38 Wonderful Children’s Animal Books

Mommy Snuggles by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben (ages 0 – 3)
Animal mothers take good care of their babies. “Mommy swan glides with her cygnet / under her wing.” See the animals and learn the names of the adults and babies.

Brother, Sister, Me and You by Mary Quattlebaum (ages 2 – 6)
Celebrate the sibling bond among animals with gorgeous photographs that match the animal’s actions. “Guppies flash with finny flicks.”  In my experience, children prefer photographs to illustrations of animals so I know this book will be a lovely read-aloud choice for your young readers.

Animal Gallery by Brian Wildsmith (ages 4 – 8)
Although there are many animal books about the nouns for collectives of animals, this book stands out for its lush illustrations. A bloat of hippopotamuses shows large, expressive hippos. Colorful parents on green and dark brown backgrounds depict a pandemonium of parrots. You’ll also find a stare of owls, a prickle of hedgehogs, and a hover of trout, just to name a few.

Jungle illustrated by Jane Ormes (ages 0 – 3)
What an adorable book to learn about animal families! I love the color schemes with neon orange, blues, and greens. For each animal, you’ll read what the daddy is called, the mommy is called, and then lift-the-flap under the mommy to read what the babies are called. “A daddy peafowl is called a peacock. A mommy peafowl is called a peahen. Baby peafowl are called peachicks.”  Also in this series and the same format but set on a farm is the new Noisy Crow board book called Farm.

Packs by Hannah Salyer (ages 4 – 8)
Beginning with minimal text, these gorgeous, captivating illustrations show groups of animals–herds, pods, packs– animals together. As you’re invited into the book, the author presents more interesting text written from the collective like this, “We frogs can become one noisy army…Together, we sing!“

Who Is Sleeping? A Lift-the-Flap Book by Petr Horacek (ages 0 – 3)
Introduce your babies and toddlers to sleeping animals like a bear, a frog, and a fish in their habitats, like a river or a tree, in this interactive board book.

Who’s Hungry Flip the Flaps Feed the Animals by Dean Hacohen and Sherry Scharschmidt (ages 0 – 3)
Help feed the animals! On each two page spread, lift the flap to see what it is that animal wants to eat. This is a great animal book for toddlers who are just learning about animals and practicing their fine motor skills. The illustrations are bold and simple, as is the text. Very well done!

Odd Beasts Meet Nature’s Weirdest Animals by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Gareth Lucas (ages 0 – 3)
Cute rhymes and illustrations provide a playful introduction to unique and cool animals in a darling board book.  “This spider has two horns.”  Back matter shares factual information about each creature like the Long-Horn Orb-Weaver Spider.

Supermoms! by Heather Lang and Jamie Harper, illustrated by Jamie Harper (ages 4 – 8)
Did you know animals are moms, too? And they make safe, comfy homes like the groundhogs and red-knobbed hornbill. They’re creative with transportation — just look at a wolf spider mom carrying her spiderlings on her back or an American alligator carrying her hatchlings in her mouth. Fascinating facts about animal supermoms are paired with engaging comic-style illustrations.

Poo-Dunit? A Forest Floor Mystery by Katelyn Aronson, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis (ages 4 – 8)
One morning, Mouse finds a huge poo outside her house — and she decides to investigate to find out who pooed it. Mouse asks the forest friends if it’s theirs but they each explain why their poo is different in DETAIL (gross and informative!) until they finally discover who did it. But then they have to get it out of Mouse’s way — and the mice work together to spread it as fertilizer for flowers.

Contrary Creatures by James Weinberg (ages 2 – 4)
This picture book is a lovely introduction to animals with simple descriptions and unique illustrations! “Some move very slowly . . . but some are fast.” You’ll find yourself with plenty to discuss. Plus, you’ll enjoy the variety of creatures and the unique dotty illustrations.

Animals on the Go (National Geographic Kids) (ages 2 – 5)
Full-color photos show young readers moving — slithering, hopping, sliding. I like the simple text plus bonus circle insets of info and goofy thought bubbles.

Book of Bones: 10 Record-Breaking Animals by Gabrielle Balkan, illustrated by Sam Brewster (ages 6 – 12)
Oversized, dramatic white-on-black pictures of animal bones catch your attention. Use the picture and clues to guess what animal it is. Turn the page to see the colorful picture, the answer, and more information. This fascinating book will get kids jazzed about both bones and cool animals.

The Alphabet of Peculiar Creatures by Katie Abey (ages 8 – 12)
Kids who like wacky and weird will adore this book of unusual creatures, starting with A for Axolotol and continuing to J for Jerboa and Z for Zebu. Each page shows an illustration of the animal plus the pronunciation and a sentence or two of information about the animal. I love this book!

Courageous Creatures and the Humans Who Help Them I Survived True Stories by Lauren Tarshis (ages 6 – 10)
Superb! Four compelling stories of animals and humans will keep readers engaged. From carrier pigeon hero of WW I to cheetah cubs adopted by a human, these will share true stories for any animal lover. Filled with lots of black and white photographs and factual information that supports each story. For example, read about echolocation related to the dolphin story and general information about marine animals. Highly recommended.

Shell Beak Tusk: Shared Traits and the Wonders of Adaptation by Bridget Heos (ages 6 – 9)
Interesting information about adaptations like tall ears, spines, camouflage, and long sticky tongues plus gorgeous full-colored photos (that I could look at all day long) and brightly colored pages, make this a nonfiction book kids are sure to pour over for hours.

DK Level 1 Jungle Animals by Camilla Gersh (ages 5 – 8)
This easy reader book packs a big punch with the perfect balance of colorful visuals (photographs) and leveled, informational text. Fantastic!

What Makes a Monster? Discovering the World’s Scariest Creatures by Jess Keating, illustrations by David DeGrand (ages 6 – 12)
Keating writes in a way that gives kids lots of information in a readable, engaging way. I love the design, too –it’s a mix of photographs, illustrations, cool fonts, and bright colors. What Makes a Monster is a must-read filled with unexpected information about fascinating, dangerous animals.

Gross As A Snot Otter: The World of Weird Animals by Jess Keating, illustrated by David DeGrand (ages 6 – 12)
Keating’s brilliant animal books continue with a book featuring the grossest animals on the planet. Colorful and appealing layouts, plus photographs and illustrations, add so much pizazz that you can’t help but read this book cover to cover. Well-written, engaging information about the snot otter, a salamander covered in mucus, a zombie worm who lives in a whale carcass and eats bones, and many more animals will soon make you an expert on these gross animals, too.

Baby Animals (Animal Planet) by Dorothea DePrisco (ages 7+)
Gorgeous photos and interesting facts make this one of those books you can easily flip through to find the photos and interesting facts about young animals you want to read. Plus, the cuteness factor is off the charts!

Boom! Bellow! Bleat! Animal Poems for Two or More Voices by Georgia Heard, illustrated by Aaron DeWitt (ages 8 – 12)
This poetry book will help kids understand the beauty of words, oral reading, and imagery, but they’ll also see the playfulness in poetry and discover new animal sounds they’ve never known. The poems are written in several colors. The book is filled with the noise of fish, geese, frogs, mockingbirds, snakes, bees, and many more animals. This is a MUST-OWN book for teachers and school libraries, homeschoolers, and poetry-loving parents. It captures the most interesting sounds of nature. Kids will clamor to read these with parents, teachers, friends, and classmates.

Greatest Animal Stories chosen by Michael Morpurgo (ages 4 – 8)
I love the entertaining stories and the artwork in this fictional storybook as well as the text to picture ratio which is absolutely perfect! Perfect for reading aloud and perfect for reading to yourself. The stories are about all animals, some from different cultural traditions; most of the stories contain a valuable lesson like “The Fox and the Crow” or explain a natural phenomenon like “How the Bear Lost His Tail.”

A Wild Child’s Guide to Endangered Animals by Millie Marotta (ages 8 – 12)
Any child who loves the natural world, especially the animals, will be obsessed with this oversized book. Richly illustrated in earthy tones, the author shares information about 43 endangered animals from the oceans to the forests, mountaintops to the tundra; all who need protection. You may be as surprised at some of the animals in danger, including caribou and giraffes. Plus, I suspect that you’ll learn about a menagerie of new species you didn’t know about before as you pour over the pages.

Book of Flight: 10 Record-Breaking Animals with Wings by Gabrielle Balkan, illustrated by Sam Brewster (ages 6 – 12)
This cool, oversized picture book gives readers clues about unique flying creatures and then asks readers to guess the bird using the clues and the illustration. For example, when trying to guess the fastest flyer, you’ll read that the bird migrates to Asia, swallows flying ants and bees for breakfast, and was named for the needle-like tips of its tail feathers. Turn the page to find the answer… a white-throated needletail. Even cooler, the answer has a full-color, textured illustration, plus more information. The animals in this book include an emperor dragonfly, a Philippine eagle, a Madagascan flying fox, and a California flying fish.

Animals on the Move (Animal Planet) by Dorothea DePrisco (ages 7+)
Get schooled with this fascinating nonfiction book about animals. It focuses on how and why these animals move and cool facts. For example, did you know the gnu moves in a zigzag pattern when in danger and kicks up a dust storm when it spars? Ultimately, this is great for reluctant and struggling readers as well as all kids who would love reading bite-sized facts about animals.

The Screaming Hairy Armadillo and 76 Other Animals with Weird, Wild Names by Matthew Murie and Steve Murrie, illustrated by Julie Benbassat (ages 8 – 12)
Get ready for funny names, magical names, fierce names, delicious names, and weird names. But even better is the ANIMALS with these unusual names. Like the striped pyjama squid which is a cool-looking stripped squid. Or the yeti crab, which is a crustacean with hairy arms. My favorite weird creature is the Tasseled Wobbegong! Permanent facts (species, habitat, and interesting details) are written in a text box with a well-written elaboration of about a page describing the animal’s looks, behavior, habitat, abilities, and more. Each animal has at least one illustration, sometimes more than one, and sometimes a photograph. Fantastic!

Built by Animals: Meet the Creatures Who Inspire our Homes and Cities by Christine Dorian, illustrated by Yeji Yun (ages 7 – 12)
Learn about animal construction, from the animal’s home-building materials to their designs and more. This book is fascinating, and the illustrations are engaging.

Animal BFFs by Sophie Corrigan (ages 7 – 12)
I love the funny dialogue bubbles of conversation between animal “friends” that you haven’t ever heard about — like warthogs and banded mongooses or ruby-throated hummingbirds and spiders– and why they’re paired up. Delightful, interesting, and informative.

Animal Planet Animals A Visual Encyclopedia by Animal Planet (ages 8 – 12)
Beautiful photographs and bite-sized chunks of information showcase more than 2,500 animals from the seven major animal groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and arachnids, invertebrates, and fish.

Howl Like a Wolf! Learn to Think, Move, and Act Like 15 Amazing Animals by Kathleen Yale, illustrated by Kaley McKean (ages 8 – 12)
I can see homeschoolers LOVING this nature book. Why? Because it is almost an interactive curriculum that contains both fascinating information as well as fun activities to do. For example, read about the bowerbird’s different types of nests, then make your favorite type of nest. I love the activity idea to camouflage yourself with clothes or face painting like a leopard after reading all about leopards. Other animals include raven, skunk, deer, octopus, bat, wolf, and honeybee. Colorful illustrations throughout.

Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright: An Animal Poem for Each Day of the Year by Fiona Waters, illustrated by Britta Teckentrup (ages 8 – 12)
This is a hefty and impressive book of kid-friendly poetry with earthy illustrations and poems for each day of the year about animals of all kinds!