Explore stories to read together, from age 3 to 7.
Showing 95 books
When another dog bursts her red ball, Daisy is visibly sad. When that dog and its owner come back with a blue ball, she accepts it and settles down happily beside it.
Recommended by What Do We Do All Day?Story & parent notes
Ruben pockets a bill dropped by a shopper and finds it is a hundred dollars. He returns it, even though it means he won’t be buying the bike he wants.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
After a fire destroys their home, the family chooses a comfortable chair as a shared goal and saves coins in a big jar. Over time the coins add up to the chair.
Recommended by Miss BehaviorStory & parent notes
Francisco tells an employer that his grandfather is a gardener, which isn’t true, and they pull out the plants instead of the weeds. Francisco is ashamed when his grandfather finds out what he said.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
When the class is asked what makes each family special, one child hesitates. Classmates describe families with different parents, caregivers and households, and the narrator remembers a foster mother telling the children they were all real children.
Recommended by lessons in chaosStory & parent notes
Sophia helps Mrs. Goldman make hats to give away, then notices that Mrs. Goldman’s own head is cold. So Sophia sets out to knit a hat for her.
Recommended by Brighter Day PressStory & parent notes
Amos visits each of his zoo friends every day and spends time with them in the way that suits each one. When he is home sick, they ride the bus to his house and look after him the same way.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
In these poems a stick turns into different imaginary tools, and children make up shared games like pretend stone soup. A child hanging from the monkey bars notices familiar things from upside down.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Humpty Dumpty has been afraid of heights since his fall, even of his own top bunk. When a paper airplane lands on top of the wall, he climbs it anyway, and at the top he flies.
Recommended by Imagination SoupStory & parent notes
All the World moves from children playing at the beach to growing food, tending plants and a market, and ends with families gathered for food and music. Rain and small mishaps don’t spoil the day.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Boris the whale saves Amos the mouse after a storm sweeps him into the sea. Years later Amos finds Boris stranded on a beach and gets help to return him to the water.
Recommended by Can we read? — Children’s books about valuesStory & parent notes
Tanisha spills grape juice on her dress and classmates laugh. The narrator notices how embarrassed she is, tries to comfort her, and when that doesn’t work thinks harder about what kindness takes.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
Dennis likes mime better than talking, and he feels apart from the other children. Joy answers his imaginary ball and joins his way of playing, and the two paddle a pretend boat together.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
Rosie sends soap, socks and chocolate to Katje in the Netherlands after World War II. Katje’s letters help a bigger exchange of supplies grow between their communities, and the Dutch later send tulip bulbs in thanks.
Recommended by Brighter Day PressStory & parent notes
When Bot gets switched off, Boy takes him home, offers him applesauce, reads to him and tucks him into bed. Later Bot tries to look after a sleeping Boy in his own robot way.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
When a more complete fossil turns up, Iguanodon’s spike moves from its nose to its thumb. Bones and tracks also change what people thought about how dinosaurs stood and dragged their tails.
Recommended by The Miss Rumphius EffectStory & parent notes
Chrysanthemum is proud of her unusual name until classmates tease her at school and she loses confidence. An admired teacher’s example changes how the name is seen, and she gets her pride back.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
A girl in 1930s Cuba longs to drum when drumming is only for boys. She finds drums and keeps practicing, and her father eventually arranges a teacher who sees her ability.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
One voice sees a duck in the outline and the other sees a rabbit, and the book never says who is right. A new ambiguous shape at the end starts another pair of guesses.
Recommended by What Do We Do All Day?Story & parent notes
Chloe and her friends keep turning the new girl, Maya, away. A teacher’s lesson about how one kind act spreads makes Chloe see what she missed, but by then Maya has moved away.
Recommended by TeachingBooksStory & parent notes
Mouse and Bear try a tug-of-war with teams that aren’t fair. Dividing the animals by food, fur or number doesn’t work, and a seesaw finally helps them balance the sides by weight.
Recommended by Musings of a Mathematical MomStory & parent notes
While the other mice gather food for winter, Frederick gathers impressions of warmth, color and words. When supplies run low he shares sunlight, color and a poem, and the others see him as a poet.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Covering coughs and sneezes and washing hands are routines children can repeat every day to stop germs spreading. The book ends with activities for caregivers to practice them together.
Recommended by TOT: HOT OR NOTStory & parent notes
Halibut is shy and makes patterned clothes that help him blend into walls and shelves. At a royal party his jeweled outfit gets him noticed, guests ask for outfits of their own, and he opens a shop and makes friends.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Hands can help, show affection, draw, build and play. The book offers walking away or talking as things to do instead of hitting.
Recommended by Fab Working Mom LifeStory & parent notes
A box of hats arrives, and grumpy Elephant shares them with unhappy friends, starting with Zebra. When Giraffe is sick and the stack is gone, the animals give their own hats to make him a gift.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
Aneel loves his grandfather’s stories about roti, and when nobody else volunteers to cook, he decides to make roti for Dada-ji. Dadi-ma helps with the frying, and afterward he and his grandfather gather apples for her pie.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Hen gives Pig an egg, Pig gives Rabbit a carrot, and Rabbit gives Cow flowers. In the end the egg has hatched, and Pig gives Hen the chick.
Recommended by Fab Working Mom LifeStory & parent notes
Leonard likes noticing the world and making poems instead of acting fierce. When other lions say he should eat his duck friend Marianne, he answers with a poem and keeps her as his friend.
Recommended by What Do We Do All Day?Story & parent notes
Eva and her mother treat not knowing as a place to start. They talk about gravity and how many grains of sand there are, and the book separates real mysteries from questions too big to count.
Recommended by The Dispersal of DarwinStory & parent notes
After his older brother laughs at a vase he drew, Ramon spends months trying to get his pictures exactly right and ends up giving up. His sister Marisol has saved the crumpled drawings and likes them as they are, which frees him to enjoy making art again.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Jabari tells his dad he is ready to jump off the high board, then stalls at the ladder. His father says it’s okay to feel scared and offers a rest, and Jabari decides to climb up and jump. He surfaces to his family’s cheers.
Recommended by Can we read? — Children’s books about valuesStory & parent notes
Jabari sets out to build a machine that can fly across the yard. Each sketch, build and test aims at that one goal, and the story ends when the machine flies.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
Children work together in a garden of varied plants. Bianca explains that doing things helps her learn, and Manuel describes how hard it is to sit still. The book also says some people don’t want to answer personal questions.
Recommended by lessons in chaosStory & parent notes
Larf believes he is the only sasquatch and lives quietly in the woods with his rabbit. He goes into town in disguise to see an advertised sasquatch, finds a person in a costume, and meets another visitor who could be a real friend.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
CJ notices what seems to be missing, like a car, and wonders why they go to the soup kitchen. Nana points him to the people and beauty around them, and he comes to appreciate the music, color and community on the bus.
Recommended by Rebecca ReadsStory & parent notes
Leonardo, a monster who can’t frighten anyone, picks Sam as the child he can scare. When Sam explains he is crying over a miserable day, Leonardo changes his aim, hugs him and becomes his friend.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
The child watches skateboarders from the window, then practices on Mom’s old board at the playground and the basketball court. At the skatepark, the child joins in with other beginners and they gain confidence together.
Recommended by Federation of Children’s Book Groups blogStory & parent notes
Little Blue and Little Yellow hug and turn green, and their parents don’t recognize them. Only when the parents hug Little Yellow and turn green too do they understand what happened.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
Llama Llama is wary of sharing on a playdate with Nelly Gnu, and a tug-of-war over his favorite doll tears it. After a pause they share other toys, then the doll too, and part as friends.
Recommended by The Ladybug ReadsStory & parent notes
Lola wants a real cat, and her mother explains how much work one is. Lola sets out to show she is ready, reads about cat care and takes part in looking after Makeda.
Recommended by Read It DaddyStory & parent notes
A nursery rhyme makes Lola want a garden. She picks flowers at the library, prepares the ground and plants seeds with her parents, then weeds and makes decorations while the plants grow.
Recommended by Read-at-Home MomStory & parent notes
Every Tuesday Lola gets her backpack, library card and books ready, returns the old ones and chooses new ones. At night her mother reads her a bedtime story, part of her nightly routine.
Recommended by The Doctor and The DadStory & parent notes
After Kunkush escapes during his Iraqi family’s crossing to Greece, aid workers find him and start looking for his family. A wider community helps spread the news until the cat and his family are reunited.
Recommended by New Hampshire MomsStory & parent notes
Sofia finds out that her friend Maddi’s family can’t afford groceries. She tries carrying food to Maddi in her backpack, and when that doesn’t work, she tells her mom so the grown-ups can help.
Recommended by Can we read? — Children’s books about valuesStory & parent notes
Two picture sequences, read in opposite directions, follow families in Sydney and rural Morocco. The boys share chores and meals, and a rug sold by the Moroccan father and son ends up in the Australian home while the money buys a computer for theirs.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Alice promises her grandfather that she will travel, live by the sea and do something to make the world more beautiful. She travels, settles by the sea and then scatters lupine seeds along the coast.
Recommended by Can we read? — Children’s books about valuesStory & parent notes
Callie describes her twin brother Charlie, who is autistic, with both frustration and affection. She talks about his interests and talents, how he shows love through actions as well as words, and how proud she is to be his sister.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Piggie notices Gerald is sad and shows up in cowboy, clown and robot costumes to cheer him up. Gerald doesn’t recognize her, and explains that what he wanted was Piggie there to share the funny sights.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
On her second school day Farah visits an orchard and can’t speak English with her classmates. She adds a small green apple to the cider, and after some classmates object, the children make room for her at the press and she helps push the handle.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Oscar misses his mother, then waters a drooping plant, and Nana helps him gather planting supplies. He keeps tending the plants as they grow, until they fill the apartment and go to the neighbors.
Recommended by Imagination SoupStory & parent notes
Penguin sees the pinecone shivering and makes it a scarf. When Grandpa explains that it needs a warmer forest, Penguin takes it there and leaves it in a nest, and later sees how much it has grown.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
A girl plants a kiss and waits for it to grow, then shares it even though onlookers warn her it will run out. She hands out the whole bowl, and when she returns the planting has grown into a much bigger supply.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
A blue crayon with a red label can’t draw red things, and the other crayons blame his effort or ability. When Berry asks for a blue ocean, he can do the job, and the other crayons change their minds about him.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
A game with sticks and stones leaves Rita with a hurt head. Ralph’s apology fails because he arrives cranky, and Rita’s visit doesn’t fix things either, but after an unhappy night the friends find their way back together.
Recommended by ParentMapStory & parent notes
Ruby’s worry grows when she ignores it and keeps it to herself. When she notices another child with a worry and invites him to talk, his worry shrinks, and so does hers when she shares it.
Recommended by New Orleans MomStory & parent notes
Elliot in the United States and Kailash in India trade illustrated letters about their homes, how they get around and how they write. Each boy sees what is the same and what differs in the other’s life.
Recommended by Urban Mom TalesStory & parent notes
Ava and her mother treasure Saturday because her mother works the other six days. When their plans go wrong, Ava reminds her mother that spending the day together is what matters.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
Scaredy Squirrel stays in his nut tree to avoid sharks, killer bees, Martians and germs. When something unexpected sends him out of it, he discovers he can glide, and his world grows a little.
Recommended by What Do We Do All Day?Story & parent notes
Each of the mice touches one part of the unfamiliar thing and names something different: a snake, a fan, a spear. The last mouse explores the whole animal, and the others check her answer themselves.
Recommended by Kind and Firm ParentingStory & parent notes
A little hermit crab wants his new shell to himself and tells the anemone and the bristleworm to leave. After trouble in the rock pool he sees he needs them, and the three share the shell.
Recommended by Little Green CraftsStory & parent notes
Sheila Rae is sure she is the brave one and thinks her little sister Louise is a scaredy-cat. When Sheila Rae gets lost, Louise, who followed her, swings down from a tree and leads her home.
Recommended by What Do We Do All Day?Story & parent notes
Gerald debates whether to give Piggie some of his ice cream, and debates so long that it melts. Then Piggie arrives and offers to share her own ice cream with him.
Recommended by Urban Mom TalesStory & parent notes
Louis Braille loses his sight in childhood and wants to read. The raised-letter books at his school in Paris don’t give him the access he wants, so he keeps working on a better way.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
A valentine sent to him by mistake gets lonely Mr. Hatch sharing candy at work and helping a shopkeeper get to the doctor. When he pulls back into himself, his neighbors come together to show they care.
Recommended by Brighter Day PressStory & parent notes
Molly Lou is short, clumsy and buck-toothed, with a frog-like voice. Her grandmother told her to walk proudly and believe in herself, and at a new school she does, even when Ronald Durkin picks on her.
Recommended by Read. Eat. Repeat.Story & parent notes
A boy and his tiny elephant are turned away from the Pet Club in the rain. They meet a girl and her skunk who were turned away too, and together they start a club that welcomes everyone.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
Swimmy is the one black fish in a school of red ones. He suggests that the red fish swim together in the shape of one big fish, with Swimmy as its dark eye.
Recommended by The Little Wooden HorseStory & parent notes
Pangolin breaks the queen’s swing and is afraid to tell her. He tells Badger first, then faces the queen and tells her the truth, and she takes it well.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
A boy follows the smell of Omu’s stew and thanks her when she gives him a portion. At the end he brings a thank-you note while the neighbors return with food.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
Beekle waits on an island for a child to choose him, and no one does. So he sets out in a small boat to find his friend, and he keeps looking, even climbing a tree when he still feels alone, until Alice calls to him.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
The boy reacts strongly to noise, disappointment, happiness and other people’s feelings, and he tries to keep his own inside. When he meets a girl with equally big feelings, he sees that he can say what he feels.
Recommended by New Orleans MomStory & parent notes
The Color Monster’s feelings are all mixed up, so each one gets a color and a description and is sorted into its own place. With words for what it feels, the monster reaches a calmer state.
Recommended by New Orleans MomStory & parent notes
Liam finds a patch of struggling plants on an old railway and doesn’t yet know how to look after them. He waters too much and has trouble pruning, then teaches himself better ways to care for the garden.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
Chris loves pretending to be an astronaut but is afraid of the dark at bedtime. Watching the televised moon landing shows him the darkness of space, and he starts to see dark as a place for exploration and his own dreams.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Duncan finds letters from crayons that are unhappy about how they are used or ignored. Each has a different complaint, and he answers with a new drawing that gives them all different jobs.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
Digger notices one blue flower and looks after it, watering it, sheltering it from the wind and singing to it. When it is cut down, he plants its seeds so new flowers can grow.
Recommended by Happily Ever ElephantsStory & parent notes
Two children divide twelve cookies between them. Each time more friends arrive they divide the cookies again so everyone gets a share, until each person would have one cookie.
Recommended by What Do We Do All Day?Story & parent notes
Vashti is sure she can’t draw. Her teacher asks her to sign one angry little dot, and finding it framed the next week sets her painting dot after dot.
Recommended by Children’s Library LadyStory & parent notes
Kevin the koala feels safe in his tree, so he turns down every invitation and talks himself out of the bonfire singalong. After the scare of his tree falling, he is ready to try new things.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
A lion lets a small mouse go free. Later, when he is caught in a poacher’s rope trap, the mouse comes back and helps him get loose.
Recommended by Inspire the MomStory & parent notes
When her brothers say she doesn’t know how to build a fort, Ruby says she will learn, and she does, cutting and hammering with her mother and grandmother. She does the work she said she would do.
Recommended by Rachel FunezStory & parent notes
The hen’s housemates, a cat, a dog and a mouse, won’t help, so she says she will do it herself: plant and tend the wheat, then make the flour into a cake. Each time she says she will do a job, she does it.
Recommended by Baby Toddler Book ClubStory & parent notes
A girl and her dog try again and again to make something magnificent, but nothing matches her plan. After she takes a break, she goes back to the project and finishes it.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
When Taylor’s block tower falls, animals arrive one by one suggesting talking, shouting, fixing or hiding. The rabbit just sits close and listens, and Taylor starts to talk through feelings and decide what to do.
Recommended by Build Strong ChildrenStory & parent notes
George the giant buys a new outfit, then gives his tie to a cold giraffe and his shirt to a goat who needs a sail. His belt helps a dog cross a bog, and at the end he gets a crown for his kindness.
Recommended by Inspire the MomStory & parent notes
Worrysaurus packs for a picnic on a clear day, but questions about supplies and a lizard’s warning about rain set off his worry. He remembers his mother’s reassuring words, looks through his happy things and goes back to enjoying the day.
Recommended by New Orleans MomStory & parent notes
Jeremy wants the black high-tops everyone has, but his grandmother has to spend their money on winter boots. After a too-small pair hurts his feet, he gives them to his friend Antonio and sees what his boots, his grandmother and his friendship are worth.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
A mouse and a squirrel argue over figs or twigs and blue or red, and part in a huff. Then they decide they can disagree and still be friends.
Recommended by LibraryMomStory & parent notes
Wemberly imagines everything that could go wrong, and the thought of school makes it worse. At school she meets another child with worries like hers, and sharing them eases her own.
Recommended by New Orleans MomStory & parent notes
Each page shows a close view of an animal part, such as a tail, and asks what the animal does with it. The next page answers, and more facts let readers keep investigating.
Recommended by Hey Mrs. Library LadyStory & parent notes
A child tries to ignore an idea, worried that others will think it is silly. Then the child decides to feed and look after it, and the idea grows into something that changes the world.
Recommended by Wichita MomStory & parent notes
Peter can’t whistle yet, and his first tries make no sound. He keeps playing and practicing until he whistles for Willie.
Recommended by Pragmatic MomStory & parent notes
Whoever You Are shows children around the world whose looks, homes, languages and schools differ. It says all of them share love, joy, pain and tears.
Recommended by Mama.Papa.Bubba.Story & parent notes
Wilfrid hears that his elderly neighbor Miss Nancy has lost her memory. He asks the people around him what a memory is, brings her objects that match their answers, and the objects help her remember.
Recommended by Can we read? — Children’s books about valuesStory & parent notesTry another title, author, or age, or clear the filters.