Reddit reviews Guess How Much I Love You

Touchpoints-Birth to Three -- This doctor/author is used by many hospitals in their new parent education (he has a video series).

Long-term, the best parenting book is Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing. wherein a 1950s father laments the state of play among kids these days (in the 1950s). It will help you trust giving your kids time to play on their own, creating their own secret little worlds, instead of trying to manage every moment of their lives.

Good books for reading to your kid are really about quantity, not quality (although you want a minimum level of quality). Building vocabulary and understanding happens best by not reading the same tiny collection of books over and over again (which is also really boring for you).

Unless you're independently wealthy, that means either extensive use of your local library, or frequenting thrift stores and yard sales. On the latter, I can provide more advice (after 8 years, our home library of children's books hovers around 4,000).

Obviously, new board books have a certain allure during the first 18 months or so while your kid still tries to stick everything in his mouth. But if you're holding the book, no worries.

Three board books:

1. Everywhere Babies -- Our copy was mangled after two kids. My wife made me buy another copy for her as a keepsake.
   
   
2. Guess How Much I love You
   
   
3. Goodnight Gorilla -- the first book my kids laughed at, albeit they weren't introduced to it from birth, so the joke hit them as new.
   
   One serious I got great mileage from in toddlerhood was Disney's Out and About with Pooh 19 volume set. I'm no fan of Disney, but this is an excellent (out-of-print) series that teaches life lessons to toddlers. It's not like the AA Milne books, but you'll find that AA Milne's books are written for much older children, and much of their humor is intended (I think) for adults.
   
   Around the time you're experiencing first grade, Danny the Champion of the World is an excellent book for Dad to read to his kid. The focus of the book is the wonderful loving relationship the child has with his father, unlike so many other children's books where the parents are antagonists.
   

Guess How Much I Love You

I'm not a parent (and don't intend to be) but I've always found Guess How Much I Love You to be a lovely book and always makes me feel good inside.