77 Best Kindergarten Books That Belong on Your Shelves

Families of every makeup and background walk to school on the first day of school. Teachers greet them with joy and reverence. This is one of the loveliest rhyming books for kindergarten. Share it to set a welcoming tone at the start of school and revisit it all year long.

Buy it: All Are Welcome

When Vanessa starts school, her name takes so long to write (and those two s’s are hard!). When her family teaches her what her name means, it helps everything feel better. Name stories make great first-day books for kindergarten. Follow up with all your favorite name crafts and activities.

Buy it: Becoming Vanessa

Written by kindergarten teacher and Instagram influencer The Tutu Teacher, this picture book follows Leo on his first day of kindergarten as his classmates share ideas about kindness and what it means. Share this at the start of school and then brainstorm together all the ways your class will be kind this year!

Buy it: KINDergarten: Where Kindness Matters Every Day

Detailing the routines and rituals of a day in kindergarten, these gentle and sweet stories portray kids getting ready for and enjoying the beginning of kindergarten. Share these encouraging books to ease kids’ anxiety as school starts—and cap them off with some kindergarten crown making!

Buy it: The Queen of Kindergarten and The King of Kindergarten

Kids can do so many things! This empowering title is one of our favorite rhyming books for kindergarten to share at the start of the year. Read it and then have kids write and draw about things they can do. It could be a great addition to your “100th day of school” festivities too.

Buy it: 100 Things I Know How To Do

A young girl shares her journey to school, which starts with her heading out the door and continues through her urban neighborhood and onto the subway. Use this as a conversation starter about neighborhoods and journeys to school, to introduce activities about prepositions, directions, or mapping, or as a writing mentor text.

Buy it: Out the Door

Two kids take a “wonder walk” and share their questions about everything they see. This is an ideal book for creating a culture of curiosity and inquiry in your classroom. Read it and take your class out on a beginning-of-the-year wonder walk of their own!

Buy it: Wonder Walkers

Who loves to play? All kinds of animals … and kids, of course! Sharing kindergarten books that celebrate play helps highlight the value of play in your classroom right from the start of the year. Written in both English and Cree, we love using this title to celebrate native languages and connections to nature too.

Buy it: We All Play

Elmore struggles to make friends as a spiky porcupine. Eventually he finds a creative way to connect with others: He gives away his quills as pens for other animals. Share this book to get kindergartners thinking about the unique gifts they can each share with others. They can even make signs to celebrate their ideas, just like Elmore!

Buy it: Elmore

A “prince” and a “pirate” unknowingly plan to use the same forest fort to play. There’s conflict at first—until they realize it’s more fun to play together. Read this book aloud to help frame conversations about sharing classroom and playground play spaces, and to spark fun ideas for playing together.

Buy it: The Fort

Captain Swashby is a reclusive retired sailor happy with his quiet life by the sea—until an energetic girl and her grandmother move in next door and shake up his routine. Add this to the kindergarten books you reread multiple times, because it has a lot to enjoy: You can notice and describe the characters, discuss the friendship themes, and hone in on interesting vocabulary words. There are even a handful of authentic chances to review phonics skills and sight words as students decipher messages the characters write in the sand.

Buy it: Swashby and the Sea

On the hunt for an exciting story idea, Fern and Otto take a grand tour of fairy-tale and nursery rhyme events in the forest. In the end, they realize that the best stories can be found closer to home. Add this book to your collection of fairy-tale books for kindergarten, or read it to help talk about noticing story elements.

Buy it: Fern and Otto: A Story About Two Best Friends

Gabo wants to try sledding but he doesn’t have the right clothes or gear. His community comes together to help him. The English version includes lots of Spanish words, and this title is also available fully in Spanish. Add this to your collection of winter books for kindergarten, and use it to talk about how friends can problem-solve together.

Buy it: A Sled for Gabo

A young girl who lives in a refugee camp treasures her pebble—until she realizes someone else needs it more. Share this developmentally appropriate title to gently build knowledge about experiences of refugees and the power of friendship in challenging situations.

Buy it: Lubna and Pebble

Vern wishes they could pump on the swings, but (as many kindergartners know) it’s a skill that takes practice. A new friend gives direction and encouragement. Share this relatable story to discuss themes of empathy, perseverance, and friendship. It’s also ideal for modeling how readers visualize as they read.

Buy it: Touch the Sky

Sometimes it’s all about how we look at things. This book shows kindergartners many concrete examples of how we can change our mindset by considering that we aren’t able to do something “yet.” Share this story to introduce shared language about having a growth mindset.

Buy it: The Magical Yet

This is a lighthearted but super-helpful primer about how to deliver a genuine and effective apology. Use this to introduce shared vocabulary and expectations about apologizing in your classroom.

Buy it: How To Apologize

This thoughtful story explores the complexity of emotions and how to show up for a friend who is having a hard time. It reminds us that sadness doesn’t always look the same and that we can be upset without crying or visibly displaying our emotions. Use it as a discussion starter for ways students can support each other through various tough feelings.

Buy it: Jenny Mei Is Sad

Discussions about colors—and who should wear them, use them, or like them—often come up in kindergarten. This wonderfully inclusive book models for kids how everyone has the right to choose just what they like. Share it when those inevitable comments about “boy colors” and “girl colors” pop up in your class.

Buy it: Pink Is for Everybody!

Willow has big plans to enjoy her day outside—until the wind and rain get in the way. After some grumbling, she shifts her outlook and manages to have a fantastic time. This is a fun complement to nonfiction weather books for kindergarten, or great for sharing any time it feels like your class needs an example of the power of a positive outlook.

Buy it: Willow Takes on the Weather

When his mom tells him the family is “moving house,” a boy imagines his home being lifted and taken with them. When he finds out this isn’t true, he feels anxious about the transition. Share this to help students empathize with peers facing an upcoming change.

Buy it: We’re Moving House

Other animals try to help when Taylor is sad, but it’s the rabbit who does what’s needed. This tender story reminds kindergartners (and those who teach them) that sometimes just listening is the best way to help. After reading, students could act out empathetic listening with puppets or partners, or write about what helps them when they are sad.

Buy it: The Rabbit Listened

A bear joyfully finds a red balloon—and then inadvertently pops it in this tender tale. Use this book to discuss themes of guilt, loss, and disappointment in a reassuring way. The descriptive language also provides a beautiful model for kids’ own detailed oral storytelling and narrative writing.

Buy it: The Bear and the Moon

Revisit the beloved characters from Jabari Jumps. Jabari gets frustrated while trying to execute his big project vision, and his dad once again offers spot-on advice. Invite kindergarten students to make connections to times when strategies like slowing down, breathing, and digging deep for the patience to try, try again have helped—or could help—them work through their own challenging moments.

Buy it: Jabari Tries

This silly story about a monkey who learns to identify and honor his emotions is a lighthearted pick with a helpful message. Ask kids to notice how Jim Panzee uncovers his true feelings as you read aloud—then discuss what advice the story can give readers about how to recognize their own emotions. Love this one? Be sure to check out all nine stories in the series.

Buy it: Grumpy Monkey

This fun book demonstrates how many different things can function as hats—showing the endless possibilities that imagination and creativity can bring. Frame your group discussion about the benefits of looking at something from a new perspective. Then follow up with a hat-themed art project in which kids add hats to photos of their own faces.

Buy it: Very Good Hats

You can never have too many alphabet books for kindergarten, and this silly one will have kids giggling. Sure, horses can’t play hopscotch, and raccoons definitely can’t ride roller coasters, but trying out new things is still tons of fun! Share this and then create your own silly class ABC book or bulletin board.

Buy it: T. Rexes Can’t Tie Their Shoes

It’s a race to get through the cleaning to-do list before Grandma comes to visit. But uh-oh! The cat keeps swiping at the magnetic letters on the fridge, jumbling the tasks in hilarious ways. Share this to reinforce print concepts. Plus, you can add it to your kindergarten books that represent two-dad families.

Buy it: Bathe the Cat

Many kids collect rocks, baseball cards, and comic books, but Jerome collects words. Inspire students to notice new vocabulary words and show them the power that just the right word can hold. Follow up by establishing your own class word collection system.

Buy it: The Word Collector

Isaac is happy to be visiting his grandfather’s house but hesitant about actually going to sleep. His grandfather leads him through a sweet nighttime routine that makes all the creaks and groans of the old house less scary. Encourage kids to share or write about their own sequential nighttime routines.

Buy it: Time for Bed, Old House

The Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! collection never lets us down! Colorful creatures make signs for their new club. Share this to help you introduce strategies for using letter-sound knowledge to write decodable words.

Buy it: It’s a Sign!

Margaux adores her cat May and gets so worried when she’s lost. Kids will love the unexpected and satisfying resolution. Add this to your read-aloud books for kindergarten to help you discuss story elements. It also includes representation of Cree language.

Buy it: My Friend May

A young child’s grandmother comes over to care for her every weekend and makes so many “mistakes,” like making up new rules to games, calling the cats silly names, and eating ice cream in a snowstorm. Kids will have a lot of thoughts to share about this engaging story, and it’s a great one to practice describing characters.

Buy it: Gaga Mistake Day

A gender-inclusive parent and child disagree about whether it’s time to play or get housework done. Of course, an imaginary sea voyage is much more fun than vacuuming! Ask kindergartners to identify the real and imaginary aspects of the text and illustrations, and stop to discuss unfamiliar content vocabulary. This would make a fun story to act out too.

Buy it: Ahoy!

When Omu makes her thick red stew, the delicious smell attracts many visitors hoping for a taste. Selflessly, she gives every last bit away—but her grateful neighbors have a plan to say thanks. This is the perfect story to act out with your class.

Buy it: Thank You, Omu!

In this quiet gem, a mother and daughter make the best of a series of mishaps by keeping in mind what’s truly important: being together. Share it to encourage kids to talk or write about their own weekend adventures.

Buy it: Saturday

This rhyming Spanish and English adaptation of a classic tale has lots of familiar details, but in the updated ending, the troll becomes the goats’ newest amiga. It’s the perfect addition to your collection of fairy tale books for kindergarten. Try comparing and contrasting it with a traditional version of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.”

Buy it: The Three Billy Goats Buenos

Ruby spies some scrap wood and gets a vision for an amazing fort. Will any of her brothers help her build it? Compare and contrast this to a traditional version of The Little Red Hen.

Buy it: The Little Red Fort

Who doesn’t love a pool party? There are just a few words per page, but there are so many fun details to notice in the pictures of this book. Add it to your kindergarten books that help kids with ideas for their own personal narrative writing. (This is also one of our go-to summer books for kindergarten to enjoy before school lets out.)

Buy it: Pool Party

Kids can make so many connections to this story of a girl learning to ride a bike. Share this title when you’re talking about noticing details in book illustrations—and adding more to kids’ own drawings.

Buy it: Together We Ride

We love these for boosting kindergarten readers’ confidence. It feels great to be able to decode the words in real, colorful books. Use these for small-group instruction. Bonus: The titles can be read online for free, which is a great option for follow-up reading practice at home!

Buy it: Half-Pint Readers

A bear and a fox have friendly adventures. The books don’t progress in a systematic sequence, but mostly contain words with standard consonant and short vowel spellings. These are a great substitute for more varied early reader trade books.

Buy it: Jax and Ren series 

Learning vowel sounds doesn’t have to be a drag when you’ve got adorable felted animals to teach you. We like to use these primarily as read-alouds, but we ask kids to practice decoding the words that match our phonics goals. They make learning short vowels especially fun.

Buy it: Hop, Frog! Bright Owl Books

When Musa starts kindergarten, his teacher invites him to share his favorite day, Eid al-Fitr, with the class. Over the course of the year, the class learns about Rosh Hashanah, Las Posadas, Pi Day, and many more special days. Share this to build knowledge about various holidays and to encourage children to share favorite celebrations from their own families.

Buy it: Our Favorite Day of the Year

Mari and her mother create signs for an upcoming march, which turns into a memorable experience for Mari. The author’s note includes reflections from the real-life 6-year-old Mari on attending a 2017 women’s march. Share this to kick off an opinion-writing unit, or to build students’ awareness of avenues for activism.

Buy it: Love Is Powerful

Waiting is so hard when you’re in kindergarten! Ethan waits for his loose tooth to fall out, and he also waits for it to be time to tap his family’s maple trees and make maple syrup. Read this story to build students’ knowledge about this seasonal tradition and to make connections to the passing of time on the calendar.

Buy it: Almost Time

When Daniel meets his grandpa at the park, he takes his greeting “What’s new?” literally, noticing all the newness of spring around him. This is one of our favorite new spring books for kindergarten. Share it and head outside to search for signs of spring in the schoolyard.

Buy it: What’s New, Daniel?

This is a colorful and engaging portrait of artist Frida Kahlo presented in a context that children can appreciate: her special relationships with the animals in her life. Share it as part of a study of Mexican culture or as an introduction to a Frida-inspired art project.

Buy it: Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos

Uncluttered photos show how baby animals from different habitats grow and change over time. Share these books as part of a science unit about how animals grow and survive in different environments. Have children create their own 2D or 3D representations of animals found in a particular habitat.

Buy it: See How They Grow

What is science, anyway? This comprehensive, photo-filled resource helps answer that for kids. Use the opening section to teach kids about the habits of scientists at the start of the year, and return to its captivating coverage of different science topics when you start each new unit. It’s also a great book for introducing kids to nonfiction text features.

Buy it: National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Science

Educate kids about the importance of working to ensure everyone has clean water to drink with this energetic story of activism written by two indigenous Canadian women. Use it as a springboard to learn more about where drinking water comes from in your community and any efforts to improve access to it.

Buy it: Nibi’s Water Song

This innovative book uses paper cut-outs to show how land and water forms are related—plus, plenty of fun details in the illustrations invite wondering and conversation. Look at a globe or various maps to differentiate between water and land and find examples of the terms introduced in the book.

Buy it: Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World

Kindergarten classrooms have to talk about handwashing … a lot. At least this book makes it entertaining! After reading, write and illustrate a class poster with handwashing instructions to hang near the sink.

Buy it: Germs vs. Soap

The kids in this book don’t let a lack of green space stop them from creating a thriving garden. Use it to reinforce key concepts about plants and inspire young farmers. Follow up with some planting … anywhere!

Buy it: Anywhere Farm

This book encourages critical thinking about a foundational science concept. The engaging photographs and embedded questions help students decide if something is living or nonliving. Follow up with a hunt for living and nonliving things around your classroom and schoolyard.

Buy it: Living Things and Nonliving Things

This rhyming biography manages to present complex information in an accessible way, sharing the life story of Dr. Patricia Bath, a pioneer ophthalmologist. Use this title to exemplify successful women in science or as an interesting extension to a unit on the five senses.

Buy it: The Doctor With an Eye for Eyes

Perfect blends of artistry, information, and engagement, each title in this series uses cut-outs to share new details on each page about a topic in nature. Share these titles as they fit the current season or your science topics.

Buy it: Peek-Through Picture Books

If you were a tree, how would you feel? What would you taste, smell, hear, and see? What amazing questions to discuss with kindergartners! This rhyming title is one of our favorite kindergarten books to introduce the five senses.

Buy it: If I Were a Tree

Sounds and sights on a trip to the ocean create a lyrical poem. Use the repeating text structure to write your own class poem after a trip to or experience in nature.

Buy it: I Hear You, Ocean

Poetic text and vibrant up-close photos remind children to notice Earth’s beautiful resources. Share this as a gorgeous read-aloud around Earth Day or any time of year. After reading, have students write their own “Thank You Earth” letters.

Buy it: Thank You, Earth: A Love Letter to Our Planet

A cat looks at the world through so many different windows—it’s surely seen it all, right? The surprise ending will delight kids. Share this title to get your class noticing and talking about shapes they see—and maybe heading out on a shape hunt!

Buy it: Inside Cat

In this bilingual English and Mandarin title, Mia and her uncle Eddie walk through Chinatown on their way to eat dim sum. On each block, they see more interesting things. Use this title to introduce ordinal and cardinal numbers and inspire kids’ own neighborhood counting books.

Buy it: Ten Blocks to the Big Wok

Ten colorful birds sit on a twig until—snap!—the twig keeps breaking, causing birds to fall off. Use this book when you study ways to make 10 or when you introduce subtraction. Plus, it could inspire the most adorable art projects ever!

Buy it: Ten on a Twig

Mr. Fox has one rule: You must answer all his questions with “No.” This gets tricky quickly when he’s offering ice cream, beach vacations, or whether you want him to protect you from a stinky, slurpy water buffalo. Save this interactive read-aloud for when you have a bit of time to fill with your energetic group of kindergarten kiddos. They’ll love coming up with their own questions to trick a partner into saying “No!”

Buy it: Mr. Fox’s Game of “No!”

The narrator teaches readers about size, but Marcel the “big” bird just wants to eat Steve, the “small” worm. Hilarity ensues as the narrator chastises Marcel about his lack of self-control. Share this book for pure entertainment, or use it as an example of how reading with expression makes a big difference.

Buy it: Who Ate Steve?

This competitive rant between baby-feeding utensils will have your kiddos laughing hysterically. Grab it when you need to shift the class mood. We also love it for introducing speech bubbles.

Buy it: Tiny Spoon vs. Little Fork

These poems are just what you’ve come to expect from this legendary poet. Practice saying the fun tongue twisters and notice how many of them involve manipulated initial sounds.

Buy it: Runny Babbit Returns: Another Billy Sook

This thoroughly engaging tale about the mystery of a bear and his sandwich is filled with appealing illustrations and rich detail. The silly story ends with a fun twist kids won’t see coming. Encourage kids to make predictions and share what they visualize as you read aloud. They could also make up their own “The _____ Ate Your ______” stories.

Buy it: The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

Wordy Birdy is a funny character we can all root for, and we appreciate the kindness of her friends when she gets into trouble by not listening. It’s the perfect story for a kindergarten audience to reflect on characters, problem, and solution.

Buy it: Wordy Birdy