If you’re looking for new titles to add to your bookshelves at home, be sure to check out this list of our top 10 favorite preschool read alouds. Your family is sure to enjoy these titles that are full of friendship, fun, science, and the world around us.
Why is reading aloud important for preschoolers?
Time spent reading stories out loud to your preschooler will help get their love of learning off on the right foot. Reading aloud to children benefits them greatly in the following ways:
- increases their attention span
- helps them build a stronger vocabulary
- strengthens cognitive abilities
- provides wonder and enjoyment
- strengthens your parent-child bond.
When we read with our young ones, we help grow their curiosity and memory. Stories transport them to places and times they have never experienced, enhancing their understanding of the world. Holding a child close while reading can help them manage moments of anxiety and create a positive association with reading that endures throughout their lives.
Reach Out and Read
Who’s ready for story time?
How do you make preschool read alouds more interactive?
Sometimes children’s books have built in activities to for children (like Little Kids First Big Book of How listed below), but sometimes you’ll need to get creative to make a read aloud book more engaging for your children.
- You could try acting out the story using stuffed animals.
- Have your child draw pictures of the characters, glue them to popcicle sticks and put on a puppet show.
- Make a craft together using a character or certain page as inspiration.
There seem to be endless ways to bring a story to life after reading. For inspiration, simply research the book title with the words “activity ideas” and you’ll find plenty of great options.
What can kids do during story time?
If children aren’t up for snuggling on the couch during read aloud time, encourage them to work quietly on an activity. My children like to color, work on handicrafts, or play with building sets.
Classic Stories to Read Aloud
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (Random House, 1940)
I meant what I said
Horton Hatches the Egg
And I said what I meant….
An elephant’s faithful
One hundred per cent!
If you haven’t met Horton yet, now is the time! This book is a must-have for your preschooler’s bookshelf. Horton Hatches the Egg is a wonderful story about steadfastness, examples of good (and bad) work ethics, and why it’s worth it to always do the right thing (even though it might not be easy!)
Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child’s First Collection (Harper Collins, 2002)
This collection of timeless stories includes:
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, pictures by Clement Hurd
- Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
- Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
- Crictor by Tomi Ungerer
- A Baby Sister for Frances by Russell Hoban, pictures by Lillian Hoban
- Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus, pictures by Jose Aruego
- William’s Doll by Charlotte Zolotow, pictures by William Pene Du Bois
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond
- From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
- Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig
- George Shrinks by William Joyce (replaced in the 2015 edition by Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes)
- Baby Says by John Steptoe (replaced in the 2015 edition by A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams)
A Big Quiet House retold by Heather Forest, illustrated by Susan Greenstein (August House LittleFolk, 1996)
“Everyone has problems of one sort of another. Creative solutions can emerge by simply looking at difficulties from a new point of view. The unhappy man in this zany tale comes to realize, through personal experience, that his small problem, when compared to a larger one, vanishes entirely.”
Heather Forest, Author
Learning how to see difficult situations in a different light takes practice, and this story is just the one to read to your preschool child when he or she faces a problem.
Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman (Random House, 1961)
Educational and entertaining, Go, Dog, Go! features dogs of all kinds encountering opposites of all kinds. Beginning readers will love reading this one on their own and all children can practice counting, colors, and pointing out the many, many types of doggy facial expressions.
George and Martha: The Complete stories of Two Best Friends by James Marshall (Houghton Mifflin, 2008)
George and Martha are best friends. These two loveable characters have been teaching young readers what it takes to be a good friend since 1972. Your child will love watching their friendship blossom as the two friends experience life together with kindness, fun, and a few practical jokes.
This collectors edition consists of all 35 George and Martha stories!
Read Alouds for Science and the World Around Us
What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry (Golden Books, 2015 edition, originally published in 1968)
Get used to hearing, “Let’s read Busytown!” from your children, because What Do People Do All Day?” is sure to become a favorite. Readers get to take their time on this fun tour through Busytown, getting inspiration from each of the characters for ways that they can be a good worker, too. Observing what the workers do to keep their town running smoothly, here are a few things about our world that your children can learn from this book:
- How new roads are built
- How cotton is harvested and used
- Where bread comes from
- A visit to the hospital and more!
Look Inside Your Body by Louie Stowell and Kate Leake (Usborne, 2012)
What kid doesn’t like a good lift-the-flap book? Look Inside Your Body gives children a glimpse into how their body works: why hearts beat, the journey of food, how senses work, what bones, muscles, and brains do, and how our bodies grow and heal.
Space by Sarah Powell, Nicole Friggens, and Katherine Radcliffe (Priddy Books, 2012)
Open your children’s eyes to the wonders of the universe with Space. There is so much information in this book (sections for the Milky Way, our solar system, space exploration, space rocks, constellations, and more!) and your children will enjoy it for years to come.
The end of the book includes a glossary full of new words your child has learned as well as a timeline of space discoveries and human accomplishments (think Neil Armstrong).
Little Kids First Big Book of How by Jill Esbaum (National Geographic Kids, 2016)
Do your children ever wonder how bears stay asleep during hibernation? What about how rivers form, or how their eyes see?
Little Kids First Big Book of How is full of answers about how things work in the world around us. Expand their vocabulary by using the glossary, and extend the learning with games and a full list of activities to do alongside your children.
See Inside How Things Work by Conrad Mason, illustrated by Colin King (Usborne, 2009)
In another book about learning how things work, this book digs deeper into many different types of inventions and machines we use. Using over 90 flaps, this book will show your children how machines change as they are operating.
Shop the Read Aloud Book List for Preschoolers
Start your little one’s love of learning off right with these wonderful read aloud books for preschoolers. Request these books from your local library or simply tap on the titles below to shop!
- Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (Random House)
- Treasury of Picture Book Classics: A Child’s First Collection (Harper Collins)
- A Big Quiet House retold by Heather Forest, illustrated by Susan Greenstein (August House LittleFolk)
- Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman (Random House)
- George and Martha: The Complete stories of Two Best Friends by James Marshall (Houghton Mifflin)
- What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry (Golden Books)
- Look Inside Your Body by Louie Stowell and Kate Leake (Usborne)
- Space by Sarah Powell, Nicole Friggens, and Katherine Radcliffe (Priddy Books)
- Little Kids First Big Book of How by Jill Esbaum (National Geographic)
- See Inside How Things Work by Conrad Mason, illustrated by Colin King (Usborne)
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