11 Empowering Books For Toddlers

Princess Elizabeth is slated to marry Prince Ronald when a dragon attacks the castle and kidnaps Ronald. In resourceful and humorous fashion, Elizabeth finds the dragon, outsmarts him, and rescues Ronald–who is less than pleased at her un-princess-like appearance. This book addresses numerous themes, reversing traditional gender roles, exploring the theme that beauty is more than skin deep, and providing a different meaning to happily ever after. Typical fairytales often portray women as weak characters waiting to be rescued by handsome princes.

Any book that encourages kids to love themselves and discover their gifts is priceless. I love its beautiful (paint-like) imagery and that it rhymes, grabbing my baby’s attention. Here’s the fun part, I sometimes find a little inspiration from it, especially after a long day.

This colorful book shows humans and animals of all different colors, shapes, and sizes, focusing on all types of important differences for kids to begin to understand–race, disability, different bodily features, and more. It empowers children to love their bodies and others’ bodies, as well as to celebrate difference and feel confident in their own emotions. I love reading this book with my son and highly recommend it to all other parents!

A book that you must get for your toddler. This book just has a few lines of text on each page and has really engaging illustrations that will capture your toddlers attention. It shares stories of some of the most inspiring stories of real life heroes who came from humble beginnings and defied the odds. Some of my favorite stories from the book are Marie Curie, Emmeline Pankhurst, Audrey Hepburn, Ella Fitzgerald and Rosa Parks herself..

A collectible series of a picture book, with the autobiographies of good and great people of history. It tells their story in simple and always focusing on a character trait that makes the person a role model for kids. The best part is each book ends with an inspirational quote or a photo.

A book about the Wright Brothers who did not give up on their dreams and were the first men to take flight. This book teaches your child to reach for the stars and never lose hope and give up on your dreams.

This short book is perfect for bedtime reads or even to sing. It celebrates the potential of every child and is the perfect gift.

The most important superpower of all is the ability to name and tame your emotions! Toddlers are just starting to become aware of their emotions and tend to struggle to manage their impulses and big feelings. They need a lot of reassurance and support from parents and caretakers during this time of social emotional development. It is very empowering for children to be able to identify what is happening in their bodies when they are experiencing strong feelings like anger, sadness, and excitement. We want to encourage children to notice what they feel, communicate it, and eventually learn how to manage their reactions. During the toddler years, we want to start by introducing them to the words for a variety of feelings, give good examples, and describe the bodily sensations related to feelings. What a Feeling! The ABCs for Emotions is a great book that introduces lots of relatable emotions and helps children understand the context. As they grow up, they can continue to refer to the book to help themselves connect the feeling to their physical reactions, describe and communicate their experience, and even learn to recognize feelings in others (empathy).

This delightful book lets your toddler physically interact with the story. Through reading and action, the two of you will help a lonely tree change with the seasons. Everything from tapping the tree to giving the book a good shake lets little ones feel they’re moving the story along. Take the magic one step further by drawing your own special tree together.

This book helps children become confident by leading them through positive and strong characteristics that they can try. Its simple presentation and bold hand-lettered words also let kids know it’s OK if they’re not always brave and strong because they can try again. Your child will love the illustrations contained in this book and after a few times reading it to them, they’ll be saying the words right along with you.

This is a beautifully illustrated book that teaches kids that their ideas matter and that sticking with their ideas and working hard to see them come to light is always worth it. Reading this book to toddlers is a great way to show them that you also think their ideas are important! It’s perfect to start with little kids but all ages, including adults, can learn something from these pages.