Wow, my oldest son is turning 4 this week! He is amazing in every way and today I’m happy to have him share his favorite preschool books for kids from the past year. Our books for children by age are some of our most popular posts! Let’s dive into the favorite and best books for 3-year-olds.
As I look through the list I notice that his desire for humorous books really blossomed this year. In fact, he has turned into quite the little joke teller. However, he is a well-rounded reader and enjoyed many classics too!
Best of the Best Books for 3-Year-Olds
My son loves every book he has gotten by Karma Wilson. It’s hard to pick just one favorite, but he decided it should be Bear Says Thanks. Runner-ups included Horseplay, Hogwash and The Cow Loves Cookies.
Another popular and humorous author for this age group is Mo Willems. The Elephant & Piggie books are fantastic and will be some of the first books that your soon to be reader will clamor for. In the meantime, they make great read-alouds. Our all time favorite was There is a Bird On Your Head!
Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas was solely responsible for igniting the desire to want to rhyme. Love when a book encourages pre-reading phonemic awareness skills. Get ready for your little one to rhyme all the time!
In Xander’s Panda Party Xander decides to throw a panda party at the zoo. But, he is the only panda at the zoo so he decides to invite all the bears. When the koala bear informs him that she is a marsupial not a bear, Xander ponders what to do. He decides to expand his guest list and before he knows it, all the animals are invited to the party. Xander is even more delighted when a special guest arrives at the last minute to his party.
Books that required the reader to sing were also a hit this year. We checked out Yankee Doodle Dandy by Hoberman so many times from the library that we really should have purchased it. Other song book picks included, There Once Was a Man Named Michael Finnegan and She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain.
Truckery Rhymes by Jon Scieszka is a super fun book. Traditional rhymes meet trucks is what you will find. For example, instead of “Pop Goes the Weasel” it’s “Pop Goes the Deisel”. My son recited these rhymes all hours of the day.
Classic titles also dominated many read-alouds in our house this year. Make Way for Ducklings is a delight to read each time. A pair of ducks search for the perfect spot to build a nest. They find a place they love, but it isn’t conducive to building a nest. After the ducklings hatch, they return to that desired location to live.
We read The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone countless time. We also enjoyed spinoffs of the book such as Cook-a-Doodle-Doo and The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza.
Another favorite classic was Katy and the Big Snow as well as Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel both by Virginia Lee Burton. In Katy and the Big Snow, Katy is called on, after a large snowstorm, to clear the roads in the town. It’s a tough job, but Katy works day and night to get the job done.
Oh, The Three Billy Goats Gruff has inspired so many fun literacy activities in our house. Almost every time we go to the playground my kids want to act out the story on the bridge. The book also inspired us to make this storytelling sensory bin and wood block props.
Printable List of Best Books for a 3-Year-Old
Grab a printable list of the books shared above. Just click the green “get your printable” button below to download.
For more favorite books for children by age, check out our past lists.
Favorite Books for Babies (0-1)
Favorite Books for 1-2 Year-Olds
Favorite Books for 2-3 Year-Olds
PragmaticMom says
So many of our favorites here! Nice list Jodie! Thanks so much for sharing at the Kid Lit Blog Hop!
Tina at Mommynificent says
This is a great list with quite a few books I don’t know yet! Thanks for sharing it at Booknificent Thursday this week! Always great to have you!
Tina
Reshama says
Oooh! 4 is such a wonderful age.. they are just beginning to discover the “magic” behind books. Mine went through all of Mo Willems and still looks out for the latest (although she is reading chapter books now!) I remember how she would run to the kids section at the library and struggle to carry as many books as she could to the check out 🙂 All your choices are great although I would recommend a few Pure poetry books (Shel Silverstein comes to mind) and Non Fiction as well. I like to make sure that we get a good mix for them at a young age 🙂 Thanks for joining us on KidLitBlogHop Jodie!
-Reshama
Carol says
Hi, Came via the Booknificent link up. The Little Red Hen was a favourite at our place also!
Brenda @DailyMayo says
These are great books! So glad you stopped by to link up to Quote Me Thursday!
Rosemond Cates says
What a fun list! Some awesome classics and few new ones I will have to check out! Thanks for sharing this!
Rosemond
http://www.bighairandbooks.blogspot.com
Samantha @ Stir the Wonder says
We’ve only read a couple of these books! I can’t wait to check out the rest! Thanks for linking up at the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop! We hope you stop by again next week!
Kimbra Power says
I appreciate you posting on #KidLitBlogHop and I’m always looking for great lists to promote reading for young people.
When I first read the early part of your post, I misread it and saw that your son was amazed, and I was nodding my head, because yes, at 4, children are AMAZED at everything, it’s a great way to see the world, through their eyes.
I’m sure he is amazed and amazing, so happy birthday, and thank him for inspiring another great post.
Barefoot Librarian
Barbara Ann Mojica says
Some new ones to add to my list. Thanks for sharing!
Jodie Rodriguez says
Great, enjoy Barbara!
Cool Mom (Christine M.) says
Tweeted and Pinned. Great list – we just hung out with Matt Phelan on Saturday, for an interview for “The Write Chat” – so much fun. Bear Snores On is still one of my all time faves by Karma Wilson. Thanks for linking in on the #KidLitBlogHop! Have a super day.
Jodie Rodriguez says
Thanks so much!
Katie @ On the Banks of Squaw Creek says
We love Katy and the Big Snow and all the “Bear” books at our house, too! (My youngest is 3 1/2)
Thanks for sharing!
Judith Lloy says
Looks like a great list! We are going to have to check some of these titles out!
Jodie Rodriguez says
Hope you discover some new gems Judith!
Bonnie says
Love those sing a long books and I want to read the Rhyming Dust Bunnies with my daughter. Great selection of books.
Jodie Rodriguez says
Thanks Bonnie! It’s always so fun to put this list together each year.
Tiffiny says
Thanks for the list. Pinning!
Ronna Mandel says
This is such an EXCELLENT selection of books! Katy and the Big Snow just melts my heart and will do the same for youngsters.
Jodie Rodriguez says
Thank you Ronna. I never tire of reading Katy and the Big Snow either.