Hellobee

Our kids are fascinated by a number of topics, but one of their favorites is animals. They don’t have any one particular animal that they’re interested in, but they seem to be just generally curious. Panda is at the age where he loves making animal sounds and even though he can’t say “lion,” “monkey,” or “cow,” he will call out “rahr,” “oh oh ah ah,” and “moo,” when he sees pictures of the animals.

Here are some of our favorite picture books (and a few board books) featuring animals:

Stripes the Tiger – Lion thinks this book is hilarious; Panda roars throughout the entire book.

Animals – Gorgeous book! I want to frame the pages.

Rainbow Fish – I love this one for the message, but the kids love just about any book with ocean animals.

Have You Seen Elephant? – I don’t know that our kids get the humor of this yet, but they do enjoy the book.

Dear Zoo – A classic lift-the-flap that babies and young toddlers love.

ABC Zooborns – Super cute baby animals in an ABC format.

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? – Great educational book. Lion loves guessing the animals.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? – Another classic, but the kids love it. Simple for teaching animals and colors.

Peanut Butter and Jellyfish – Another great book that takes place under the sea, with a good moral.

Lucky Ducklings – A great story and one kids like, perhaps because ducks are fairly ubiquitous.

Barnyard Dance – Pretty much any Sandra Boynton books are a big hit.

Quackers – Cute story about a cat who thinks he’s a duck.

Polar Bear Son – We love folktales and myths. Lion got this one as a gift and it’s one of my favorites.

I Spy Under the Sea – This is a huge favorite of Panda’s, but Lion enjoys guessing the animals, too.

Mister Seahorse – Eric Carle has many great books featuring animals, this is just one.

Giraffes Can’t Dance – Starting at about 4 months old, this was a favorite of Lion’s. We read it every single day for almost a year.

Wild About Books – Lots of animals and a nice rhyming book.

Zoozical – By Judy Sierra, the same author of Wild About Books (and Wild About You, a great book about adoption). The kids love the rhyming plus the variety of animals (and the silliness of the book).

Goodnight, Gorilla – We read this book to Lion as his last book before bed every night for nearly two years. Panda still gets this book as his last one of the evening.

Dream Animals – This might be the most beautiful book on the list and, in addition to featuring animals, encourages imagination.

Ferocious Wild Beasts – I’m sure I’ve mentioned this book before because it is Lion’s favorite book. He made me read it about twenty times in a row the first time we checked it out from the library. I ended up purchasing it and it is well-loved.