30 Read Aloud Board Books about Bugs for Your Little Entomologist

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Does your baby or toddler love bugs? Do you have an aspiring little entomologist on your hands? Foster that curiosity about bugs, spiders, insects, bees, and more by reading them books!

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Or, if your tot is afraid of bugs, show them that bugs don’t always have to be so scary with some of the cuter books on this list.

You’ll also enjoy these lists of board books about:

1. Some Bugs by Angela DiTerlizzi

A colorful, rhyming, educational book with cute illustrations. “Some bugs sting. Some bugs bite. Some bugs stink. And some bugs FIGHT!” This book manages to teach kids about common bugs while also making them giggle with illustrations of bugs with comically big eyeballs (which also makes them feel a little less threatening!). Use this book for inspiration to find the bugs that do all the things in your own backyard, especially the guide in the back that names all the different bugs.

Also, look for the little ladybug hiding on each page! Kids who love seek-and-find activities in their books will love this one especially.

2. The Honeybee by Kirsten Hall

Learn all about honeybees with this gorgeous book, full of sweet rhymes. It’s packed with information, but presented in such a soothing way with gentle rhymes and illustrations that it’s sure to captivate your little one.

3. Backyard Bugs by Jill McDonald

A colorful and educational book perfect for babies and tots. You can point out recognizable objects for younger babies to see (cat, tree, flower, ladybug), and read all the educational text for older tots. Teach littles about lots of common backyard bugs like ladybugs, spiders, bees, worms, and caterpillars. Learn neat facts about each one!

4. Usborne Lift-the-Flap Bugs & Butterflies by Emily Bone

A gorgeously illustrated lift-the-flap book to teach your tot all sorts of interesting facts, while keeping them entertained. Brilliant illustrations depict a beehive, butterflies, bugs on a pond, bugs underground, bugs at night, and much more. Plenty of lift-the-flaps throughout will keep your tot wanting to turn the page and lift those flaps.

5. Hello Honeybees by Hannah Rogge

A fun, interactive book that transforms itself into a beehive. It comes with little cut-out bees attached with ribbons, and cut-outs throughout the book so your tot can interact with the book and engage in pretend play with the bees as you read. A fantastic activity and book to teach older tots about bees and keep them engaged.

6. Curious About Insects by Cathryn Sill and John Sill

Soft, detailed illustrations depict insects in their natural habitats. This book is all about facts specific to insects: things they have in common, such as having three body parts, and things that are different among them. Some insects get food from animals, some from plants. Some insects jump, some swim, etc. A gorgeous book for any aspiring little entomologist.

7. Bee: A Peek-Through Board Book by Britta Teckentrup

Brilliant colors and peek-through cut-outs will mesmerize your little reader! Learn all about bees while engaging your little one with bustling images of bee life.

8. Hide-and-Seek Ladybugs by Paul Bright

Who doesn’t love a fun game of hide-and-seek? Adorable illustrations of ladybugs playing hide-and-seek with Beepo the lightning bug are sure to charm your little one. When Spots, the ladybug, challenges Beepo to a game of hide-and-seek, Beepo laughs it off, thinking ladybugs are too easy to spot. Will they prove him wrong?

9. Discovering the Active World of the Anthill by Petra Bartikova

Teach your tot all about anthills with this educational book. It’s packed with facts, but keeps your tot interested with all sorts of cut-outs to show you different chambers and sections of the anthill on each page. If your little one is interested in starting an antfarm, this is a must!!

10. Bugs Galore by Peter Stein and Bob Staake

Bugs galore is right!! Bugs, bugs, everywhere in this silly book about all different sorts of bugs. Goofy, fun rhymes describing all sorts of bugs (some maybe even made up) are sure to make your little one giggle. The funny rhymes and detailed illustrations of bugs galore will keep any tot on their toes!

11. 10 Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

Practice counting to 10 with these friendly little ladybugs. Start with 10, and count backward by one with each turn of the page, as another ladybug disappears. Meet all kinds of critters along the way. Rhmes, counting, and touching each of the plastic faux ladybugs will keep any tot entertained!

12. Never Touch a Spider! By Rosie Greening

A great tactile book for babies and younger tots. Cute rhymes and silly illustrations with even sillier textures will keep your little one entertained while learning, quite literally, not to touch the spiders! “So you must always treat a bug with care each time you take a look. And save your hugs for all the bugs you find inside this book!”

13. The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle

This sweet, solemn, and sort of funny book is about a lonely firefly who just wants to make a friend. He searches through the night for a friend, but instead finds a lightbulb, a flashlight, the eyes of a cat and owl, car headlights, and more. In the end, the page lights up with a show of other fireflies that are found. Show your little one how fireflies are attracted to light, and that they are nothing to be afraid of–they’re just searching for friends.

14. How Does a Butterfly Grow? by DK

A mix of photographs of butterflies and caterpillars and flora and fauna illustrations make this a striking book! Lift-the-flaps will keep tots engaged while learning tons of interesting facts about the lifecycle of a butterfly. Great for older tots with longer attention spans.

15. Mrs. Peanuckle’s Bug Alphabet by Mrs. Peanuckle

Practice the alphabet while learning about all sorts of bugs. Learn some fun facts about the inchworm, june bug, katydid, stinkbug, and all sorts of bugs throughout the alphabet. This is a great book for older tots who really love learning about bugs, since it’s packed with information.

16. The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

This colorful Eric Carle book shows little ones how impressive spiders and their webs are. It’s all about a little spider who is so busy spinning her web all day long. Her barn animal friends keep trying to distract her, but she just keeps busying along with spinning her web. In the end, we see her beautiful masterpiece of a web that took her all day to create. Next time you and your tot see a spider web, you can talk about how it took a spider all day to create it. (This board book edition also has textures to keep your little one engaged).

17. Why Do We Need Bees? by Usborne

A gorgeously illustrated lift-the-flap book that teaches little ones the importance of the bees. Learn about different kinds of bees and their roles, beehives, bee nests, how bees pollinate, and more! Younger tots will love the illustrations and flaps and older tots will love learning lots of interesting facts.

18. Nerdy Babies: Insects by Emmy Kastner

Part of the Nerdy Babies Series, this book is packed with all sorts of fun facts about insects! The neat part is that you can point out the bigger images on the pages to younger readers, and then as they grow older, read them more of the educational text. For older tots, there’s lots of information to soak up! For babies and younger tots, enchant them with pictures of butterflies, moths, and other babies watching the insects, and have them point out recognizable objects.

19. Little Bug on the Move by Stéphanie Babin

An interactive slide-the-tab book for babies and younger tots. Slide the tab on each page to see the little bug climb a hill, move through the forest, and eventually become a butterfly. A pretty and engaging read for littles who love interacting with books.

20. Miss Spider’s Tea Party by David Kirk

Many of us are afraid of spiders, but Miss Spider is hardly scary. All she wants to do is put on a lovely tea party for her insect friends! But will anyone join her? Just as she begins to lose hope of her tea guests joining her, 11 insect friends show up for a smashing tea party. A sweet rhyming book about making friends, while also practicing counting throughout the book.

21. National Geographic Kids Look and Learn: Bugs by National Geographic Kids

Learn about ladybugs, butterflies, bumblebees, praying mantises, and fireflies with this educational and interactive book for tots. Each page includes close-up photographs and fun facts, with a few activities included to keep your tot engaged.

22. Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni

A funny little book about an inchworm who is tasked with measuring things–because he’s an inchworm. What happens when a bird asks him to measure her song? This inchworm must get crafty! Watch this cute little inchworm scoot his way around the book and into your heart.

23. Little Yellow Bee by Cottage Door Press

A chunky lift-the-flap book, perfect for babies and younger tots. Peek behind flowers, leaves, cabbages, and a garden gate to find insects you’ll find in the garden. Pretty garden scenes, rhymes, and lift-the-flaps will charm your little one.

24. Nature Baby: Bugs by Adventure Publications

Teach your little one all about bugs with these cute, close-up photographs and fun facts. “What has big eyes and can walk on walls? A jumping spider! What’s red with black spots and keeps gardens healthy? A lady beetle!”

25. Little Kids First Board Book: Insects by Ruth A. Musgrave

With close-up photographs, learn about a new insect with each turn of the page. Little interesting facts are sprinkled throughout, so you and your tot will learn all about common insects like the grasshopper, moth, cricket, dragonfly, and more.

26. Hello, Bee: Touch, Feel, and Reveal by Isabel Otter

A great book to show babies and younger tots some friendly bugs. This lift-a-flap, peek-through, and texture book will keep your little one very entertained. Peek behind leaves and berries to find a spider sleeping in its bed, a caterpillar, and even a little gnome watering his flowers!

27. My First 100 Bug Words by Chris Ferrie

Teach your little one all the pertinent words about bugs with this book, perfect for aspiring entomologists. You might even learn some new concepts and bugs yourself, like a scent trail, spider wasp, and brood comb.

28. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

This classic belongs in every little reader’s home library! Not only entertaining and gorgeously illustrated, this book also teaches tots the whole life cycle of a butterfly. Next time you and your little one see a caterpillar, remind them how it will one day be a beautiful butterfly, just like the Very Hungry Caterpillar!

29. Itsy Bitsy Spider (Finger Puppet Board Book) by Cottage Door Press

Introduce babies to a classic nursery rhyme with this cute finger puppet book. This is a great book for the earlist of readers, as it is a fun and entertaining way to teach baby language patterns through song and to introduce them to a familiar nursery rhyme that they’ll be dancing to throughout their toddler years.

30. The Itsy Bitsy Spider (Iza Trapani’s Extended Nursery Rhymes) by Iza Trapani

Familiar with the Itsy Bitsy Spider but looking for a bit more content? This is a fun extended nursery rhyme book that continues the original story. Tots will love seeing the “rest of the story,” with rhyming patterns that follow the original. “The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the rocking chair. Up jumped a cat and knocked her in the air. Down plopped the cat and when he was asleep, the itsy bitsy spider back up the chair did creep.”

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