Best Baby Books to Give as a Gift at a Baby Shower

A book basket, or a single book accompanying another present, is a wonderful gift for a new parent. While the baby won’t be able to read the book for a few years, they will be able to enjoy the pictures soon enough, and parents love reading aloud to infants. However, it can be difficult to pick out the right books to give as a baby shower gift. First of all, you don’t want to give the same books that everybody else gives out. Everyone gets a copy of “I’ll Love You Forever,” and that book just makes everyone cry. Thankfully, there is a variety of other pictures books you can gift to an expectant mom. Here are three to consider:

Discover America State By State Series

This illustrated alphabet series lets you make your baby shower gift particularly personal, as you can choose the books about states that matter to the new parents. Examples of titles in the series include the “L is for Lobster” about Maine, “A is for Aloha” about Hawaii,” and “B is for Beaver” about Oregon. Perhaps they’ll want their new baby to learn about the states in which they were born, or about where the family currently lives, or where mom and dad attended college. You can make an entire gift basket from this series alone, and the books will be of interest to mom and dad as much as to the baby.

Go The *Bleep* To Sleep by Adam Mansbach

As you’ve probably gleaned from the title, this book isn’t so much for the baby that’s about to arrive, but for his or her parents. It’s a great gift for expectant parents with a sense of humor, but be aware of the company the gift will be opened in. Is the baby shower being held in a church basement? Maybe save this one to give to the new mom at a later date. They’ll appreciate the humor of the gift once the baby is a little older and the parents are out of the sleep-deprived phase. Well, as close to un-sleep-deprived as you ever get to be as a parent.

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

Margaret Wise Brown wrote perennial baby shower favorite Good Night Moon, so the Runaway Bunny is a safer choice to avoid gift duplication that is as cute and loveable as Good Night Moon.

Giving a book, or several, may not be the most practical of baby shower gifts, but it is a gift that shows a personal touch and will be well-loved.