How many books should I read to my toddler a day? I get this question a lot from parents. The rule of thumb is to read for at least 15 minutes a day. Because books vary in length, there isn’t a magic number for the number of books you need to read to your toddler.

You know the saying, quality over quantity? That applies to reading too! Going by how many minutes to read a day instead of how many books is a better gauge. The quality of the reading time matters. Quality of reading does not mean choosing the perfect book, but the engagement during reading. Are you pointing out things in the picture, making predictions, talking about the story, or relating it back to your toddler’s experiences? Engagement during reading helps toddlers build vocabulary, comprehension, and expands their world to new ideas.

I mentioned before that a quality book doesn’t mean the best book – because every person has their own preference, including our toddlers! The best books to read to your toddler are about topics they are interested in (e.g., dinosaurs, cars, trains). If you are looking for new books to add to your collection, you can never go wrong with classics that have stood the test of time. You’ll know they are interested in the book when they ask to read books over and over again. If you read their favorite book repeatedly every day for at least 15 minutes a day, you are already on a roll!

For a starter list of popular children’s classics, look for these books in your local library or at the book store:

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle
• The Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
• The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (click here for free book-based activity ideas)
• Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
• Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
• Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig (click here for free book-based activity ideas)
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Sure, reading the same book can get repetitive for parents, but with every reading, children may be picking up on new themes and ideas. This is how we build reading comprehension!

Next time, don’t worry about how many books you should be reading to your toddler each day. Instead, focus more on the quality of your reading time and aim to read for at least 15 minutes.