I absolutely LOVE books. My dad was an avid reader and passed on his love for reading to me at a young age. He used to take me to the library all the time. It always felt like a treat when he’d take me and say, pick out how ever many books you like!! Of course I was excited by that freedom, so I would choose stacks and stacks, and we would read them together. I have such fond memories of this and it sort of became our own bonding time. As I got older, he would pick out books he thought I would like and I’d set out on the challenge to read them. Creative books for children would be a great place to start for my little ones.

With my little girls, I was SO excited to start a long list of books I couldn’t wait to read with them. I may have majored in art, but I also minored in education.. so whenever possible I try to put my child & adolescent studies to good use! I love nuturing little kiddos minds and cherishing every milestone of life I get to witness!

I truly believe its never too early to inspire creativity and teach them how to use their imagination. With my daughter I started letting her paint and color with crayons on paper taped to the floor (really just doodle and scribble aimlessly lol because she was only like 10 months old)., we did painting sessions just before or as she turned 1, and I tried to encourage her to use plain objects as toys (this was actually not hard… she preferred random objects anyway). I think sometimes we think our kids need all the toys in the world, but after what I’ve experienced and learned about adolescent development, I discovered that their brains like to figure things out on their own. They like to see an object they’ve never seen before and test out what it can do. It could be a box, a piece of Tupperware, or literally just a block. It doesn’t always have to be some loud, oboxious, flashing light circus toy.

I searched the internet for creative books for children that spoke to me and what I wanted to inspire my daughter to learn. I favored anything that made it fun to learn about colors, art, shapes, and the process of just seeing herself as having the freedom to create what she imagined. I found some really great books to encourage creativity and I wanted to share with anyone else who would really like to inspire their kiddos. These were all top faves of me and my daughter. Hope you and your littles get to check them out and enjoy together!

Wee Gallery, Art Cards for Baby, High Contrast, 0–12 Months

these cards are actually pricey to me, so I only bought one of the packs. You can totally find free google images to print if you really want to stimulate baby’s senses with high contrast images. But these were convenient because they’re made on very thick cardboard stock. I taped them up everywhere she would look (changing table wall, above crib).

Pantone: Color Puzzles: 6 Color-Matching Puzzles

I mean what artist doesn’t know Pantone… how could I skip this for my kiddo? This was the first of the books she super loved and was intrigued by. My daughter always had really active fine motor skills when it came to her hands so she loved pulling the pieces out of the book and she learned quickly that the shapes went in specific spots. Fun book to look through and the puzzle element really stimulated her excitement for color! It did take a it of a beating since some pieces can be hard to pull out, but I’m pretty proud that we only lost / ruined 2 pieces.

Pantone: Box of Color: 6 Mini Board Books

These were were 2nd fave in the beginning. Anything small like this she loved. The texture of the cutouts also intrigued her. She bit into a couple of the books when she was teething, but overall these kept great shape and are SUPER thick and sturdy.

Beautiful Oops!

She REALLY loved this book. And I did too. I love the concept behind it because if you’re going to strive to be creative, you have to learn to embrace the mistakes and even glorify them and turn them into something better, more magical. My mom taught me this early (She is an amazing artist/creative!). Whenever we would draw or color together, if she or I made a mistake, she would quickly smile and say, “Oh that’s ok! Don’t worry, look what we can do!” Then my little scribble or accident… she would somehow turn it into a flower or something… and I would be amazed. Sometimes she would actually highlight the mistake by drawing something super cool and then it turned into the focal point. Stickers were also used to cover up or have fun with “mistakes”…. But basically this book has a special place for us because I wanted to pass this philosophy down to my own daughter. Early on it was a fave (as early as 9 mo old), and then she had other favorites, but recently around the 2-2.5 yr old mark… she all of a sudden was super attached to it again and we had to read it every night and all the time. When I read it to her, I make sure to be super interactive and animated… and she loves it!

You Are Creative

As soon as she could crawl, I started taking my daughter to story time at the public library. Afterward I would pick out some books. So we actually don’t even own this one. But we check it out often… so often that I think we need to just buy it. But, even before she could even understand a lot of what we were saying to her, this book (and all the others in this series) really intrigued her. Something about the illustrations captivated her. Maybe its the faces (they’re scary to me.. but she seems intrigued by them lol). But she would sit still and listen very well. Then when she began to be able to talk and understand… she would recognize some of the activities and relate… and take on the declaration of “you are creative”. Super cool. I was amazed. I love the declarative stance with these books. They really are how I choose to speak to my daughter. Some days, I would encourage her to repeat, “I am strong! I am smart! I am kind!’ and it was so cute to hear her try to repeat them.

The Dot

This book we would read to her often. At first she sat quietly and seemed to just take it in. She was little, so we didn’t think she understood yet. But then one day, she started saying “Da dah” and pointing to the book, requesting it. I was like whoa. It was adorable… she was obsessed, and then soon got better at saying “the dot!”. It’s a beautiful story about a little girl… and I love that it was one of her fave books. All of the books that she was obsessed with for a time, ended up going dormant in her brain, and then coming back when she was 2ish. A renewed obsession I was quite ok with!

Mix It Up

This is another one that she absolutely loved, and then went dormant, and then came back as an even bigger obsession as of late. She can now pronounce it pretty well too so its funny to hear. “Mama, Mick it up!” Ever since the first time we started painting together, I would read this book as fun and animated as I could… it was kind of magical before they realize that you’re not actually making the pages do what it says lol. Now, she kind of understands the pages are already set that way, but she still loves it and actually insists she’s the one who does the page turning. Lately she asks to read this book 3 times a day it seems… and for sure every night. She loses it, if we try to omit it from bedtime routine.

The Wonderful Things You Will Be

This one isn’t necessarily directly talking about creativity, but I love that there is a concept of exploring who she wishes to be. The illustrations are so lovely, and I love that it encourages creative personality traits that aren’t directly related to art. There are so many ways to be creative, and I believe it applies to so many things. You could be creative with words and be an amazing writer, you could be creative with your emotions, and love to act, you could be creative with music and grow up to be a talented musician… and the list goes on. So this book, to me, really encourages and exposes a child to embrace whatever they wish to be creative with! And more important, just dream! My daughter loves to see all the pictures and point out the objects familiar to her. My husband is a musician (among many things), so when she sees the guitar, she loves to shout it out.

Pantone: Colors

This book she loves still and I’m kinda amazed by it since it doesn’t have anything particular crazy to be interested in. But right now, she’s so into colors because she is proud of herself for knowing and being able to identify the colors she sees. Beautiful, big, colorful, pictures of colorful objects!

TouchThinkLearn: ABC

Its kind of funny to think… me and my husband actually choose books we want ourselves lol. We’re both kind nerdy when it comes to books and love to read… so when I bought this one he was like ooohhh… and he didn’t want it to get damaged ever. We appreciate the craftsmanship and cleverness of this book. Plus the added sensory of the textured cut outs really look cool. Our daughter thought so too, so she loves to run her fingers over the letters and shapes as she learns the letters. Its definitely a bigger heavier book than normal though

Take Heart, My Child: A Mother’s Dream

This was one of the first books I bought for her…. I just fell in love with it. As a mama to a daughter, it just speaks volumes to the way I want her to live her life. She liked this book because of the illustrations and the magical vibe it gives off. But it took her a while to understand what it was actually trying to communicate exactly. But I guess she understood the emotion behind it when I would read. This isn’t directly creativity related, but still falls along the lines of encouraging that dream like spirit.

Cityblock

This one is just a really creative way to layout a book and illustrations. This was a fave of hers (maybe the 1st book she ever got attached to?). It really stimulates the senses and the shapes / colors pop. It’s not about art or creativity, but its creative in its execution. We bought the other books in the series, and she soon grew to love those too.

You Are Brave

I believe creativity takes courage. I hope my daughter learns to be brave in all circumstances, whether its a bold creative idea, or simply sticking up for what’s right. So I love this book (and pretty much every single one if the different series). She LOVED this one along with the “You are Creative” one. I found my daughter to learn the concepts from these books really fast… which was so cool to see.

You Are Helpful

This one actually made her very helpful lol. So I love this book because of that. She likes to mimic the concept she learns from these books…

You Are Friendly

I think you get the idea about these books…

You Are Important

I feel like all of these books really help establish and encourage confidence in a child. So this one is also extra special for the topic it covers.

You Are Beautiful

Another great one to read to your kiddo

other books on our wishlist

These are books I just haven’t had the chance (or money!) to add to her little library. Feel free to look them up and share with me how you liked them! My daughter really loves food and the concept of “making food” so that cook book set one is probably the next to join our family… it has actual pieces that you can take out of the book to pretend to cook food with… Which I think she will be obsessed with! And, I hope you take all these ideas and cater them to your child. Observe what their likes and dislikes are, and then buy books accordingly. Thats what I try to do.