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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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!...
Heads and tails
Canty, John
Paper Book
White fluffy tail or blue-green feathers? Hop, slither, and fly from one page to the next in this fun guessing book. Would you be able to guess an animal if you could see only its tail? Clever clues and a turn of the page reveal its identity. Whether the answer is a slow-moving...
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! ...
Where, oh where, is Rosie's chick?
Hutchins, Pat
Paper Book
Rosie is on the lookout for her lost baby chick in this funny and surprising companion to the beloved picture book, Rosie's Walk, by author-illustrator Pat Hutchins. Rosie has lost her baby chick. She looks under the hen house. She looks behind the wheelbarrow. But little...
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...
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...

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