50 Must-Read Books for Pre-K

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing the must-read books for Pre-K. This blog post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking a link on this post then I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a cent more. Read my full disclosure policy.

I am constantly asked what books for pre-k children we should be reading. As teachers, we know the value of reading to young children is well-documented as a big indicator of future literacy skills. But we often don’t know which books to share with our little learners. If you can’t take your students to a library where they can choose their own books, then it can be really tricky finding books that your students will adore.

That’s why I’ve put together this list of books for pre-k. I’ve included books that my own children loved (and many of which they still love!), along with books that colleagues have read and enjoy with pre-K students.

	Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault
	Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
	Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
	Me and My Dragon by David Biedrzycki
	BookSpeak! by Laura Purdie Salas
	There’s an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer
	The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
	Little Monster Did It! by Helen Cooper
	Olivia by Ian Falconer
	Flip-O-Saurus by Sara Ball
	Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell
	We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
	No, David! by David Shannon
	Press Here by Herve Tullet
	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
	The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
	Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
	Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.
	What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry
	Grumpy Gloria by Anna Dewdney
	If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura J. Numeroff
	The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
	Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
	Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
	Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
	Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell
	Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
	Curious George by H.A. Rey
	Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
	Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
	Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
	Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
	Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
	How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen
	Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard and James Marshall
	The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
	Tough Boris by Mem Fox
	The Berenstain Bears series by Stan and Jan Berentstain
	Why do Tigers Have Stripes? by Mike Unwin
	Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin and James Dean
	Things People Do by Anne Civardi
	The Mitten by Jan Brett
	The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
	Corduroy by Don Freeman
	Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman
	The Boy Who Wouldn’t Share by Mike Reiss
	Chopsticks by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Scott Magoon
	Llama, Llama: Time to Share by Anna Dewdney
	Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
	The Magic School Bus series by Joanna Cole

Have you read all of these books before? Did we miss the favorite books from your classroom? Leave a comment below to let us know!