Chinese Home Library – Part 1: Favorite Baby & Toddler Books

When I first introduced Chinese to 老大 at age 2, I started by translating our English books.  We had no Chinese board books or story books at home as I initially was not planning on teaching her Chinese.  However, each attempt at trying to read her an English book in Chinese was a losing battle.  She wanted to know what the English words said, frustrated that I was saying words that were not on the page.  It wasn’t until 老大 was 3 that I made learning Chinese a priority.  I placed my first bulk order of Chinese books at these recommended bookstores, and those books changed everything.

When we began to build our Chinese home library, 老大 memorized Chinese characters rapidly just by recognizing book titles around the house.  She was curiously flipping through books FOR FUN and ON HER OWN!

Now we have about a thousand Chinese books in our Chinese home library, I would like to share our favorites for young children.  This post has recommendations for babies and toddlers.  (Please see our favorite books for older toddlers and early readers in this post.)  Most are hardcover or board books for durability, since children at this age are still learning how to use books properly (eg, turning pages without ripping).  Many of these books have audio CDs with native Chinese speakers.

All titles are linked to either to China Sprout, Amazon, or my full reviews so that you can see pictures of the books and other details.   My goal is to eventually review each of the books that I recommend in this list.

*Denotes simplified Chinese + Hanyu Pinyin

^Denotes simplified Chinese + English

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Beginner bilingual English/Chinese for children

• Mandy and Pandy Say, “Ni Hao Ma?”*^ + audio CD
• Mandy and Pandy Visit the Zoo*^ + audio CD
• Mandy and Pandy Play “What Colors Do You Say?”*^ + audio CD
• Mandy and Pandy Play “Let’s Count”*^ + audio CD
• Mandy and Pandy Visit China*^ + audio CD
• Mandy and Pandy Play Sports*^ + audio CD
• Max and Mei Mei Box Set*^ + audio CD
• Priddy’s first 100 words*^ (Full review)
  • Numbers Colors Shapes 数字颜色形状
  • First 100 Words 启蒙认知100词
  • Happy Baby Words 快乐宝贝学单词
  • Happy Baby Animals 快乐宝贝认动物

For more details, please see Choosing Chinese Books for Babies and Toddlers – Montessori-Friendly Tips and Examples

Chinese Song and Rhyme Books for children

• Rhythm and Tones – Chants and Songs for Learning Chinese*^ + audio CD (Full review)
• Word Songs (4 Books) + audio CD (Full review)
• Pinkfong Chinese Music Soundbook*

English children’s Books that have been translated in Chinese

• Guess How Much I Love You
• Eric Carle
  • 画一个星星给我 (Draw Me a Star) (Full review)
  • Does Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too?
  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar
  • Friends
  • From Head To Toe
  • The Tiny Seed
  • The Artist Who Painted A Blue Horse
• Dear Zoo 亲爱的动物园
• Chameleon 变色龙捉迷藏 (Full review)
• Who is Hiding? 谁藏起来了
• Herve Tullet
  • 变, 变, 变！Mix It Up!
  • 点点点 Press Here
• Magic Hole – The Owl Tells Stories*
• Magic Hole – I Like Cars Best*
• Magic Hole – I Am Not Scared*
• Magic Hole – What’s This?*
• Magic Hole – Sleepless*
• Magic Hole – Where is My Home?*
• Magic Hole – Hello, Baby!*
• Magic Hole – I Can Count Numbers*
• Magic Hole – Can You Speak?*
• Magic Hole – Is That A Hole?*
• Magic Hole – What Color Is It?*
• Magic Hole – Count Numbers*
• Magic Hole – My Animal Friends*
• Magic Hole – My Favorite Vehicles*

(Review of the Magic Hole books by my homeschooling blogger friend here)

Chinese Board Books for babies and toddlers

• Let’s Play Shape Game Together 形状游戏一起玩
• Variety Thinking Magic Window Series*
• Who Am I? Book Series

Chinese Activity Workbooks for children

• Daily Noodles – My Fun Chinese Book: Numbers & Animals*^ (Full review)
• Big Chinese Workbook for Little Hands*^

Articles related to building a Chinese home library for children

If you’re looking for Chinese leveled readers and Chinese books for children in elementary school, check out our favorites in this post.