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
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
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! ...
Fish eyes : a book you can count on
Ehlert, Lois
Paper Book
Brightly colored fish introduce young children to counting and basic addition in this fun and simple concept book. "A visual treat from start to finish."--Booklist
Monkey puzzle
Donaldson, Julia
Paper Book
I've lost my mum!' says the little monkey. Can the Butterfly help him find her?Can butterfly help little monkey find his mum? Yes, finally, but only after a lot of trial and error as butterfly misunderstands monkey's descriptions and leads him to all sorts of unsuitable animals.monkey Puzzle is a...
A pig is big
Florian, Douglas.
Paper Book
When Douglas Florian asks, "What's big" there's no telling what the answer will be. But readers can bet it will be an irrepressible mixture of sense and silliness. This exuberant picture book about the concept of relative size stars, among other things, a pig, a cow, a car, a truck . . . and so...
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...
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...
Vamos de visita
Williams, Sue
Paper Book
Un vivaz compañero al éxito de ventas Salí de paseo, con animados animales bebés y mucha diversión contando . . . ahora disponible en una edición bilingüe español-inglés.  Let's go visiting and see who's ready to play--one foal, two calves, three kittens, four piglets, five...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.