Little ones are fascinated with animals from pets, to farm animals, to those they see at the zoo. These toddler books about animals will delight all little animal lovers.
Animal Books for Toddlers
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Animal Board Books for Toddlers
I adore Yuval Zommer’s work. It’s breathtaking. And, now amazing Big Books have some companions for the younger crowd.Little Turtle’s Book of the Blue takes us under the sea and Little Snail’s Book of Bugs takes us in the backyard.These are perfect for reading with littles before nap or any time of the day.
My Little Pond by Katrin Wiehle introduces children to the animals that live in and around the pond. The book is printed on 100% recycled paper. Other books in the series cover the forest, garden, and ocean.
Stunning and beautiful images that have a gift book feel fill Curious About Insects by Cathryn Sill a beautiful book to share with children. It’s part of a series including other books about birds and mammals.
A Cub Story by Alison Farrell also has a classic feel to it. Get ready to compare the size of different animals to a bear cub.
The Hello, World! series by Jill McDonald is full of animal related books from pets to artic animls. Check out Hello, World! Reptiles and many more.
Lift the flaps in Hello, Whale! by Sam Boughton and discover all the underwater creatures that fill the sea. There are also books in this series such as Hello, Dinosaur! and Hello, Elephant!
Making Tracks Park by Cocoretto explores the tracks that animals make in a park setting. The book includes die-cuts and lift-the-flaps and is such a fun way to explore an environment. There are several other books in the series from Making Tracks City to Making Tracks Desert.
5 Wild Animals illustrated by Margaux Carpentier is like board book meets fidget toy and I’m obsessed with sliding the discs on each page. A true toddler dream reading session. Also, check out 5 Wild Homes.
I love the vocabulary building that can take place in Peek-a-Flap Moo by Jaye Garnett and the illustrations are beautiful and full of detail for toddlers to notice.
Hello Baby Animals Who Are You? by Loes Botman introduces us to the names of baby animals in soft watercolor illustrations.
The Sun Shines on the Sea by Michael Slack is a board book with lift-the-flaps that introduces little ones to the food chain of the sea.
National Geographic Kids Look and Learn: Caterpillar to Butterfly is a great non-fiction selection for little ones with gorgeous photographs to see the process from caterpillar to butterfly.
Speaking of stunning photographic illustrations, check out My First Book of Wild Animals by National Wildlife Federation. Text is sparse with just naming the displayed creature, but little ones will love studying the pictures.
Learn all about how animals move and then practice moving just like them in this photographic journey comparing how animals move next to how children move in the same way. Check out Animals Move by Jane Whittingham.
Older toddlers may enjoy the Little Life Cycles series by Maggie Li. Die-cut pages entertain us while we walk through the life cycles of butterflies or frogs.
Animal Picture Books for Toddlers
Ever wonder how different animals sleep? Find out in How Do You Go to Sleep? by Kate McMullan. Also, check out McMullan’s, How Do You Take a Bath?
Young children love lifesized things especially when they can compare the things to part of their own bodies. That is just what they’ll do in Lifesize by Sophy Henn. Children will get to measure their handprint with the paw of a polar bear and see how long a toucan’s nose is compared to their own.
You can’t get cuter than babies. Students will love to ooh and ahh over the baby animals in ABC Zooborns! by Andrew Bleiman.
So many of Jennifer Ward’s books are wonderful for toddlers especially her books that sung are to familiar tunes. I also really enjoyed Feathers and Hair, What Animals Wear that discusses the type of coverings animals have and that can lead into a conversation about what toddlers need to wear too.
Get up close with 32 animals in this beautiful book, Animals by Ingela P. Arrhenius, featuring all sorts of animals from crocodiles to meekrats.
More Animal Books for Toddlers
Have a little dinosaur lover? You’ll want to check out an entire book list dedicated the prehistoric creatures.—>Dinosaur Books for Toddlers
Birds, birds, and more birds…there are some amazing books for toddlers about these animals. Check out the section dedicated to toddlers on this list.—>Bird Books for Kids
Printable Toddler Animal Book List
Grab a printable list of the books shared above. Just click on the purple print button below to open the list.
Enjoy reading these animals books with your toddlers.