Our Favorite Preschool Books

“Mom, can we read one more book?”

This was a common question in our home for many years. Even after reading four or five books in a row, they wanted to read more. There were many days we snuggled up on the couch and read the large stack of books we just brought home from the library for an hour. These are memories I will treasure forever.

Reading to your young child is not only a great way to build your relationship with him, but also builds his vocabulary and lays the foundation for a love of reading and learning.

These are some of our favorite preschool books and some of our favorite authors. There were many times we checked out every book the library had for a particular author. If you also have younger children, you might want to check out our favorite board books list.

Don’t be fooled by the title of this post though. These books are enjoyed by all ages. Even when my girls were upper elementary and middle school aged, they still enjoyed reading these books.

Our Favorite Preschool Books

Authors We Enjoy

• Allen Say
• Barbara Cooney
• Beatrix Potter
• Bill Peet
• Brinton Turkle
• Cynthia Ryland
• Don Freeman
• Eve Bunting
• Gail Hartman
• Gyo Fujikawa
• H.A. Ray
• Jan Brett
• Ludwig Bemelmans
• Maj Lindman
• Margaret Wise Brown
• Patricia Polacco
• Richard Scarry
• Robert McCloskey
• Shirley Hughes
• Thornton Burgess
• Tomie dePaola
• Virginia Lee Burton

Books We Enjoy

• A Pair of Red Clogs
 by Masako Matsuno
• Albert by Donna Jo Napoli
• Amber on the Mountain by Tony Johnston
• Anatole by Eve Titus
• Angelo by David Macaulay
• Another Celebrated Dancing Bear by Gladys Scheffrin-Falk
• Arabella by Wendy Orr
• Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack
• Be Kind Be Sweet by Tricia Lowenfield and Mary Moore
• The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice F. Ransom
• Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
• Climbing Kansas Mountains by George Shannon
• Cowboy Charlie by Jeanette Winter
• Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende & Harry Devlin
• Down, Down the Mountain by Ellis Credle
• Egermeier’s Bible Story Book by Elsie E. Egermeier
• God’s Wisdom for Little Girls by Elizabeth George
• God’s Wisdom for Little Boys by Jim George
• Grass Sandals by Dawnine Spivak
• Hanna’s Cold Winter by Trish Marx
• Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
• Henry the Castaway by Mark Taylor
• Hiawatha by Longfellow, illustrated by Susan Jeffers
• How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
• How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. by Marjorie Priceman
• James Herriot’s Treasury for Children by James Herriot
• Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny by Jan Karon
• Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
• Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
• Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky
• Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell
• Making Plum Jam by John Warren Stewig
• Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag
• Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car by John Burningham
• Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
• Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley
• Poems to Read to the Very Young by Eloise Wilkin
• Raggedy Ann and Andy Stories by Johnny Gruelle
• Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran
• Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
• Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
• Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost illustrated by Susan Jeffers
• Stories from Nature, Thirty-one Animal Tales by Jane Werner Watson
• Storm in the Night by Mary Stoltz
• The Duchess Bakes a Cake by Virginia Kahl
• The Giraffe That Walked to Paris
 by Nancy Milton
• The Glorious Flight by Alice and Martin Provensen
• The Gullywasher by Joyce Rossi
• The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
• The Kite Festival by Leyla Torres
• The Jingle in My Pocket by Gary Bower
• The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde Swift
• The Person I Marry by Gary Bower
• The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold
• The Raft by Jim LaMarche
• The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
• The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright
  
• The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
• The Saggy Baggy Elephant by Kathryn Jackson
• The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer
• The Shy Little Kitten by Cathleen Schurr
  
• The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
• The Taxi that Hurried by Irma Simonton Black
• The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
• The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
• Three Names by Patricia MacLachlan
• Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
• Tootle by Gertrude Crampton
• Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews
• Warm as Wool by Scott Russell Sanders
• We’re Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
• Wee Gillis by Munro Leaf
• When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
• Who Owns the Sun? by Stacy Chbosky
• Yonder by Tony Johnston

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