You're buying for someone else's toddler, possibly a family you don't know well, and here is the thing nobody says out loud: at this age the six most obvious books are the six they already own. So this shelf tells you which ones are near-certain duplicates and which ones almost nobody thinks to buy. It also tells you which come as true board books, because at two that decides whether a book gets played with or put up high out of reach. Pick one and you're done.
Six books. Pick one and stop. Start with the awkward part, because it's the whole reason this shelf exists: these are among the most-gifted toddler books on earth, and a second copy of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' is a wasted gift and a slightly awkward moment at the party. Treat Caterpillar, 'Brown Bear' and 'Chicka Chicka Boom Boom' as near-certain to be there already — Caterpillar has sold tens of millions and arrives at showers unbidden. The safe bets are 'Where's Spot?' and 'Little Blue Truck', which are loved but not automatic, and 'Press Here', which surprises almost everyone who opens it. If you can text the parents one question before you buy, ask about those three famous ones by name. Then the format question, which matters more at two than at any other age. True board books here, the ones you can hand over and walk away from: 'Chicka Chicka Boom Boom' in the board edition, 'Brown Bear' in the board edition, and 'Where's Spot?' in the board edition, whose card flaps a determined two-year-old will eventually tear — worth knowing, not a reason to skip it, and the book is so good it earns the repair tape. 'Press Here' is a hardback with paper pages, and 'Little Blue Truck' in this edition is a hardback picture book with a board edition sold separately. The Caterpillar's famous edition has thick cut-through pages that hold up better than ordinary paper. Hardbacks at this age tend to live on the high shelf and come down at bedtime, which is fine if that's what you meant to give. One last word on 'Press Here', because a giver who has never seen it will walk right past it: it has no story, no characters and no plot. It has a yellow dot and an instruction to press it, and when you turn the page there are two dots. Shake the book, tip it, blow on it, and the dots obey every time. A three-year-old comes away believing they did that. It is the one book on this shelf nobody else will bring.