How To

What To Write In A Baby Shower Book: 15 Bookish Quotes

Jen Sherman

Staff Writer

Jen is an urban and cultural geographer who did a PhD on public libraries and reading. As a researcher, her interests are focused on libraries, reading, book retailing and the book industry more broadly. As a reader, she reads a lot of crime fiction, non-fiction, and chicklit. And board books. All the board books. You can also find her writing about books for children and babies at babylibrarians.com. Instagram: shittyhousewife / babylibrarians Twitter: @jennnigan

So you have been invited to a baby shower and asked to bring a book instead of a card. You’ve carefully made your book selection, perhaps aided by this list of books for baby showers, and now you have to figure what to write in a baby shower book. There are templates and guides for what to write in a baby shower card or other congratulatory missive for the parents-to-be, but what do you write in the book itself?

Books received at a baby shower.

Some of the books we received at the baby shower where guests were asked to bring a book instead of a card.

There are two options for who the note is addressed to: the baby or the parents-to-be. At my baby shower, guests were asked to bring a book instead of a card, and they wrote their notes on the inside covers of the books. Some wrote congratulations to my husband and I, but for the most part, they were addressed to the baby, who we were calling Poppyseed.

Inscription in a baby shower book.

A message from Poppyseed’s Great Aunt Lori – the inscription in her baby shower book.

And then what do you say to a baby you have never met, who has not even been born yet? Most of the baby shower book inscriptions my daughter received were about how loved she was, and the guests’ wishes for her future. Many mentioned reading and bedtime stories, and the other common inscription for a baby shower book was to link the message to the book itself. Inside ‘The Giving Tree’, my baby’s great-aunt wrote, ‘May your life be filled with the joy of giving and loving’. In ‘Giraffes Can’t Dance’, one guest wrote, ‘May you always find your own song’.

Baby shower book inscription

Wishes for bedtime – baby shower book inscription.

For the most part, what to write in a baby shower book should be personal, something from you to the baby, and no stranger on the internet can tell you what that should be.

That said, you would probably do well with something about your hopes and dreams for them, how loved they are, and perhaps something about reading, books, imagination, and adventure. Below are some quotes for baby shower book inscriptions that you could use for inspiration or as part of your message.

Quotes for what to write in a baby shower book

These quotes are short enough to include as part of a baby shower book inscription, and speak to the power of reading, imagination, and adventure—fitting for welcoming a little bookworm into the world.

“A book is a magic carpet that flies you off somewhere. A book is a door. You open it. You step through. Do you come back?” —Jeanette Winterson

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” —Stephen King

“Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light.” —Vera Nazarian

“We lose ourselves in books. We find ourselves there too.” —Anonymous

“There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book.” —Marcel Proust

“Between the pages of a book is a wonderful place to be.” —Anonymous

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” —Dr. Seuss

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” —Frederick Douglass

“I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else.” —Neil Gaiman

“A book is a device to ignite the imagination.” —Alan Bennett

“A book is a dream you hold in your hands.” —Neil Gaiman

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” —Roald Dahl

“No, no! The adventures first, explanations take such a dreadful time.” —Lewis Carroll

“Keep reading. It’s one of the most marvelous adventures that anyone can have.” —Lloyd Alexander

“Always there has been an adventure just around the corner—and the world is still full of corners.” —Roy Chapman Andrews


What tips or quotes do you have for what to write in a baby shower book?