25 Read Aloud Board Books about Animals for Babies and Toddlers
Does your tot love reading about animals? Check out this list of 25 read aloud board books all about animals!
Reading books with your child is a great way to soak up some snuggling time and bond with your little one. If your child loves animals, this list is a must-have!
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You’ll also enjoy these lists of board books about:
1. Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-flap Book by Rod Campbell
“I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet. They sent me a…” And so begins the book. Each page, a new animal in decreasing size is behind the flap. The problem is, each time the zoo sends an animal, it’s too big, too scary, too loud, etc., until the zoo finally sends the perfect animal.
Check out this list for more books about the zoo!
2. Giraffes Can’t Dance by by Giles Andreae
Meet Gerald, a giraffe who unfortunately cannot dance. All of his jungle friends are excellent dancers, and compared to them, he feels so silly at the annual Jungle Dance. Watch as his animal friends engage in all sorts of fabulous dancing. Gerald feels sad and embarrassed that he can’t keep up, until he befriends a cricket who plays a magical tune. Suddenly, Gerald begins to dance! Eventually, he learns that he just needed the right song to dance to. An adorable book about finding your own rhythm, set in the jungle.
3. I Spy Little Animals by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick
This fun I Spy board book is a fantastic book to engage animal-loving tots. Even if your little one hasn’t yet developed a love for reading, they’re sure to enjoy the activity of seeking out the animals within fun photographs on each page. Spy animals in a toy chest, under the ocean, on a stage, and lots more!
For more I Spy books, check out this list!
4. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Eric Carle
This beloved classic is perfect for all home libraries. Babies and toddlers alike just LOVE this book. Eric Carle’s signature animals are bright and colorful, making them stand out vibrantly against the white background. Each page rhymes, of course, and the predictability of the book (as each page says what’s going to be on the next) tricks kiddos into thinking they can truly read the book. This gives them an early sense of pride and independence, just what they need in their journey of learning to read.
Did you know there are more books in the Brown Bear and Friends series??
5. Can You Growl Like a Bear? By John Butler
My daughter absolutely loves this book! It even taught her to “click” like a dolphin. Practice all sorts of animal noises with your little one in this rhyming book. Soft and detailed illustrations will capture baby’s interest right away, followed by the practicing of all sorts of different animals. “Can you trumpet like an elephant, tramping across the plain? Can you croak like a tree frog, basking in the rain?”
6. Hello, Baby Animals: A High-Contrast Book by Duopress Labs
This black-and-white book is geared toward the very youngest of readers. Black-and-white books are the best books to capture babies’ attention, as babies mostly see in black-and-white at first. These high-contrast images of animals are sure to charm your baby.
7. Boop the Snoot by Ashlyn Anstee
Littles will love this silly, playful book about “booping” (playfully touching the noses of) their pets. Get your tot giggling by “booping” them on their nose and “booping” the cats, dogs, turtles, and other animals in the book. This book gave my daughter and I our own little game of “booping” each others’ noses, which always makes her laugh. A great bonding book!
8. Old MacDonald Had a Farm by Giusi Capizzi
Of course there are lots of variations of this book, but I like this one because it’s a sturdy, padded board book. Also, other versions sometimes add too much onto the story/lyrics, but this one seems just the right length. Have your little one sing along as you point out all the farm animals and practice the noises each makes.
9. Wild Animals: A Touch and Feel Book by Little Hippo Books
A cute rhyming and texture book, perfect for babies and younger tots. The textures on each animal will engage little readers and keep them interested.
10. Busy Baby Animals by Suzi Eszterhas
The only thing babies love more than animals is baby animals. Written by an award-winning wildlife photographer, this book is sure to charm your little one. A rhyming book with pictures of all kinds of baby animals doing cute things: pandas hugging, cheetah’s “bugging,” sloths resting, birds nesting…
11. Animal Babies Sound Book by World of Eric Carle
This is a great sound book to engage your little animal lover. Colorful Eric Carle illustrations will enchant your little one, almost as much as the buttons they can press that reveal the animal sounds. A fantastic choice for littles who love noise books and animals.
12. Deep in the Forest: Seek-And-Find Adventure by Josef Anton
In this oversized seek-and-find book, tots will seek out a host of exotic animals living in a lush rainforest. Each page has a lift-a-flap, under which is a list of animals to find. Toddlers will learn about the rainforest and all kinds of animals that inhabit it, through lush, vibrant, detailed illustrations.
13. Say & Play Baby Animals by Inc. Sterling Publishing Co.
This simple book of baby animals will delight babies and younger tots. Each page is simply a photograph of an adorable baby animal, along with the animal’s name, on a white background. Babies and tots love looking at pictures of adorable, fluffy baby animals, and set against the white background, there are no other distractions on the page.
14. Little Hide and Seek Animals by DK Publishing
Who doesn’t love a seek-and-find book, especially one with animals? Each page offers a host of animals: pets, arctic animals, African desert animals, farm animals, etc. Your tot will love finding various animals on each page, and will enjoy seeing photographs of all sorts of animals throughout.
Check out this list for more seek-and-find books!
15. Noisy Baby Animals: My First Touch and Feel Sound Book
by Patricia Hegarty
A cute texture book about baby animals that also make their animal noises when you touch their fur! Pet the fluffy puppy to hear him “woof,” ruffle the penguin chick’s feathers to hear her trill, and more! Learn fun facts about the animals while engaging your tot with textures and sounds.
Check out the rest of the touch and feel sound books about animals in this series.
16. My Very First Book of Food by Eric Carle
An interactive matching book that quizzes your toddler’s knowledge about the foods different animals eat. Featuring Eric Carle’s colorful animals like a bear, walrus, lion, squirrel, and more, this book also teaches tots to think about what sorts of food each of the animals eats, and pair it with the correct animal. It is not only a book but also a fun and engaging activity!
17. I’m Hungry! Board book by Rod Campbell
Teach your littles about what different animals eat while entertaining them with textures and lift-the-flaps. Babies and tots will love this one! Babies will be entertained with the textures and flaps, while tots will enjoy learning about what foods the animals like to eat.
18. Baby Animals by Stephan Lomp
An illustrated Indestructibles book, perfect for littles who are rough on their books. See all sorts of baby animals frolicking about. Watch them play, snuggle, eat, and make noise. Point out all the various animals on the page, and have your little one seek out specific animals on the page to keep them engaged.
19. Tinyville Town: I’m a Veterinarian by Brian Biggs
If your tot loves animals, why not teach them about veterinarians? Check out a day in the life of Val, the local vet. Watch Val wake up and start her day with her family and all her family pets, and then head to work. See her greet various animals and their owners in her waiting room, and watch as she fixes up a pup who’s swallowed a sock.
20. My First Pook-a-Boo Animals by Eric Carle
This lift-the-flap Eric Carle book is great for tots who are beginning to know their animal facts! Each turn of the page shows an animal habitat and a rhyme of clues about what the hiding animal is. The opposite page is a flap, that when lifted, will reveal the animal in question! So, toddlers that love.
21. The Amicus Book of Animals by Isobel Lundie
Learn a fun fact about each animal portrayed in this colorful, collage-style book. Did you know that armadillos like to dig, or that gorillas snack on bamboo, or that chameleons catch bugs with their tongues? Animal-loving tots will appreciate learning new facts, and the fun illustrations will keep them turning the page.
22. Hide and Seek in the Jungle by Sean Callery
A big lift-a-flap book about finding animals hiding in the jungle. Entire pages lift up, out, and down to reveal colorful colorful animals in their natural habitats. Each page offers a hint at the animal hiding, and also a couple peek-through, cut-out windows to catch a glimpse of the furry friend.
See also Hide and Seek Pets by Sean Callery.
23. Roald Dahl Animal Sounds by Roald Dahl
With illustrated animals from Roald Dahl’s classic books, littles will practice making lots of fun animal sounds. “I can hear marvelous monkeys…a particularly pink pig..” Tots will love the whimsical illustrations and animal noises combined.
24. Creature from the Woods by Megan Alms
A sweet and tender rhyming story that compares a young child’s movements to small animals of the woods. Much like the baby fox, bunny, and hedgehog, children are exploring and learning about the beautiful world around them.
25. Yellowstone and Grand Teton Babies by Wendy Shattil and Bob Rozinski
Outdoorsy families and those who love the National Parks need to check this book out. It pictures real-life photographs of the various baby animals that inhabit Yellowstone and Grand Teton, like porcupines, wolf pups, pronghorn fawn, bison, and lots more. Sweet little rhymes accompany the photographs.
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