Books for Curious Kids Ages 0-5

This Better Beginnings list was compiled by children's literature specialists from the State Library and SciTech and are great for encouraging curiosity and children aged 0-5.

Updated November 21, 2024
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Up, down, and around
Ayres, Katherine.
Paper Book
This garden is on the move! A good-time, rollicking celebration of things that grow. PEPPERS GROW UP. POTATOES GROW DOWN. PUMPKINS VINE AROUND AND AROUND. From seeds dropping into soil to corn bursting from its stalks, from children chasing butterflies to...
Quack and count
Baker, Keith
Paper Book
Keith Baker’s playful, rhyming text and bold collage illustrations capture the excitement of a day’s adventure as a family of lively ducklings slip, slide, leap, and dive--grouping themselves in all the different combinations that add up to seven. Addition has never been more fun!...
From head to toe
Carle, Eric
Paper Book
From Eric Carle, the New York Times bestselling creator of beloved books including The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Grouchy Ladybug, comes From Head to Toe, a colorful and energetic book that will have young readers clapping their hands, stomping their feet, and wiggling their toes! ...
Fish eyes : a book you can count on
Ehlert, Lois.
Paper Book
Now toddlers can dive into counting with this board book edition of one of Lois Ehlert's most popular books. With cutout fish eyes to touch and an energetic fish friend to guide them, they'll have so much fun they won't even notice they're learning!
A pig is big
Florian, Douglas.
Paper Book
What is big Join Douglas Florian and a decidedly big pink pig as they travel around town, across a continent, and through the universe, taking a look at things that are big bigger biggest! Bulletin Blue Ribbon Best of 2000 Award
Pizza day
Iwai, Melissa
Paper Book
A young boy and his father gather ingredients in the garden to prepare pizza on a hot day in this preschool picture book companion to Soup Day. On a sunny, summer day, a young boy and his father assemble the ingredients for a homemade pizza. From gathering fresh garden...
Shape by shape
MacDonald, Suse.
Paper Book
What am I? I lived a long, long time ago. I had round eyes... lots of sharp teeth... This new concept book from Caldecott Honor illustrator Suse MacDonald is sure to entertain children. As readers turn the brightly colored, die cut pages, shapes on each page...
First the egg
Seeger, Laura Vaccaro.
Paper Book
WHICH CAME FIRST? The chicken or the egg? Simple die-cuts magically present transformation-- from seed to flower, tadpole to frog, caterpillar to butterfly. The acclaimed author of Black? White! Day? Night! and Lemons Are Not Red gives an entirely fresh and memorable...
Construction
Sutton, Sally
Paper Book
Thonk! Clonk! Clap! The team behind Roadwork and Demolition returns to the construction site, where big machines and busy workers dig, hoist, and hammer away. There’s lots of noise and excitement involved in building a library! Preschoolers will clamor to take...
What will hatch?
Ward, Jennifer
Paper Book
Jelly, jiggly. What will hatch? Wiggly, squiggly. . . tadpole. What is more exciting than waiting for an egg to hatch? Creatures of all varieties begin inside an egg-and those eggs also come in all shapes and sizes. From a squiggly tadpole to fuzzy robin to a...

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