What I’ve Learned Watching My Toddler Interact With Books

Over the past few months, as I’ve been reviewing indie children’s books and making regular library trips with Logan, I’ve started noticing something interesting about children’s books—and about how kids actually learn.

Most children’s books fall into a few familiar categories: storybook picture books, early readers, or toddler board books (“A is for Apple” style). But I’ve realized there aren’t many books that sit in the space between storytelling and education.

Many of the books I’ve written are what publishers call concept books—books that teach a topic like animals, numbers, nature, or the alphabet. But instead of feeling like a workbook, they’re written in a story-style format with rhythm, rhyme, and simple facts that invite curiosity.

What’s been most interesting is watching Logan interact with books.

Our shelves are full of storybooks, and I often try to read them with him. But most of the time he’s far more interested in the objects and animals in the illustrations than the storyline I’m reading.

When we read my ABC books, though, he asks for them again and again.

He points to the animals.  

He names the objects.  

He notices colors, shapes, and features.

Rhyming books especially seem to grab his attention. Kids naturally learn through rhythm and repetition—much like songs—and rhyming books often highlight the details children are already noticing on the page.

For me personally, rhyming text is also easier to read because I’m dyslexic. The rhythm helps guide the words. But I’ve also noticed something deeper: rhyming books tend to draw attention to concrete things kids can see and understand.

Instead of abstract ideas, they focus on things toddlers recognize right away—animals, colors, shapes, movement, and sounds.

The more I observe Logan’s learning, the more I see how much children learn simply by noticing the world around them.

This is something I’ve also been hearing from other authors, including Ophra, the author of Sailing the ABCs. She noticed a similar gap when writing her book—stories that introduce real-world topics through simple, engaging language.

As more families explore homeschooling, nature-based learning, and even unschooling approaches, it seems like this space in children’s books is becoming more important.

Sometimes learning doesn’t start with a long story.

Sometimes it starts with a child pointing to a bird, an insect, a tractor… or a page in a book and asking, “What’s that?”

And honestly, those moments of curiosity are some of my favorite ones to share with Logan. 🌿📚