10 Books for Babies and Toddlers That Are Smart and Open Minded

Last updated July 12th, 2021 at 04:32 pm

Books for babies that are smart and open minded! These board books make great baby shower gift ideas!

When my nephew turned one, I was searching for books for babies and came across several disappointing options. My husband and I don’t have children yet, but I’m already all too aware of the gender stereotyping that is so prevalent in children’s books and toys.

I found “ABC’s for Boys” that features motorcycles, planes, trucks, dogs, and owls as if those are “boy” things. The girls version features castles, butterflies, and flowers. The problem I see with this is the alphabet is not gender-specific. There’s no reason for these to be separate books!

Little boys and girls should be allowed to like cars and castles and butterflies and trucks but gendering things like the ABCs just leads to propagating gender stereotypes.

I found 8 books for babies and toddlers that feature characters that refuse to be limited by gender stereotypes, promote self love, and have subjects like activism, environmental justice, civil rights. There are also few for those who just want to raise smart babies! Great books for baby shower or gifts for expectant parents!

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