Best Travel Books for Toddlers: Exploring the World From Home

I want my children to have a curiosity about the world and I want them to love to travel. (Also- if they love to travel as much as I do, then hopefully they’ll be more patient on long car rides!) I also want them to have an early introduction to geography and culture! So to start exploring the world with them as early as possible, right from the comfort of my own home, these are some of the best books I’ve found about travel for toddlers (and babies!)

I’ll be honest- this initially started as a desperately needed break from reading about barnyard animal sounds.   

Did I feel crazy telling my 6 month old “Look!  There’s the Statue of Liberty.  You can climb all the way to the tippity top.  Mommy’s done it.  Back when she was able to travel for her career and felt like a professional adult.”  Sure. 

But it allowed me to use a different part of my brain– even if I was actively being drooled on by a teething baby.

And then slowly- something started to happen.  As we entered the toddler years, she started gravitating towards the travel books.  Maybe it was the pictures.  Maybe it was the stories I told in addition to the books.  I’m not really sure- but suddenly things were clicking.  

And by the ripe old age of 3- she had a travel list a mile long and is the most eager traveler in our family.

So here’s our favorite travel-themed books for babies and toddlers to hopefully instill in your own little ones a desire to explore the world (or just give your brain a break from reciting Sandra Boynton rhymes.  (We love Sandra Boynton books- don’t get me wrong- but I hear Moo Baa La La La in my sleep.)

And if the books can teach basic concepts like colors and shapes- even better!

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Great for Engaging Images for Babies: Jane Foster’s City Books- London, Paris, New York City

Jane Foster’s books all follow a pretty similar format.  They’re board books- so great for little hands.  Each page has a brightly colored illustration with the name of the object.  There’s not a ton of reading, but babies and young toddlers like the vibrant pictures. And you can always certainly elaborate on each picture if you want.

For example, her London book has an illustration of Big Ben, the London Eye, and Tower Bridge.  

They’re not the most content rich, but it’s a fun starting point for the littlest learners. (They’re also typically widely available in public libraries, but if your library doesn’t have them, they’re available on Amazon here.)

My daughter really liked just flipping through them independently and looking at the illustrations. 

And if you want a similar format but with slightly more content, check out Jane Foster’s Brown Bear Goes to London and Brown Bear Goes to the Museum.

For Introducing Basic Toddler Concepts And Places Around the World: Ashley Evanson’s Hello World Series

There are two different Hello World series and we love and use them both regularly.  But these, by Ashley Evanson, are travel themed board books for babies and toddlers.

Each book has a location and a theme of basic things toddlers are learning.  For example- her book on New York City is all about colors.  The San Francisco book is a numbers primer, Germany focuses on opposites, Rome teaches the days of the week, etc.

We absolutely love these. In addition to travel, there’s a lot of content in these books that can be utilized as your toddler grows. (There is more content here than in the Jane Foster books. I would recommend starting with the Jane Foster books with babies because the illustrations are so bright, but switching to these as you really enter the toddler years.)

The illustrations are bright, cute, and engaging.  

And I don’t know quite what it was about New York: A Book of Colors, but my daughter absolutely fell in love with the idea of traveling to New York City after reading this.  She was barely 2 and asked to read it again and again.  She still gets really excited when she sees anything related to NYC and says that if she could travel anywhere in the world- it would be NYC.  That love for the city really started with Ashley Evanson’s book.

These are all great for babies and young toddlers alike.

Most Unique Travel Primers for Toddlers: All Aboard Series by Lucy Darling

I REALLY love these.  Most of these in the series focus on a major world city (London, Washington, D.C., New York City, etc.) AND serve as a sort of primer for toddlers.  (Similar to Evanson’s Hello World series.)  

HOWEVER, the primer themes are unique, and that’s why I really love these.  Instead of the themes being your standard shapes or colors, these books offer themes such as “a travel primer” or “a landscape primer.”

In addition to a few major cities, other books in this series include the Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes, and California. Again, this is unique from other travel books for toddlers that typically emphasize world cities like London.

Additionally, for each page there’s a cute illustration and just a few simple words.  However, in contrast to the Jane Foster series, these illustrations are A LOT more specific to the location.  (And if I had to choose only one series out of all of these- this series might be the one.)

Another thing that is unique with these is that they all feature train travel.  So if you have a little train enthusiast in your life, they’re sure to love these.

For Introducing the Concept of Global Travel: Berenstain Bears Travel the World

This one is more for older toddlers and maybe even tipping into the preschool age.  When we first read it, my daughter was about 2. I thought she might be a little bit too young for it- but she absolutely LOVED it. 

It’s an Early Reader, so it definitely fewer words than a traditional Berenstain Bears book, which was great for her still being a toddler.

In the book, the Berenstain family travels all over the world in a fun travel machine.  They see major sites on all seven continents and my daughter just absolutely loved it.  (We had to read it so many times to her that I briefly considered hiding it….)

This was also a great introduction to the globe and the concept of seven continents.

While reading the book we’d point to the globe to see where they were-even spinning it around to see the direction they were magically traveling in.  

It was a great book to introduce the idea of global travel for toddlers.

For A Wide Variety of Locations for Young Toddlers: Hello! Series by Martha Day Zschock 

We picked up our first book by Martha Day Zschock at a visitor center in the Smoky Mountains, and we’ve been slowly collecting them since.

Each book features a parent and child animal pair enjoying the day together in a particular place.  As they go throughout their day, they learn about key attractions in each place.  And to make it even cuter- the animals match the theme of the book. For example- in New York City it’s pigeons exploring the city; in Florida it’s alligators.

One thing I particularly like though is that they introduce some local culture or history as well, which is something we always try to do on our trips.  For example, the Smoky Mountain book introduces children to the very basic idea of the Cherokee people living in the Smoky Mountains.

The simple rhyming format and the cute pictures keep little ones engaged.

But perhaps what I appreciate the most is the wide selection.  With over 50 books in the series, it’s easy to find one that your child will relate to.  

Additionally, they focus on both domestic and foreign locations.  So many of these early travel books exclusively highlight major cities like Paris or London.  And while I want my children to learn about these cultural centers early on, it’s going to be A WHILE before we make it a place like London.  

This series has books for places all across the United States that are much more accessible to young families living in America, including entire states, major cities, and national parks.  

We like to get a book related to the place we’re traveling to as a way to help our child remember what we did and/or get excited about a location.  This series is great for that.  (You can read more about how we help our young children remember our trips here)

But I will say one thing with this series that I don’t love- the format is pretty repetitive (even some exact phrases are repetitive.)  With over 50 books in the series, I’m not surprised at all that each one isn’t incredibly original, but I don’t have a strong desire to get every book in the series because they do repeat so much.  We tend to save these for places we’ve personally been to.

For an Incredibly Wide Variety of Locations for Older Toddlers: Good Night, World Series

Another series with a wide range of selections, this series also features simple rhymes that go through a day of traveling through certain locations.

With books about countries AND cities all across the world, this is another series I frequently turn to- especially to use in our country discovery boxes.  

The illustrations are sweet and feature children exploring different places around the world.

Similar to the Zschock books, there’s A LOT OF THEM and they all follow a very similar format.  However, this series has OVER 200 books in it- giving you a good chance of finding an incredibly specific book.

Additionally, the places featured in these books are places that KIDS would want to go to.  For example, Good Night, Atlanta matched our itinerary for a weekend in Atlanta with little kids almost exactly.  The kids in the book visited the Georgia Aquarium and Zoo Atlanta, just like we did. 

Typically in travel books for toddlers they emphasize the major cultural centers or historically important places.  I want my children to learn about globally recognized places of significance, but I also want them to see how travel right now can be exciting. And for them at this age, an awesome zoo or aquarium trip can be just as exciting as the Statue of Liberty.  Maybe even more so.

But similar to the Zschock books, I save these for places that I just can’t find any other books about OR places that are really special to us personally just because there ARE SO MANY.  I don’t want them to become repetitive. 

Closing Thoughts

I hope there’s at least one series on this list that captures your toddler’s interests. Reading travel themed books with my toddlers has been so beneficial. These books have been a great way to instill a love for travel, help cultivate their curiosity about the world, AND introduce cultures and geography to them early.