Favorite Beach Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers

There are so many beach-themed books for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.  Honestly, it can be overwhelming.  As someone who LOVES reading with their kids, and loves incorporating books into our trips, it was hard for me initially to not feel overloaded with all of the options there were for beach and ocean themed books.

But over the last three years, we’ve tried countless books for our annual beach trip or our ocean-themed preschool units.  Out of all of them, these are the ones that I would recommend time and time again.

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Beach-themed books for babies and toddlers

Who Am I? Under the Sea– Little Hippo Books

For your littlest bookworm- this was one of the first books that my second daughter really gravitated towards.  At about the age of four months, she started to love the textures and bright colors.  

The rhyming is engaging and each page features an ocean animal with different textures.  My favorite part is that the textured portion takes up almost the entire page. This makes it easy for babies who don’t have good fine motor control yet to still find the textured part.

Even though she’s now at the ripe old age of one, she still loves interacting with this book. Additionally, my preschooler also enjoys it. She still loves feeling the textures, has the book memorized, and loves reading it to her baby sister.) 

Available on Amazon here.

Poppy’s Shape Search– A Kiwi Co Book

This Kiwi Co Book came from the Panda Crate line and is loved by both my infant and my preschooler.  Poppy and her friends look for shapes in nature and end up finding many shapes right on the beach.

When my oldest was about two and a half, she wanted to draw shapes in the sand just like they do in this book.  

It’s simple, teaches shapes, and has held up great despite being frequently held by little baby and toddler hands.

Biscuit’s First Beach Day by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

The Biscuit series was one we used to help bridge my daughter from simpler board books to slightly longer picture books.  The familiar characters and simple plots makes this a great one for older toddlers that are just starting to move into longer texts.  

The Biscuit books are always sweet and my girls love how Biscuit interacts with his friends.  Biscuit visits the beach with his friends.  They build sandcastles, have a picnic, and splash in the waves.  It’s pretty much the recipe for a great beach day.

This book gave my daughter an idea of what to expect before her own trip to the beach as a toddler.

It’s available on Amazon here.

Beach-themed picture books for preschoolers

Curious George– Chasing Waves (Curious about Tides)

WE LOVE CURIOUS GEORGE.  There’s not many children’s shows that I can sit through, but if I was absolutely alone in the living room and Curious George was on, I would still sit down to watch it.  I’ve learned so much from Curious George it’s almost comical.  (Judge away, but it’s the truth!)

Chasing Waves is a book based on an episode.  The plot centers around George having fun at the beach with his friend Marco but when they lose a necklace that they buried in the sand, they learn about tides AND how dolphins use sonar to locate objects.  Talk about a heart racing thriller that’s also educational!  

But in all seriousness, it does a great job of explaining to preschoolers how tides work and how they can change the shoreline.

My daughter read the book repeatedly before she ever saw the episode.  But when we did finally watch the episode, she lit up saying “This is the same as the book we have!!  I love this story!!”

And when we stood on the beach, she explained to me that it was currently low tide, but that high tide would be coming soon- just like it did “in that Curious George book.”

Extra bonus- this one is great for toddlers as well as their love for Curious George will keep their attention even if it is trying to slip in facts about how tides work.

Available here.

Duck and Goose Go to the Beach by Tad Hills

We love Duck and Goose- maybe even more than Curious George.  If you haven’t read a Duck and Goose book before, they feature two best friends.  Duck is a little more adventurous whereas Goose tends to be more cautious.

In this one, Duck is eager to go to the beach, whereas Goose is a bit more apprehensive.  They spend the day together exploring the beach, and while I won’t spoil the ending for you, it is both heartwarming and highly relatable.  

All of the Duck and Goose books are fantastic, but I think this is my preschooler’s second favorite Duck and Goose book. (Honk Quack Boo will always reign supreme in her little heart, though.)

Overall, this is such a sweet story about a trip to the beach and one that we revisit often.

Available here.

Kellan’s Search for Shells– a Kiwi Co book

There’s a lot of things we enjoyed about the Panda and Koala crates from Kiwi Co, but our favorite part of each crate were the books.  These books stay on my daughters’ shelf year-round and are frequently revisited. 

In Kellan’s Search for Shells Kellan and his friends search for a new shell for a crab.  They struggle to find one that’s just right (think a real Goldilocks and the Three Bears situation here), but eventually (spoiler alert) find the crab a good shell to live in.

It’s simple, but it’s adorable.  The book features teamwork and teaches different adjectives for describing shells. 

Additionally, the small size of Kiwi Co books make them perfect to fit in suitcases, beach bags, and car bags.  These go with us on almost every trip and have held up incredibly well.  

I Hear You, Ocean by Kallie George and Carmen Mok

Kallie George is probably one of our favorite children’s authors, and this book was another delightful read from her.  Two brothers explore the rocky shores and listen to the different sounds of the beach.  With beautiful illustrations and an emphasis on taking your time to explore all that the beach has to offer, this book is a great one for preschoolers. 

It offers inspiration for their own exploration of the beach and is one that my preschooler has kept coming back to.  This book is especially good for rocky beaches like in Maine or the Pacific Northwest.

Available here.

Pirate Pups! (Paw Patrol- A Little Golden Book)

My daughter has actually never seen an episode of Paw Patrol, but she still really loved this book.  It features the pups going on an adventure with a map to find treasure buried by a pirate.  

This book has made my daughter eager to “play pirate,” dig in sand for buried treasure, and use treasure maps around our backyard.  And when I told her on our last beach trip that it was rumored there was some Spanish treasure buried somewhere in the vicinity, her face absolutely lit up and she exclaimed “like in the Paw Patrol book! Let’s go find it!”

It’s cute, it’s fun- it’s a win.

Available here.

Beach-themed non-fiction books for preschoolers

It’s never too early to introduce non-fiction to toddlers! (A post on my favorite series to introduce nonfiction is coming soon!)  And the beach is a great subject to use to introduce nonfiction books. The pictures and sea animals have a knack for grabbing the attention even of the wriggliest learners.

National Geographic Kids: At the Beach (Pre-Reader)

I purchased this for my daughter when she was 2.5 and it has grown with her.  We started off that first summer just looking at the pictures together.  The next summer we read it together repeatedly and talked about what everything meant.  By next summer or so, I’m confident that she will be reading parts of it on her own.  

The simple sentences and engaging photos keep even a toddler’s attention.  Additionally, its focus on the shore really cements experiences they may have had at the beach.  Lastly, its discussion of tides corroborates the lesson of Curious George Chasing Waves.  When read together, even the youngest of preschoolers have a really solid knowledge of the effects of tides on the shore. 

Available here.

National Geographic Kids: In the Ocean by Jennifer Szymanski (Level 1)

This one I also started with my daughter when she was 2.5 years old along with At the Beach.  While it is a little more advanced (as it’s a Level 1), she still really enjoyed the images and listening to it.  She would also match her Toob Ocean figurines to the animals in the book.

This book features different marine life along with different ways that people use the ocean.  The words are simple enough that as she begins reading, this will be one that will continue to grow with her.  (Level 1 is called You Read I Read and features one page that’s meant to be read by your child next to a page that’s meant to be read by you.  The format supports reading together and supporting your new reader.)

The pictures are engaging, it’s light, and it’s easy to toss into a beach bag.  It’s going to come with us to the beach for several years in the future.

Available here.

National Geographic Kids: First Big Book of the Ocean

This one is so much fun.  While definitely more comprehensive and probably better for older preschoolers or elementary aged kids, this book gives an overview on a multitude of topics.  The pictures of wildlife are so engaging and are exactly what you would expect from National Geographic.

Organized by oceans, this book dives into (pardon the pun) different ocean life throughout the world.  My preschooler loved the pictures- I loved that it tied into our geography studies and helped reinforce her understanding of the world’s five oceans.

Available here.

National Geographic Kids Go Wild: Sea Turtles

My daughter LOVES sea turtles, so this book was a must for us.  With vibrant pictures and fun fonts, this book is a great introduction for preschoolers.  It highlights habitats, where they live (and includes a world map- which my three year old really got excited about because it gave her a chance to sing her continents’ song), basic anatomy, life cycles, and different types of sea turtles.  

It also answers questions that preschoolers often have like “how do they breathe?” and “what do they eat?”  This book was both easily digestible and informative.

At the end it introduces challenges that sea turtles are facing, which is a great way for children to start to realize that they can help the animals that they love.

This is one that my preschooler has come to time and time again- both to have me read to her and to look through independently.

Available here.

Blast Off: Ocean Animals Sea Turtles and Dolphins by Christina Leaf

I genuinely enjoy the Blast Off Beginners Series.  While not quite as interactive as other series like National Geographic, these books are informative, simple, and to the point.  The images are actual pictures which is great for preschoolers’ interests.   Each page features only one or two facts about the animal, keeping it from being overwhelming for preschoolers.  (Some of the National Geographic books can get a bit overwhelming for younger learners.)

Additionally, there is a very simple table of contents and index in the book. This provides a great chance to teach your child how to navigate a book.  The words are also accessible for emerging readers, so these books will appeal to children of different ages.

Lastly, what I love the most about the Blast Off Beginners Series is the sheer scope of topics they offer.  My daughter picked out books on dolphins and sea turtles because that’s what she was hoping to see on the Okaloosa Island Pier the most (check out my post on things to do with little ones in the Florida Panhandle here), but they have NUMEROUS books about all kinds of topics.  For ocean books, they have a book for pretty much any animal your child can dream of, including jellyfish, octopuses, sharks, walruses, crabs, and whales.  

This variety really allows for your child to explore their own interests with books that are in a simple, accessible format.

Hello, World Kids’ Guides: Exploring Sharks by Jill McDonald

We love the Hello, World series for toddlers and preschoolers,. While this book is geared towards school-aged children, it still captivated my daughter’s attention.  (I’ll be honest, when we first opened it, I thought I had really missed the mark. I thought it would just be too detailed to hold her attention.  However, she has asked me REPEATEDLY to read it to her again and again.)

The illustrations are fun, and while we don’t go into all of the facts that the book offers, it does give a fun overview of different kinds of sharks.  Much like the National Geographic Little Kids series, this is a book that would be easily adaptable for different aged children in your home.

Available here.

National Geographic Little Kids’ First Nature Guide: Explore the Beach

The most advanced book on this list, this book is scalable for different ages.  For preschoolers, the pictures are rich and engaging.  For elementary aged kids, the book is full of facts about shells, tide pools, fish, and seabirds.  Focusing on life near the shore, this is a great book for exploring in more detail how the beach serves as a habitat for so many different animals.  

While it’s more in depth than other books on this list, this is definitely a great book if you have different aged children in your family.  If your oldest though is a preschooler, this is probably one that I would wait on.

Last Thoughts

I love incorporating themed books into our learning activities at home or into our travels. Additionally, I love books that children are eager to read again and again, and these books pass that test. I hope this list helps you find some books for your own little oceanographer to love!

And if you’re looking for more Montessori inspired ocean-themed learning activities for your preschooler or toddler, check out my post here.