Here are some fantastic books to read to your child before kindergarten. If there’s a book you’d like to add to this list, let us know! If available, click a book’s link to watch Alumni Ambassador Jordan perform an engaging read-along of the featured book. (Downloadable .pdf file)
- Alborough, Jez: Where’s My Teddy?
- Asch, Frank: Happy Birthday, Moon
- Bahk, Jane: Juna’s Jar
- Bang, Molly: Ten, Nine, Eight
- Barrett, Judi: Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing
- Barton, Byron: The Three Bears
- Bauer, Marion: How Do I Love You?
- Becker, Bonny: A Visitor for Bear
- Bemelmans, Ludwig: Madeline
- Benton, Jim: The End (Almost!)
- Blackstone, Stella: Bear’s Busy Family
- Borghese, Mark: 1000 Books Before Kindergarten
- Bornstein, Ruth: Little Gorilla
- Brett, Jan: The Mitten
- Brown, Marcia: Stone Soup
- Brown, Margaret Wise: Goodnight Moon
- Brunhoff, Jean de: The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant
- Burningham, John: Mr. Gumpy’s Outing
- Burroughs, Caleb: The Moon Sees You & Me
- Burton, Virginia Lee: Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
- Campbell, Rod: Dear Zoo
- Cannon, Janell: Stellaluna
- Capucilli, Alyssa Satin: Biscuit Loves the Library
- Carle, Eric: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
- Cherry, Matthew A.: Hair Love
- Christelow, Eileen: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
- Chung, Arree: Mixed: A Colorful Story
- Coffelt, Nancy: Fred Stays with Me
- Crews, Donald: Freight Train
- Cronin, Doreen: Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type
- Day, Alexandra: Good Dog, Carl
- Degen, Bruce: Jamberry
- Dorros, Arthur: Abuela
- Eastman, P.D.: Are You My Mother?
- Ehlert, Lois: Feathers for Lunch
- Emberley, Ed: Go Away, Big Green Monster!
- Falconer, Ian: Olivia
- Feiffer, Jules: Bark, George
- Flack, Marjorie: Ask Mr. Bear
- Fleming, Denise: Mama Cat Has Three Kittens
- Fox, Mem: Where is the Green Sheep?
- Franklin, Ashley: Not Quite Snow White
- Freeman, Don: Corduroy
- Gag, Wanda: Millions of Cats
- Galdone, Paul: The Three Little Pigs
- Gerstein, Mordicai: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
- Goble, Paul: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
- Guarino, Deborah: Is Your Mama a Llama?
- Henkes, Kevin: Kitten’s First Full Moon
- Hill, Eric: Where’s Spot
- Ho, Joanna: Eyes that Kiss in the Corners
- Ho, Minfong: Hush!: A Thai Lullaby
- Hoban, Russell: Bread and Jam for Frances
- Hoban, Tana: Is it Red? Is it Yellow? Is it Blue? An Adventure in Color
- Hoffman, Mary: Amazing Grace
- Holabird, Katherine: Angelina Ballerina
- Hutchins, Pat: Rosie’s Walk
- Jenkins, Steve: What do you do with a Tail Like This?
- Johnson, Crockett: Harold and the Purple Crayon
- Juster, Norton: The Hello, Goodbye Window
- Kasza, Keiko: The Wolf’s Chicken Stew
- Keats, Ezra Jack: The Snowy Day
- Kennedy, Jimmy: The Teddy Bears’ Picnic
- Kent, Jack: The Caterpillar and the Polliwog
- Kimmel, Eric: Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock
- Kraus, Robert: Whose Mouse are You?
- Kraus, Ruth: The Carrot Seed
- Krosoczka, Jarrett: Baghead
- Leaf, Munro: The Story of Ferdinand
- Lester, Mike: A is for Salad
- Lionni, Leo: Little Blue and Little Yellow
- Lobel, Anita: On Market Street
- Lobel, Arnold: Frog and Toad Are Friends
- London, Jonathan: Froggy Gets Dressed
- Martin, Bill: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
- Martin, Bill: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
- Mayer, Mercer: Frog Goes to Dinner
- McBratney, Sam: Guess How Much I Love You
- McCloskey, Robert: Make Way for Ducklings
- McFarland, Lyn: Widget
- McKissack, Pat: Goin’ Someplace Special
- McLimans, David: Gone Wild: An Endangered Alphabet
- McMullan, Kate and Jim: I Stink!
- McPhail, David: Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore
- Meddaugh, Susan: Martha Speaks
- Meltzer, Brad: I am Abraham Lincoln
- Munari, Bruno: Bruno Munari’s ABC
- Nelson-Schmidt, Michelle: Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster
- Noble, Trinka: The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash
- Numeroff, Laura: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
- O’Connor, Jane: Fancy Nancy
- Penn, Audrey: The Kissing Hand
- Pinkney, Sandra: Shades of Black
- Piper, Watty: The Little Engine that Could
- Potter, Beatrix: The Tale of Peter Rabbit
- Rathmann, Peggy: Good Night, Gorilla
- Reisman, Dave: Cows Can’t Jump
- Rey, H.A.: Curious George
- Rohman, Eric: My Friend Rabbit
- Rosen, Michael: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
- Rossetti-Shustak, Bernadette: I Love You Through and Through
- Rylant, Cynthia: The Relatives Came
- Say, Allen: Grandfather’s Journey
- Scarry, Richard: Cars and Trucks and Things that Go
- Seeger, Laura Vaccaro: First the Egg
- Sendak, Maurice: Where the Wild Things Are
- Seuss, Dr.: Green Eggs and Ham
- Seuss, Dr.: The Cat in the Hat
- Shannon, David: Duck on a Bike
- Shaw, Charles: It Looked Like Spilt Milk
- Simmons, Jane: Come Along Daisy
- Simont, Marc: The Stray Dog
- Sis, Peter: Fire Truck
- Slobodkina, Esphyr: Caps for Sale
- Taback, Simms: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
- Walter, Virginia: Hi, Pizza Man!
- Wells, Rosemary: Noisy Nora
- Westcott, Nadine: The Lady with the Alligator Purse
- Wiesner, David: The Three Pigs
- Willems, Mo: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
- Wong, Janet: Buzz
- Wood, Audrey: The Napping House
- Yolen, Jane: How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
- Yolen, Jane: Owl Moon
- Young, Ed: Seven Blind Mice
- Zimmerman, Andrea: Trashy Town
- Zion, Gene: Harry, The Dirty Dog
- Zschock, Martha Day: Hello, America!
