willie Winkie. Mavor, Salley.
Hush, Little Baby. Pinkney, Brian.
Cheep! Cheep! Stiegemeyer, Julie. Illustrated by Carol Baicker-McKee.
Baby Cakes. Wilson, Karma. Illustrated by Sam Williams.

2006

Duckie’s Ducklings. Barry, Frances
Tomie’s Mother Goose Flies Again. DePaola, Tomie. Honey Baby Sugar Child. Duncan, Alice Faye. Illustrated by Susan Keeter.
My Garden = Mi Jardin. Emberley, Rebecca. Snuggle Up, Sleepy Ones. Freedman, Claire. Illustrated by Tina Macnaughton.
A Truck Goes Rattley-Bumpa. London, Jonathan. Illustrated by Denis Roche.
Star Baby. O’Hair, Margaret. Illustrated by Erin Eitter Kono.
Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling. Pearson, Tracey Campbell.
Alphabet House. Wallace, Nancy. Illustrated by John Sandford.
This Little Piggy. Yolen, Jane. Illustrated by Will Hillenbrand.

2005

Buenos Dias Baby! Ellis, Libby. Tomie’s Baa Baa Black Sheep and Other Rhymes. DePaola, Tomie.
Little Bo Peep. Pearson, Tracey Campbell.
Truck Duck. Rex, Michael.
Baby Danced the Polka. Beaumont, Karen. Ill. by Jennifer Plecas.
Te Amo, Bebe, Little One. Wheeler, Lisa. Illustrated by Maribel Suarez.
Duckie’s Rainbow. Barry, Frances.
Me Baby You Baby. Wolff, Ashley.
Snug in Mama’s Arms. Medearis, Angela Shelf. Ill. by John Sandford.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. Field, Eugene W. Illustrated by David McPhail.