101 Best Books for Preschool, Recommended by Teachers

This cheerful board book lists many ways people demonstrate love for one another. The colorful illustrations portray many different variations on family structure. Share it as an inclusive introduction to talking about students’ families. It could also inspire your own class family photo book or display.

Buy it: Love Makes a Family

This feel-good story tells of a little girl who plays dress-up with her mother’s headscarves. We love adding it to displays of books for preschool about families, or reading it to build students’ knowledge about head coverings.

Buy it: Mommy’s Khimar

Yumi desperately wants to see her grandma, so she sets out for her house. Unbeknownst to her, Grandma has also decided to set out for a visit, causing some frantic back-and-forth. Read it to spark connections to kids’ own experiences with extended families. It’s also a fun one to act out!

Buy it: I Really Want To See You, Grandma

The dad in this touching story works night-shift security at a construction site, where he keeps on seeing a small, gray kitten as he does his rounds. The text is richly detailed without being too much for preschoolers. Share it to get kids talking about their own family nighttime rituals or about how they got their own pets.

Buy it: Kitten and the Night Watchman

Kate and her dad have a special bond, as shown through all the sweet moments of their commute to preschool. None of them are the reason she’s late though; that’s due to the extra-long hug they share at the end! This book can open conversations about what students and their caregivers love to see and do together.

Buy it: Hurry Kate, or You’ll Be Late!

Raisin likes things just the way they are. When a new sibling comes along, it’s hard to adjust. Add this to your books for preschool to support kids adjusting to a new sibling. Raisin’s habit of making lists always seems to spark a flurry of prewriting activity among kids too!

Buy it: Raisin, the Littlest Cow

Aurora learned English when she moved to the United States, but her dog didn’t. This concrete explanation of what it means to speak one language and not another is perfect to help classes articulate and celebrate the language backgrounds of students and their families.

Buy it: My Dog Just Speaks Spanish

Bea hates the sand at the beach, but she loves lions. An imaginary lion helps her overcome her fears and feelings of discomfort so she can enjoy a beach day with her mom. Read this to validate children’s own sensory challenges and fears.

Buy it: Bea by the Sea

When she has a friend over for a playdate, Sally anxiously shoves anything and everything she might have to share into the closet. It seems like a good plan, until everything in the closet is having way more fun than Sally. It’s always helpful to have good books for preschool about sharing on hand. Use this over-the-top example to start a conversation about reasonable guidelines for sharing at school.

Buy it: Mine! A Story of Not Sharing

This is one of our favorite books about emotions for preschoolers. Many kids will identify with how it feels to be impatiently waiting in line for ice cream, eating ice cream … and tragically, dropping ice cream. Follow up with ice cream art projects, an ice cream shop dramatic play theme, or even real ice-cream making and eating. (This is one of our favorite summer books for preschoolers too—perfect for the end of school!)

Buy it: Ice Cream Face

The simple text in this series talks about when you might feel angry (or surprised, loved, sad, scared, etc.). The illustrations show furry and cute monsters in situations that will be easy for kids to recognize and talk about. Share these oversized board books for preschool to help build emotional vocabulary.

Buy it: When I Feel Angry

One feeling word per page shows how a child’s emotions can change so many times over the course of a regular day. With precise words like “delighted,” “disgusted,” and “relaxed,” this is a great title for kids who are ready to learn more feelings-related vocabulary words beyond the usual “happy,” “sad, and “mad.”

Buy it: Ups and Downs: A Book of Emotions

To help redirect her big meltdowns, Willow’s older brother helps her learn to use words to talk about her big feelings. Definitely add this to your books for preschool about using words to communicate charged emotions.

Buy it: Big, Big Feelings

Rabbit goes to great lengths to fix Bear’s sadness, but it turns out what Bear really needs is a chance to sit together quietly with a good friend. This is one of the sweetest books for preschool for opening conversations about different ways to help sad friends at school.

Buy it: Pocket Full of Sads

This remarkable sequel to In a Jar shares how Llewellyn puts his feelings in jars so he doesn’t have to experience them. But what happens when it becomes too much to keep them closed up tight? Perfect for conversations about naming and accepting different emotions.

Buy it: Out of a Jar

What if you could see an itch, or even the “heebie-jeebies?” Reading this title aloud is like climbing into a kid’s head to offer words for all the sensations, feelings, and experiences that make up their days. It’s a unique crossover between five-senses books for preschoolers and books about emotions. Share it and leave space for wherever the conversation goes.

Buy it: Invisible Things

As she gets ready for work as a mail carrier, this mom comforts her nervous child with both realistic and silly reassurances that she’ll always come back. Read it to teach preschoolers a comforting refrain they can lean on during their own goodbyes. Kids love coming up with their own wild ideas about what their special adults would do to make sure they always come back too.

Buy it: I’ll Always Come Back to You

When Emmet the tiger arrives in search of a room in Valentine and Elsie’s guest house, the other guests get nervous. Valentine and Elsie’s calm, welcoming reaction turns into a lesson for the whole community. Share this as an example of managing emotions in unfamiliar situations.

Buy it: Valentine’s Guest House

Bear has an uneasy feeling that something’s wrong, but he can’t figure out what. Cue the endless preschool giggles as he parades around the forest in his underwear. Hare is an exemplary friend and helps Bear feel better in the end. Share this to talk about managing—or helping friends manage— feelings of embarrassment.

Buy it: Something’s Wrong! A Bear, a Hare, and Some Underwear

Hare plans to surprise his friend Bear with a pie for their picnic, but it ends up being ruined. Hare is completely bummed, but when he finally opens up to Bear, the two friends work together to make a backup plan. Read this and talk about ways friends can problem-solve to help each other feel better.

Buy it: Nothing’s Wrong: A Hare, a Bear, and Some Pie to Share

Each adorable book in this series marches through a nature-themed version of the ABCs with engaging facts about bugs, birds, veggies, fruits, trees, flowers, and more—all while using cheerful mixed-media art. Choose titles to share that match your thematic unit to build kids’ vocabulary and knowledge.

Buy it: Mrs. Peanuckle’s Alphabet series

We love books for preschool that combine the alphabet with a great picture story. It’s the middle of winter, but A is for “awake” … invite kids to share their reactions to the pictures as this narrative about a hungry bear unfolds.

Buy it: Bear Is Awake! An Alphabet Story

The original title in this series, LMNO Peas, combines two preschool loves: the alphabet and exploring occupations. (Plus, could those little peas be any cuter!?) The later installment, LMNO Pea-quel, is great to introduce lowercase letters to pre-K kiddos. Share these titles and then create some lovable pea artwork with green thumbprints or paint dots.

Buy it: The Peas Series

As the letters prepare for a camping trip, X can’t figure out what to bring. Everyone else has something fun that starts with their letter. Use this book to introduce the letter X. Follow up with a camping theme in your dramatic play area and let kids make their own alphabet packing lists.

Buy it: What About X? An Alphabet Adventure

Big brother Rafael wants to protect his toys from his toddler sister, Essie, so he fits together boxes and other found materials to make a wall. Use this book to explore vocabulary like “tall,” “skinny,” and “wide” with kids. Also be sure to check out the “Exploring the Math” suggestions in the back of the book for more activities.

Buy it: Again, Essie?

Olivia wants to paint a pattern on her birdhouse, but—oops!—she makes mistake. She problem-solves to come up with a new plan. This and the other Storytelling Math board books are ideal for inspiring preschool math centers.

Buy it: A Beautiful House for Birds

At the park, circles (a ball, bike wheels, Hula-Hoops) create chances to play with friends! As you read, talk about all the details in the pictures of this sweet counting book. After reading, try out your own circle-themed group games.

Buy it: Circle Round

As a mama bear and cub get settled for winter, they count the different animals they hear who are also preparing for the change in seasons. After reading, write and illustrate your own change-of-seasons counting book as a class.

Buy it: Baby Bear Counts One

Five little ostriches wonder what to do when they spot a lion in this adorable spin on “Five Little Pumpkins.” After reading it aloud, have fun acting it out together, or give kids figurines, puppets, or stuffed animals to retell it on their own.

Buy it: Five Hiding Ostriches

This clever counting book will tickle preschoolers’ funny bones as they catch all the jokes in the illustrations. Share this with kids who are just starting to become interested in “bigger numbers.” As an extension, kids could create their own silly counting pages with artwork and stickers.

Buy it: How To Count to 1 (and Don’t Even THINK About Bigger Numbers!)

This riff on the classic catchy tune “Ten in the Bed” has adorable animal illustrations. Sing it together or listen to the free audiobook via the QR code on the book cover. Act it out with puppets or stuffed animals, or work together to write your own class version of the song. Illustrate it with photos of students or make a cute video to share with families.

Buy it: Hen in the Bed

Elegant in its simplicity, this title features a single-color word matched to a soup veggie on each page. We love pairing it with a paint-color exploration, painting full sheets of paper, and chopping them up into “soup” pieces.

Buy it: Every Color Soup

Baby Bear’s mama teaches him to notice what’s in the forest by pointing out natural items of different colors. We can’t get enough of the gorgeous linocut illustrations. Try out printmaking with students by having them carve shapes into blocks of clay, then stamping them with different colors of paint.

Buy it: Baby Bear Sees Blue

This inventive title explores shapes, colors, and prepositions. It starts out simple but ramps up as the book goes on, making it a great multi-age concept book. Offer it with loose parts for kids to explore, or create your own class version with cut and glued shapes.

Buy it: Circle Under Berry

Here’s another of our favorite rhyming books for preschoolers, and it celebrates veggie colors! To make a rainy day fun, Grandpa sends his grandchildren out to the garden to pick veggies for his famous rainbow stew. After reading, create your own “Rainbow Stew” out of art supplies, pretend food, or real ingredients.

Buy it: Rainbow Stew

This title celebrates the nuanced colors of nighttime. After reading, create your own “What Color Is _____?” books or artwork, encouraging children to notice their own surroundings with new eyes.

Buy it: What Color Is Night?

Every Monday, Mabel races to drag a chair and her breakfast out to the drive so she can watch the garbage truck pass through her neighborhood. There are so many ways to use this title: Act it out, use it to inspire kids’ own oral storytelling, survey the class about their favorite community helpers, or use it to launch an investigation about your own community’s waste management systems. (We also think it makes a great narrative writing mentor text for any age.)

Buy it: Every Monday Mabel

Brave firefighter Flo and her crew must hurry to save a dog caught in the blaze. It’s full of all the classic firefighting details and has fun sounds that little listeners can chime in to add too. Follow up with plenty of firefighting dramatic play!

Buy it: Firefighter Flo!

This unique spin on community helper books for preschoolers looks at how people protect themselves during different jobs and activities. Gear like helmets, headphones, goggles, and masks keep people safe during work and play. Share this book to normalize protective equipment and to make connections between kids’ own experiences and the work of different professionals. It can also give kids ideas for using dress-up play items in creative ways.

Buy it: What We Wear When We Take Care

This informational text features many examples of people who work at night, like store clerks, cleaners, musicians, and newscasters. Follow it up with student artwork depicting community helpers who work at different times of day or night.

Buy it: All Through the Night: Important Jobs That Get Done at Night

Farmers are essential community helpers, and this fun title builds kids’ knowledge about how that might look. Sing your way through the work of planting, harvesting, processing, and selling produce. Follow this book with hands-on experiences like planting seeds or preparing dishes like salad or salsa.

Buy it: Miss MacDonald Has a Farm

A young girl and her grandmother gather berries together and thank the earth, celebrating Tlingit traditions and the seasons. This is a must-have in your collection of books for preschool that represent Indigenous cultures. Read it, and then learn more about seasonal food traditions in your area.

Buy it: Berry Song

This is one of our favorite fall books for preschoolers. A girl finds a leaf and imagines all the different things it could be. The gorgeous illustrations are so fun to pore over with kids. Use this to inspire your own fall leaf art projects.

Buy it: If You Find a Leaf

When the squirrels really talk up the fall changes to come, the little leaves get uneasy, especially Maple. This would be such fun to act out with puppets or flannel board pieces!

Buy it: A Very Big Fall

A witch heats up her cauldron for making a delicious soup with plenty of wholesome ingredients—and topped off with frogs. But she can’t keep the frog from jumping off the spoon! Offer fun chances for kids to prepare their own “potions” with art supplies, play food and toys, or nature items.

Buy it: A Spoonful of Frogs

A nightingale with a broken wing can’t fly south for the winter. Luckily, the kind winter forest animals help it adjust to the unfamiliar cold and snowy weather. Use the story events to spark ideas for a class book that teaches animals (or people) how to get ready for winter.

Buy it: The Winter Bird

When a dropped love note makes its way around a group of forest friends, everyone has different reactions and ideas about who may have sent it. For all of them, though, the idea of the note makes them feel loved. Preschool listeners love having the inside scoop on the story as the animals try to figure out the mystery. Share this as a sweet Valentine’s Day title in February.

Buy it: The Love Letter

This is one of the winter books for preschoolers we pull out every single year. Charles dreams of finding a “wish tree” and sets off into the woods with his trusty sled, Boggan, to search for one. Along the way, he selflessly helps many animals carry food and supplies they need for winter. After reading, create your own class wish tree indoors or outside.

Buy it: The Wish Tree

It’s a preschool classic conundrum: You want to build something and your materials aren’t quite right. In this case, it’s slushy, wet snow that just won’t turn into a snowman. This is the perfect title for working on sequencing. Plus, you can talk with kids about ways to manage frustration.

Buy it: I’m Going To Build a Snowman

Badger’s supposed to be getting ready for winter, but when he finds a discarded “twist-a-roo”—actually a kaleidoscope—he can only think of looking at the beautiful patterns it makes. This is a fun “twist” on other winter animal books for preschoolers, with sweet friendship themes too. After reading, pull out some real kaleidoscopes for kids to try.

Buy it: The Twist-a-Roo

This board book is a must-have if it snows in your climate. Join in with a family’s snowy nature-walk adventure to notice and describe all the tracks animals have left. Then head outside to spot tracks for real!

Buy it: Whose Prints?

Zander the goose decides he doesn’t want to fly south for winter this year. He explores different ways animals stay warm in wintry climates until he finds one that works for him! Share this as part of a study of winter animal adaptations.

Buy it: Zander Stays

April Pulley Sayre’s photos are unparalleled for encouraging kiddos to study nature and observe like scientists. We love all her titles, but this one is a particular favorite among our spring books for preschoolers. Use it to introduce kids to the frog life cycle—then grab a net and go try to find some frog eggs or tadpoles for your class!

Buy it: Being Frog

This book is a delightful journey through the colors of the year. The mother in the book subtly grows with each change in season, and by year’s end, the family celebrates a new arrival. Share this to support a child in your class who’s expecting a sibling.

Buy it: Green on Green

Nothing says summer like a pool day. This first-person narrative shares one girl’s visit to her community’s bustling local swimming pool. Host a pretend pool party after reading it, create a cover-inspired pool mural with blue paper, student photos, and chalk, or invite kids to build waterslides, ladders, and floats for figurines in your water table.

Buy it: Our Pool

These small but mighty board books explain complex science phenomena—like how water moves or how rocks erode—in language that’s accessible for preschoolers. Read them before conducting hands-on science observations and experiments.

Buy it: River’s Journey

From wheels and axles to pulleys and levers, this rhyming book is one of the best books for preschool we’ve found to introduce simple and complex machines. Follow it up with hands-on investigations of real items and a scavenger hunt for playground features or toys with the six types of simple machines introduced.

Buy it: Lift, Mix, Fling! Machines Can Do Anything

Teach your younger preschoolers about how animals move; photos of both kids and animals moving bring the interesting verbs to life. Invite kids to try out pouncing, hopping, dashing, and lots more.

Buy it: Animals Move

Fun and engaging nonfiction facts about animals who “dance” build kids’ background knowledge. Use the “Dance Break!” sections to get your class moving.

Buy it: Can You Dance Like a Peacock?

We love every single one of Shelley Rotner’s gorgeous photo essays, but this title is one of our favorite weather books for preschoolers. Share it to teach weather vocabulary and to open discussions about what we can notice, wear, and do in different types of weather.

Buy it: What’s the Weather?

The Whose Is THAT? series is ideal for preschool naturalists. The predictable question-and-answer format is so read-aloud-friendly, and the amount of information is just right. Read this one and let kids guess which animal laid each egg. Emphasize all the great descriptive vocabulary too.

Buy it: Whose Egg is THAT?

Twins Nakina and Kaoru often go exploring in nature with their grandfather. They’re doubtful that there’s anything left for them to learn about insects near their home, but Bompa proves them wrong. Definitely add this title to your favorite bug books for preschoolers. Chart kids’ learning about insects from this fact-filled story, and follow up with your own indoor or outdoor investigations of insects.

Buy it: Bompa’s Insect Expedition

Bear can’t find his glasses anywhere and it’s making it hard to tell what he sees—is that a rock or an elephant? Preschoolers will laugh at Bear’s mistakes on each page as they notice his missing glasses resting atop his head. After enjoying this story, make fun glasses out of pipe cleaners for kids and let them act out their own silly mistakes.

Buy it: Bear’s Lost Glasses

A young girl finds an injured bird while on a walk with her abuela. They nurse it back to health and release it—and receive a surprise visitor the following spring. This title is also available in Spanish. Share repeated read-alouds of this story, then give kids pictures or props to work on sequencing and retelling.

Buy it: Bird House

Late at night, a series of noises wakes up everyone in an apartment building one by one. What will lull them back to sleep? Create your own cardboard box “apartment building” and act out making sounds to wake each other up. Or get inspired by the illustrations and make collage building-window pictures.

Buy it: Everybody in the Red Brick Building

We love books for preschool that encourage both mindfulness and wonder. A girl practices listening to the myriad small sounds around her. After reading, have preschool students try out doing the same.

Buy it: Listen

Get ready for the catchiest book ever! Little Worm has a song stuck in his head that he can’t quite place. As he tries to figure it out, it turns out his friends have their own ear worms too! Read this aloud over and over—it’s that fun.

Buy it: Ear Worm!

Transportation books for preschoolers are classroom must-haves. This title from a favorite author-illustrator pair has a guessing-game structure, which makes it perfect for reading aloud to kids who love vehicles. Read it, and then have kids come up with their own descriptive clues about various toy vehicles.

Buy it: Wheels

This wordless retelling of a classic fairy tale is perfect for sharing with kids once they are familiar with the story. Make it available for kids to use the fun illustrations to tell it themselves or with toy props.

Buy it: The Three Bears and Goldilocks

This rhyming riff combines the fun of a classic fairy tale with the “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” song. A green pea swallows a full menu of dinner items. Share this alongside a traditional version of the fairy tale. Also be sure to emphasize the fabulous vocabulary.

Buy it: The Princess and the (Greedy) Pea

Maya has big dreams of building a perfect fort—too big, in fact, to accomplish alone. Luckily her forest friends help out and it’s more amazing than she could have imagined. Follow this book with some good old fort-building!

Buy it: The Perfect Plan

This realistic narrative about a family who makes pizza from scratch—think growing veggies and making homemade sauce—gives kiddos lots to talk about. After reading, it’s definitely time for some pizza-making of your own.

Buy it: Pizza Day

This fan-favorite is part story about a bumbling bear, part seek-and-find challenge. Fergus wants to hide, but he needs a lot of guidance, which of course, young hide-and-seek experts find hilarious. Share this with a small group so kids can get up close to look for items across the pages. Plus, they may be inspired to make their own lists of things for classmates to find around the room.

Buy it: Find Fergus

This STEAM story about creative construction teamwork stars kids in amazing made-up engineering roles—Boxitects, Blanketeers, Spaghetti-tects, and more. Add this to your rainy-day books for preschool, talk about the cooperation and perseverance themes, and make some cardboard-box creations of your own.

Buy it: Boxitects

Small Bear is eager for her story time before settling in for winter’s sleep, but Mama tells her there’s preparation to be done first. Will they finish getting ready in time? Tie this book into so many preschool curriculum topics—family relationships, seasons, forest animals—and, of course, the power of stories.

Buy it: A Story for Small Bear

When preschoolers discover stick swords, our impulse can be to squash them in the name of safety. Imaginative Ruby shows us another path, though—one of ants rescued, apples procured, and fictional dragons challenged by a fearless knight, along with a satisfying, friendship-filled ending. Bookmark this for sharing each year when talking about using sticks in safe but fun ways.

Buy it: Ruby’s Sword

Penguin had our hearts back with Penguin and Pinecone, one of our favorite tales about the power of friendship that evokes amazing reflections from kids. In each subsequent story, Penguin sensitively grapples with a new social-emotional challenge, and we—and our penguin-loving preschoolers—are here for all of them. Share them across the year as you move through each season.

Buy it: Penguin series

Daniel is an honest, observant, caring delight of a character who sees the world in a poetic way. Add this pair of titles to your books for preschool that inspire kids to dictate their own sweet poetry.

Buy it: Daniel Finds a Poem and Daniel’s Good Day

This is one of those quirky, creative rhyming books for preschoolers that just gets better each time you read it and notice a new detail. Animals visit Gus’s Garage with unusual vehicle problems, and he’s always able to use his “bits and bobs” to craft a solution. Read this to get kids excited about making their own creations with recycled materials.

Buy it: Gus’s Garage

This is a unique spin on dinosaur books for preschoolers! A child is looking for their pet dinosaur, who disappears after a bath. When he’s clean, no one can see him! Focus on encouraging kids to notice the pictures and talk about this imaginative story.

Buy it: Have You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur?

One of our top choices for dragon books for preschoolers, this cute story is packed with delightful vocabulary. The author asks kids to be very quiet, since she just put a “very rascally dragon” to bed. Enjoy the interactive elements in a group read-aloud, or even use this story to help students settle into their own rest time.

Buy it: Don’t Wake the Dragon

This is a gorgeous rendition of a classic fable about joy vs. anger to stretch preschoolers’ thinking and vocabulary. Read it aloud several times to familiarize kids with the story, then act it out with kid performers, puppets, or a flannel board.

Buy it: The North Wind & the Sun

Determined to avoid sleep, the babies head out on a grand adventure. Can they manage to keep their eyes open? Encourage preschoolers to notice the illustrations as they enjoy the babies’ funny antics.

Buy it: The Midnight Babies

One of the most beautiful books for preschool; Sophie Blackall’s illustrations are unmatched. Unleash kids’ imaginations as they consider what they’d do if they were horses.

Buy it: If I Was a Horse

The titles in this series are such fun rhyming books for preschoolers. Bop your way through this retelling of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” to see how Mary finds a group of pals to perform with. After reading, offer kids real, makeshift, or crafted instruments to form their own band.

Buy it: Mary Had a Little Jam