Little Bookworm loves animals. She hopes to be a vet someday, so she loves reading all kinds of animal books. This list of children’s books about animals is full of fiction and nonfiction books celebrating animals, their relationships, and their lives.
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Fiction Books
A Kit Story
Written by Kristen Tracy and illustrated by Alison Farrell
This board book introduces young kids to the life of a little fox. The simple text shares what the little fox kit likes to do and eat, and how it can run, pounce, and play. The colorful illustrations feature an adorable cartoon fox kit which kids will love.
Except Antarctica
Written by Todd Sturgell
This hilarious story introduces readers to animals found on every continent – except Antarctica. But the turtle and other animals in the story attempt to prove to the narrator that they can be found on every single continent by traveling to Antarctica. Kids will love the way the animals ignore the narrator and argue with him throughout the book, as well as the silly illustrations. The back of the book includes more information about the animals featured in the story.
Beaver and Otter Get Along… Sort Of
Written by Sneed B. Collard III and illustrated by Meg Sodano
This tale follows a beaver who builds a dam in a stream and creates an idyllic home for himself in a pond. But when an otter decides to make his home in the same pond, they have to learn to co-exist. The story teaches kids about patience with neighbors, while also sharing facts about beavers and otters. The back of the book includes more information about beavers, otters, their adaptation abilities, and their homes.
Check out this printable animal tracing book for kids!
Home
Written by Britta Teckentrup
This beautiful peek through picture book explores the habitats of all kinds of forest animals. Each page offers peeks to the previous pages or the next one, layering the detailed illustrations. The rhyming text introduces the different kinds of homes that forest animals make, from dark caves to nests and dams.
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Where the Wee Ones Go
Written by Karen Jameson and illustrated by Zosienka
This rhyming bedtime story lulls little ones to sleep with a gentle rhyming text and beautiful illustrations. Each two page spread focuses on a specific endangered animal, sharing where they are located and how they go to sleep at night. Kids will love learning about the endangered animals, and the soothing text perfect for bedtime.
Fox: A Circle of Life Story
Written by Isabel Thomas and illustrated by Daniel Egneus
This story about the circle of life follows as mother fox as she raises her 3 young cubs and teaches them how to survive. When she dies after an accident, the story shows how her body contributes to the environment around it. The lyrical text and colorful illustrations show the circle of life and how death in the wild isn’t an end, but a beginning.
How the Birds Became Friends
Retold by Noa Baum and illustrated by Zev Labinger
This colorful book, based on a Burmese folktale, features all kinds of birds in a story about the power of kindness to change the world. The story tells of a time when the world was young and none of the birds got along. When Quail grows tired of all the fighting, she decides to be kind to Crow, and they become friends. This eventually leads to all the birds learning how to get along. The back of the book includes a photo index of all the birds featured in the story and encourages the reader to find them in the illustrations, and in the real world.
Snow Leopard: Ghost of the Mountains
Written by Justin Anderson and illustrated by Patrick Benson
This story joins a zoologist in the Himalayan mountains as he looks for the mysterious snow leopard. The larger text shares the observations of the zoologist as he watches the snow leopard, while the smaller text throughout the book offers facts about snow leopards. The beautiful watercolor illustrations are full of details, and the back of the book includes more information about snow leopards and resources for further study.
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Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!
Selected by Fiona Waters and illustrated by Britta Teckentrup
This poetry anthology features an animal poem for each day of the year. The chosen poems were collected from all over the world, and they are paired with beautiful illustrations created digitally. Each day is clearly labeled, featuring a short poem about an animal. The book includes a ribbon bookmark, helping the reader keep track of the day they are on. There is also a table of contents at the beginning of the book which outlines the poems featured for each month.
Nonfiction Books
Australian Baby Animals
Written and illustrated by Frane Lessac
This colorful book introduces young readers to the animals of Australia through a fun and easy to read text. The larger text on the page highlights the movements and actions of animal families, while a smaller text adds interesting facts. Each animal name is bolded in the large text, making it easy for kids to recognize the animals on the page. The illustrations feature adorable animal babies and their parents on brightly colored backgrounds.
Big, Bigger, Biggest
Written by Xavier Deneux
This large board book explores large animals in the world through simple text and bold interactive illustrations. The simple text states what kind of animal is on each two page spread, an interesting fact about them, and what they like to eat. Each page includes an interactive element, encouraging kids to peer through cutouts, lift flaps, or feel textured images. As the book goes on, the animals get bigger and bigger, ending with the blue whale, the biggest animal on the planet.
National Geographic Kids: In the Pond
Written by Aubre Andrus
This pre-reader explores what a pond is and who makes their homes there. The book starts with a rundown of the vocabulary that will be used in the book. The easy to read text introduces the different plants and animals that live in ponds, while the clear, colorful photographs show them up close and personal. This is a great introduction to pond life for young scientists.
Little Kids First Big Book of Baby Animals
Written by Maya Meyers
This adorable reference guide introduces readers to baby animals. It starts with a table of contents exploring all the animals that will be discussed in the book, and an introduction that shares the layout of the book and how readers can use it. The simple text is paired with large, colorful photographs that show the baby animals in great detail. The layout of the book and the tables of facts make this an enticing book for young readers new to nonfiction texts. In the back of the book, there is a glossary, an animal map, and tips for parents to extend the learning.
Critter Chat
Written by Rosemary Mosco
This hilarious nonfiction book introduces facts about animals through imaginary social media profiles, reviews, and instant message conversations. Each colorful page features a funny conversation, quote, or review that will have kids laughing while they learn interesting facts about animals. There are also profiles of “animal influencers” like Fiona the Hippo and Ralphie the bison. Little Bookworm is loving this book, and she says “this would be a great book for slightly older kids who know that animals don’t use social media”.
Magnetology: Animals
Written by Maud Poulain and illustrated by Camille Tisserand
This interactive book introduces kids to animals and their habitats through colorful, detailed illustrations with simple facts scattered around them. The book contains 45 magnetic animal pieces that kids can place in the correct habitats. Kids will love moving the animals around on the pages and learning about them and the places they call home.
Ultimate Spotlight: Polar Animals
Written by Sandra Laboucarie and illustrated by da-fanny
This interactive book explores all kinds of polar animals, residing in the ocean, the tundra, and the ice. Each two page spread features interactive elements, encouraging the reader to spin, pull, or unfold parts of the page to reveal secrets. The illustrations are full of bright colors and adorable animals, and the text is broken up into little captions and paragraphs, sprinkled around the pages. This is a great introduction to arctic animals and their habitats.
Check out this printable arctic animal tracing book for kids!
Ultimate Spotlight: Rain Forest Animals
Written by Sandra Laboucarie and illustrated by Emilie Lapeyre
In this interactive book, readers are introduced to animals who live in the rain forest. The colorful illustrations feature adorable animal images, with lots of fascinating facts spread across the pages in small snippets and captions. There are interactive elements on each page, encouraging the reader to bring the illustrations to life through popups, pull tabs, and fold out pages.
Related Post: Engaging Nonfiction: Nature Books for Kids
North & South: A Tale of Two Hemispheres
Written by Sandra Morris
In this informational book, readers are introduced to the northern and southern hemispheres and how their seasons and climates affect the animals living in them. The beginning of the book explores the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and how the seasons and climates differ in each. The rest of the book introduces two animals per two page spread, one from each hemisphere, and shares how it adapts and survives in it’s habitat. The back of the book includes a glossary, an index, and tips how the reader can help wildlife and combat climate change.
Bei Bei Goes Home: A Panda Story
Written by Cheryl Bardoe
This fascinating book follows the journey of Bei Bei, the baby panda born to Mei Xiang at the National Zoo in Washington, DC in 2015. The text explores Bei Bei’s life from his birth and his rise to fame, to his journey to his new home in China. The text is accompanied by large, clear photographs of the adorable panda, as well as interesting panda facts. The back of the book includes more information about pandas, and how the reader can help them.
The Ultimate Book of Animals
Written by Anne-Sophie Baumann and illustrated by Eleonore Della Malva
This fact filled interactive guide teaches kids about animals and their bodies, diets, senses, and actions. Each two page spread focuses on a different theme including bodies, seeing, hearing, flying, and more. The large pages are full of interesting facts and labeled illustrations, and over 50 moveable parts. Kids will love pulling the tabs, turning the wheels, and opening the 3D pages to explore the animals in the book.
Ultimate Spotlight: Extraordinary Animals
Written by Sandra Laboucarie and illustrated by Vinciane Schleef
This nonfiction interactive book explores all kinds of remarkable animals. Each two page spread focuses on a different category, from animals who rescue to animals who communicate. The informative text is broken down into small paragraphs spread throughout the illustrated pages. Each page also includes interactive elements encouraging the reader to alter the illustrations by pulling the tabs, spinning the wheels, or lifting the flaps. Kids will love engaging with the illustrations and learning facts about these fascinating animals.
Prehistoric Pets
Written by Dr. Dean Lomax and illustrated by Mike Love
This pop up book introduces kids to the prehistoric animals who evolved into the pets that we know today. Each two page spread focuses on a popular pet, from parakeets and goldfish to cats and dogs. Each featured animal is introduced in it’s modern form, with facts scattered around the large illustration. The fold out page shares the many ancestors to our current pets, and how their lives and habits differed.
Orangutan Hats and Other Tools Animals Use
Written by Richard Haynes and illustrated by Stephanie Laberis
This interesting book explores the many ways that animals all over the world use tools to help them. The book starts with a table of contents showing how the book is broken down into categories of tools, from tools for staying neat and clean to tools for comfort. There is also a map that shows where all the animals in the book can be found. Kids will love learning how animals use things as familiar tools like napkins, toothbrushes, and floss.
Lions & Cheetahs & Rhinos Oh My!
Written by John Platt and Moira Rose Donohue
This beautiful book explores the animals of Africa through easy to read text. The interesting facts about animals are paired with colorful illustrations painted by children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Each portrait is painted by a student from the How to Draw a Lion program, a nonprofit art education program providing art classes to children in Africa. The back of the book includes an easy to follow art lesson showing how to draw a lion.
She Leads: The Elephant Matriarch
Written by June Smalls and illustrated by Yumi Shimokawara
This informative book follows the matriarch of an elephant family as she leads her family. The simple main text of the book explores the ways that the elephant takes care of her family, and how another female will take over when she passes away. Each page also features a small paragraph full of facts about elephants and their families, and beautiful detailed illustrations.
Inside Animals
Written by Barbara Taylor and illustrated by Margaux Carpentier
This brightly colored nonfiction book introduces readers to animals and what goes on inside their bodies. Each two page spread features a different animal, with a large illustrations showing the unique insides of their bodies. There are interesting facts spread all over the pages about how the animals’ unique features helps them. The back of the book includes a glossary of terms used in the book.
Masters of Disguise
Written and illustrated by Marc Martin
This interactive book teaches readers about animals who are masters at disguising themselves in their surroundings. Each animal is explored in a two page spread full of interesting facts and colorful illustrations. The following two page spread encourages the reader to use what they just learned to find the animal in question in a seek and find page. Kids will love learning about the animals and finding them in the busy illustrations.
Wilds of the United States
Written by Alexander Vidal
This reference guide explores the many habitats across the United States and the various animals who live in each one. The beginning of the book shares a merit badge key that honors each animal in the book for their incredible skills or adaptations. Each two page spread features a different habitat, with various animals from the habitat featured in the colorful illustrations and highlighted with captions and merit badges. Kids will love exploring the many merit badges and the colorful animals on each page.
The Magnificent Book of Horses
Written by Tom Jackson and Diana Ferguson and illustrated by Simon Mendez and Val Walerczuk
This fact filled book is perfect for young horse lovers who want to learn more about horse breeds around the world. The book begins with an introduction explaining how to use the book, and a table of contents outlining the breeds featured in the book. Each breed receives a two page spread full of interesting facts in a bulleted list, and a fact file exploring each horse breed’s group, height, color, characteristics, and origin. The informational text is accompanied by beautiful detailed illustrations that young and old readers will love exploring.
What are your favorite new children’s books about animals? Share them in the comments below!
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