12 Delightful Book-Themed Baby Shower Ideas
Whether you’re a huge book lover or simply want an adorable baby shower theme, a book-themed baby shower is a wonderful way to tie in children’s literature with cute decor.
Discover the best ideas for planning and hosting a book-themed baby shower. From creative decorations and literary-themed games to baby shower menu ideas and gorgeous book-themed baby shower invites, you’ll have everything you need for this exciting new chapter.
12 of the Sweetest Ideas for a Book-Themed Baby Shower
There’s so much fun you can have with a book-themed baby shower — it’s one of our favorite gender-neutral baby shower themes. Honor those children’s classics and style your way to a heartwarming party with these baby shower ideas.
1. Be Inspired by Your Favorite Children’s Book
Design: Becky Nimoy Stationery
Invitation inspiration: Pooh and Friends Invitation
For a fun approach to the storybook baby shower theme, choose the mom-to-be’s favorite children’s story or fairy tale. This can be a book they read and loved as a child or one they’re excited for their future child to enjoy.
Popular books and characters include Peter Rabbit, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Goodnight Moon, Winnie the Pooh, and any of the Dr. Seuss tales. These literary classics have recognizable imagery that makes styling the event even easier. Plus, they’re also a fantastic starting point for other gender-neutral baby shower ideas.
2. Celebrate the Joy of ReadingÂ
What if the guest of honor doesn’t have a favorite book or literary character? No problem! Theme your party around all things bookish instead. For instance, you can decorate your event space like a bookstore with shelves of children’s classics with cute bookworm motifs. Or you can create a library-style environment with “library cards” for guests to fill out with a special word of encouragement for the guest of honor and new arrival.
3. Ask Guests to Bring a Book as a Gift
It’s traditional for guests to bring a gift to a baby shower — something either for the baby or parent(s)-to-be. With a book-themed baby shower, you can easily ask guests to bring a children’s book on your digital invitations.
This is a lovely way to build a library of books for the little one. Any children’s literature makes a great gift, as well as stories and fairy tales that the parents can read to their bundle of joy.
4. Decorate with Books
Books aren’t just for reading — they’re also a great party decor idea. To bring your theme to life, swap traditional baby shower decorations for ones themed around books.
Stack your favorite books on tables as centerpieces, or look for artwork that features book covers from children’s books. Hang bunting or banners with a reading or bookworm theme, and use foil balloons to spell out a phrase from a featured book or a book title.
5. Create Your Own Book-Inspired Decor
While books themselves make great decor props, you can also use them as the basis for fun DIY decoration projects. This can be a sweet and meaningful way to turn old books into something creative and special for a milestone moment.
Depending on the style and theme of your party, you can try out lots of DIY book crafts. Make book page flower bouquets, frame significant pages or artwork from books you love, or try the art of book folding to create a stunning 3D centerpiece.
6. Use Themed Signage
Another great book-themed baby shower idea is to take inspiration from the books to create unique party signage. Welcome guests and create ambiance with fun signage.
Put up a welcome sign that says “Welcome to the adventure” or “Entrance to the fairy tale castle this way.” Theme your table signs around chapters from books or book titles themselves. Hang a “Once upon a time…” sign above your gift table. The options are endless.
7. Play Book-Themed Baby Shower Games
Baby shower games always add an element of fun to the festivities, so why not try a few book-themed baby shower games for your celebration?
There are plenty of free printable book-themed baby shower games. Some of our favorites include Guess the Storybook, Name the Book, and nursery rhyme games. You can also make your own if you’re feeling creative!
8. Sign a Guest Book
Set up a guest book or memory book for guests to sign as they arrive. Set the book on a table with a sign encouraging them to leave a note, message, or special anecdote about their favorite childhood book. The beauty of this idea as that the baby shower guest book can become a keepsake that’s treasured well into the future.
9. Have a Children’s Book-Themed Cake
A baby shower cake isn’t just a delicious treat — it’s also a fun way to boost your book-themed baby shower styling. Order a custom cake featuring a scene or character that matches the children’s book or style of your party. If a big cake isn’t your thing, order cupcakes instead and add a book-themed cupcake topper to each one.
10. Enjoy Book Inspired Food
Transform what can be an unexciting baby shower menu into something creative, unique, and wonderful by choosing dishes inspired by children’s books.
There are so many interesting options you can choose from — like “Green Eggs and Ham” from Dr. Seuss, cookies inspired by “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” or meatballs from “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.” Explore different recipes from children’s books, or create your own dishes based on the guest of honor’s most-loved stories.
11. Hand Out Your Favorite Book
Seeing as the celebration is all about being a book lover, it’s the ideal moment for the parent(s)-to-be to share one of their favorite stories with guests.
You can buy multiple copies of their all-time favorite book (it doesn’t have to be a children’s story) to hand out, or take books from your personal collection, wrap them, and give them to guests as a thank you gift.
12. Pass Out Book-Themed Party Favors
In keeping with the book-themed baby shower, sending your guests home with a themed gift makes perfect sense. Many baby shower favor ideas can be adapted for a bookish theme.
Use our idea of giving your favorite book, or try other party favor ideas like handmade or personalized bookmarks, keyrings inspired by book characters, or mini collectibles that match your party theme.
5 Book-Themed Baby Shower Invitations
The best way to let your loved ones know about the upcoming party is with matching baby shower invites. At Greenvelope, we have many designs you can customize in minutes, including these adorable storybook baby shower invitations.
Find a design you love, then have fun with the layout and adjusting the fonts, colors, and wording to make the invite unique to your special moment. With easy RSVP tracking, managing your guest list is simpler than ever. Here are a few of our favorite book-themed baby shower invitations.
1. Antique Book Cover Invitation
Design: Becky Nimoy Stationery
Step into the world of classics and fairy tales with this timeless book-themed baby shower invite. The ornate details and antique-inspired styling make this perfect for an elegant baby shower celebration.
2. Blooming Books Invitation
Design: Jennifer Wick
We adore this floral book-inspired invitation, and so will your guests. This charming illustration is paired with a stack of books and plenty of space for customization — ideal for any book-themed baby shower party.
3. Books for Baby Invitation
Design: Jen Montgomery
Invite your guest of honor’s closest loved ones to celebrate with this stack of books invitation. Choose from a handful of cute color options or work with our design team to sprinkle in your favorite color.
4. Baby Books Invitation
Design: Luckybug Designs
We love the contemporary feel of this typography-inspired book-themed baby shower invite. The fonts, colors, and illustrations all feel modern — perfect for a cute, cozy, bookish celebration.
5. Storytime Elephants Invitation
Design: Creo Study
Want to know what you get when you cross elephants and books? The sweetest baby animal shower invite! We love the floral touches and the fact that there’s plenty of space on the reverse to share your book-themed party plans.
Book-Themed Baby Shower Ideas for a Fabulous Celebration
A book-themed baby shower is a wonderful idea — it’s perfect for book lovers and those who simply recognize the value and joy of reading. Use these ideas to help you plan and host a memorable baby shower, whether it’s for you or someone close to you.
Once you have the key details planned and are ready to turn the page, spread the word about the big day with one of these book-themed baby shower invitations. Your guests will surely be delighted.
