As we celebrate the end of Read Across America Week, I wanted to share some of my favorite books for preschoolers. Even though young preschoolers are not able to read by themselves, you can promote a love for reading by sitting down and sharing a book with your children at least once a day. Take a few minutes a day to read, look at pictures, point to common objects, emphasize the name of nouns, action words, and adjectives in books.
Reading to your children once daily will:
- Encourage language development.
- Teach children to associate words to pictures and objects.
- Expose children to a variety of words and complex vocabulary.
- Encourage the development of listening skills.
- Prepare children for reading and writing skills.
Here are some tips when selecting books for children 3-5 years of age:
- Select books based on your child’s interest.
- Read books that have repetitive words and sounds.
- Pictures should be engaging and represent common objects in your child’s environment.
My Favorite Books for Preschoolers Ages 3-5.
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The Nose Book by Al Perkins and Joe Mathieu
I absolutely love this book! It was my oldest daughter’s favorite book when she was 3 years old. She would sit on my lap and patiently wait for me to read each line and finish off the phrases with a rhyming word. The pictures are fun and colorful, and the rhymes are silly and funny. This book is great for teaching facial body parts, rhyming, colors, and adjectives such as long and short.
Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman
Another favorite from Bright and Early Board Books. I love the repetitive use of core vocabulary words such as Go, Stop, Up! You can teach common words such as dog, car, bike, boat, light, tree and fun verbs such as run, skip, and hike.
Doggies, a counting and barking book by Sandra Boynton
Another silly little book filled with repetitive words and dog sounds, such as the common “Woof!” and other silly dog barks like “Yap!, Nnnn, Ruff!, Bow Wow, ArRooff!, Arf Arf, Rrowff, and Aaaa-Ooooo!”. It’s a great book for introducing counting.
Biscuit I Can Read Book Series by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Biscuit, the little yellow dog is a favorite book character in our home. Though these books are marketed for emergent readers, they are also great for preschoolers as they contain basic vocabulary, word repetition, fun illustrations, and short and simple sentences. These books are great for introducing beginning sight words to young children. They are filled with repetitive use of basic words and sounds such as “Woof! Meow!,Tweet!, ball, kittens, flowers, puppy, bird, bus, park, school, play, run, jump”.
The Treasure Bath by Dan Andreasen
Did you know you do not always have to read exactly what is written in a book? Maybe you have picked up a book because you love the illustrations but the words and sentences are too complicated for your little one. It’s ok to share a book with your children and only describe the pictures or modify the content. You can also select wordless pictures books, like The Treasure Bath. Using wordless picture books is a great way to encourage language development, visual attention, listening skills, and introducing narrative language and storytelling. I love the opportunities in this book to describe facial expressions such as happy, disappointed, sad, upset, and surprised. You can describe what is happening in each picture, and the steps needed to complete a routine, such as baking and bathing.
Here are some useful resources for parents and professionals for promoting early literacy and learning in preschoolers.
Sharing Books with Preschoolers, The Hanen Way
Scholastic Book list for Ages 3-5
Books Build Connection Toolkit, America Academy of Pediatrics
I Can Read! Books, Characters, Levels, and more.
Reading Rockets Wordless Picture Books List
I hope you enjoyed reading about some of my favorite books for preschoolers. Make sure you also check out my favorite Books for Babies and Toddlers.
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