Preschool and Kindergarten Summer Picture Book Reading List

A reader asked me to make a preschool and kindergarten summer reading list of picture books for pre-readers. So, I’ve compiled some of my favorite books to read.

I hope this book list helps you and your kids enjoy many new picture books this summer!

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Preschool & Kinder Summer Picture Book Reading List

Kindergarten & Preschool Books to Read: Read Aloud Favorites

• Paletero Man by Lucky Diaz
• Looking for a Jumbie by Tracey Baptiste
• Blue Baboon Finds Her Toon by Helen Docherty and Thomas Docherty
• The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
• The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
• Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
• The Bear’s Song by Benjamin Chaud
• It’s So Quiet: A Not-Quite-Going-to-Bed Book by Sherri Duskey Rinker
• Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee
• Silly Sally by Audrey Woods
• Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
• Atticus Caticus by Sarah Maizes
• 100 Dogs: Playful Pups to Count by Michael Whaite
• Group Hug by Jean Reidy
• Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter
• Mina by Matthew Forsythe
• My Fade is Fresh by Shauntay Grant
• I Can Explain by Shinsuke Yoshitake
• Ear Worm! by Jo Knowles
• The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Kindergarten & Preschool Books to Read: Funny Picture Books

• The Little Butterfly That Could by Ross Burach
• Unicorns Are the Worst by Alex Willan
• The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming
• Here Comes the Big Mean Dust Bunny by Jan Thomas
• This Is a Moose by Richard T. Morris, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld
• The Bear Who Wasn’t There by LeUyen Pham
• I Am Not a Penguin: A Pangolin’s Lament by Liz Wong
• Pizza with Everything on It by Kyle Scheele
• I Can Only Draw Worms by Will Mabbitt
• Z for Moose by Kelly Bingham, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
• Not Now Cow by Tammi Sauer
• Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea
• The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
• Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri
• Like by Annie Barrows and Leo Espinosa
• We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
• Poo-Dunit? A Forest Floor Mystery by Katelyn Aronson
• Too Many Pigs and One Big Bad Wolf by Davide Cali and Marianna Balducci
• Mina by Matthew Forsythe
• Don’t Eat Bees (Life Lessons from Chip the Dog) by Mike Boldt
• A Bear, a Bee, and a Honey Tree by Daniel Bernstrom
• One Sheep, Two Sheep by Tami Sauer
• Room for Everyone by Naaz Khan
• Walrus in the Bathtub by Deborah Underwood

Kindergarten & Preschool Books to Read: Picture Books with Lessons

• Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham
• Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
• Lulu the One and Only by Lynnette Mawhinney
• The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
• The Tale of the Valiant Ninja Frog by Alastair Chisholm
• When Charley Met Emma by Amy Webb
• The Camping Trip by Jennifer K. Mann
• I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes
• Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
• Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall
• One of These Is Not Like the Others by Barney Saltzberg
• After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat
• Pigeon Math by Asia Citro, illustrated by Richard Watson
• The Donkey Egg by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel
• Your Name Is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
• How to Apologize by David LaRochelle
• Sometimes, All I Need is Me by Juliana Perdomo
• Donut the Unicorn Who Wants to Fly by Laura Gehl
• Thankful by Elaine Vickers
• Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend! by Cori Doerrfeld

Kindergarten & Preschool Books to Read: Imaginative, Magical Stories

• Knight Owl by Christopher Denise
• Anzu the Great Kaiju by Benson Shum
• Brave As a Mouse by Nicolo Carozzi
• Kat Hats by Daniel Pinkwater
• Another by Christian Robinson
• Quest by Aaron Becker

Kindergarten & Preschool Books to Read: Nonfiction Books

• Caves by Nell Cross Beckerman
• Pizza: A Slice of History by Greg Pizzoli
• Peculiar Primates Fun Facts About These Curious Creatures by Debra Kempf Shumaker
• Except Antarctica! by Todd Sturgell
• Mars: Earthlings Welcome by Stacy McAnulty
• Odd Beasts Meet Nature’s Weirdest Animals by Laura Gehl
• Let’s Go for a Walk by Ranger Hamza
• Walrus Song by Janet Lawler
• Fiona the Fruit Bat by Dan Riskin
• Hippos Can’t Swim and Other Fun Facts by Laura Lyn DiSiena and Hannah Eliot