16 of the Best Interactive Books for 2-Year-Olds

“I hold it!” my 2-year-old son demanded as he jerked the book away from me.

Oh, the 2s. When your son or daughter suddenly starts to establish his independence by wanting to do everything himself. Gone are the days of quietly sitting and listening while you read. Your child wants to interact with everything.

This is why interactive books are the perfect solution for 2-year-olds. Instead of sitting passively, they can interact with the book. It makes reading more fun for both of you. (And avoids the “I hold it!” power struggle.)

If you’re looking for the perfect interactive book for your 2-year-old, I’ve got the list for you. These are some of the best books I’ve found for busy 2-year-olds. Grab any or all of these for a great way to keep your toddler active while reading.

Note: All of these books require your child to do something while reading. This includes lift-the-flap books, texture books, sound books, or books that simply ask your child to engage with the book by doing something.

Interactive Books for 2-Year-Olds

1. Don’t Push the Button Bill Cotter

In Bill Cotter’s classic interactive book, Don’t Press the Button,* kids are told not to press the button, but of course, accidents happen. Each press brings a different and more troublesome surprise. With unmatched wit, this book will leave your 2-year-old laughing with each page.

As your young kids join Larry in this button-pressing adventure, you’ll all fall in love with story time again.

2. There’s a Monster in Your Book Tom Fletcher

In this interactive picture book, there’s a monster in your book and you’ve got to follow the instructions to get it out. This book will have young readers playing along as they interact with the book to get the monster out. Things like spinning the book around, blowing the monster out, and maybe even accepting that having a monster in their book isn’t the worst thing.

This is one of my 2-year-old’s favorite books. They get so engaged with this silly story that it’s adorable. You’ll love how your child gradually learns to take the book from you and spin it around or shake it to get the monster out.

Related: Story Books for 2-Year-Olds

3. Don’t Wake the Dragon Bianca Schulze

The dragon is sleeping and it’s your job to stay very quiet. Make sure the dragon stays asleep as noises occur. Rock the book side to side and sing the dragon a lullaby to help him stay asleep.

This is the perfect interactive bedtime story for busy toddlers who struggle to settle down and drift off to sleep. This is the perfect book to add to a bedtime routine.

4. Spaghetti!: An Interactive Recipe Book Lotta Nieminen

This book asks kids to help cook. They add each ingredient and go through all the steps of making the food in the book. Includes pull tabs and lots of other interactive fun. Spaghetti!: An Interactive Recipe Book is the newest option but the collection also includes: Pancakes, Cookies, Tacos, and Pizza. Choose the one that your child is the most familiar with and they’ll have fun interacting with the cooking process.

If you have a child who wants to be involved in everything you do in the kitchen, this is a great book to help them practice some of those skills without the mess.

5. Press Here Herve Tullet

This simple book asks your child to press the button in different ways. Each time something different happens. Your child will have fun seeing the many things that can result from pushing one button as the book unfolds.

Perfect for young children. This is one of those books that your 2-year-old will ask to read again and again.

Related: 12 Interactive Board Books That Will Engage Your Baby

6. Poke-a-Dot: What’s Your Favorite Color Melissa & Doug

I’ve never met a child who didn’t love these Poke-a-Dot books. This one is perfect for those who have just turned 2 and need some more practice with their colors. But another favorite of ours is Old MacDonald’s Farm, which is written to the nursery rhyme and includes dots and counting for each farm animal.

Each book includes some incorporation of dots that your child can poke while you read each page. Most have a counting game that goes along with the dots and text that’s either a song or includes rhyming text.

7. The Wide-Mouthed Frog Keith Faulkner

Keith Faulkner writes simple but impressive picture books with pop-up features. In this book, a wide-mouthed frog is hopping about, catching flies. As he encounters other animals, he asks what each eats. Until he runs into a problem and suddenly isn’t so happy to be a wide-mouthed frog anymore.

Your child will love seeing each animal and examining the pop-up pieces. And if your child loves frogs (like my 2-year-old does), they’ll love this book even more.

8. A is for Apple Tiger Tales

If you’re looking for an interactive educational book, this is a great one for teaching letter recognition. It’s a flap book and trace-the-letters book. You may not formally be teaching your 2-year-old to read, but exposure to letters in a fun way will make things easier when that time comes.

This book has your child trace each letter as you read and includes a flap with an item to help him remember the letter and its sound. What I love about this, is it gives your child something to do while you read the letters. Interaction helps make learning more active.

Related: Educational Books for 2-Year-Olds

9. Tickle Monster Josie Bissett

If your 2-Year-Old is like mine, they love to be tickled. Tickling is also a fun way to connect with your child. This book set comes with monster gloves that you can use to tickle your child while you read. It’s a cute story that’s perfect for creating bonding time with your 2-Year-Old. Follow along as your child giggles with this tickle book as you create unforgettable moments between the two of you.

10. Pull-Back Busy Train Book Fiona Watt

This pull-back train book includes a pull-back train that you can use on each page to travel around town. Follow along with your train as you visit the town, a farm, and the zoo. The pages have a track that the train follows along. Your child will love watching the train travel along each page.

This is a cute book that toddlers will love playing with independently as well.

11. Find Fergus Mike Boldt

Play a game of hide and seek with a bear who’s terrible at hiding. Your child will laugh along as Fergus tries to hide his very large self behind and between very small things. Maybe they’ll even learn some tips on hiding themselves for the next time they play hide and seek.

This fun and light-hearted book isn’t afraid to laugh at itself and if you’re in for a real game of hide and seek, there’s a large pull-out at the end where Fergus is well-hidden. Can you find Fergus?

12. Noisy Things That Go Libby Walden

These simple touch and feel board books are some of my kids’ favorite sound books. Each page encourages the child to imitate the sounds they hear (which is what 2-year-olds love to do anyway). There are tons of options from farm animals to trucks. Choose the one that your child is most interested in and watch them fall in love with these books. They’re good books to start introducing sound books to your child.

Note: The sound buttons are embedded in different textures on each page, which makes for more fun, but also weakens the binding and means they can fall apart easily if your child is rough on them.

Related: The Best Books for 2-Year-Olds

13. Hats Off! Bernard Penners

This unique book includes five different hats that can be placed on each character. Hats can be removed and added to a different character the next time. Choose the right hat for the right occasion. Or just choose a silly hat for each character.

A fun book with a unique idea that will keep your toddler engaged while reading. Great for brainstorming and encouraging thinking. Which hat should the horse wear?

14. A Year in the Forest: Bear Katarzyna Pietka

In these colorful board books, you help each animal as they go about their year in the forest.

This book asks toddlers to engage with the story by doing things like shaking away some trash, clapping to scare birds away, and humming a tune that will help bear sleep.

This book is part of the A Year in the Forest series, which also includes options for different animals (Squirrel, Badger, and Beaver).

Related: The Best Board Books to Start Reading to Your Baby Today

15. What Makes a Rainbow? Betty Ann Schwartz

What colors make a rainbow? Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. This book takes readers through each color as little rabbit asks others about each color. The interactive piece is a ribbon that runs across the top of each page, adding each new color as you turn the page. The full rainbow pops up on the page at the end of the book.

Toddlers love the addition of each new color and it’s perfect for color identification practice.

16. Chomp Chomp Dino Martin Roy

Kids love puppet books, but some of those finger puppet books are a little young for 2-year-olds. This is similar, but better for toddlers. The puppet is a dinosaur that your child can use to chomp alongside the dinosaur in the book while you read. Chomp along as this dino takes a bite out of everything it finds.

Your child will love interacting with this book (especially if he or she loves dinosaurs).

Related: Dinosaur Books for 2-Year-Olds

I hope this list of interactive children’s books helps you find the perfect books to keep your 2-year-old actively reading. And avoids the “I hold it!” power struggle.

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