Rainforest Preschool Books

I recently created a Rainforest Discovery Box for my preschooler that she LOVED. A big part of our preschooling at home is including a wide collection of books for our discovery boxes. Of all of the books we read about rainforests, here were our most recommended rainforest preschool books.. (I basically checked out every book at the library about rainforests so that you don’t have to!)

(And a post is coming soon about what I included in our Rainforest Discovery Box!)

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Board Books about the Rainforest (For Toddlers, Too!)

Amazing Animals: Rainforest Romp

This book is SO MUCH FUN. So much fun. Kids learn all about different rainforest animals in South America. There’s a heavy emphasis on the sounds the different animals make which kids LOVE. (I caught my toddler flipping through it independently making howler monkey sounds one day.)

And at the end- it asks if you noticed the other animals hidden in the pictures, prompting kids to go back through the book again for a seek-and-find adventure.

Of all the books on this list, THIS is the most fun and the one we read the most. Both my toddler and preschooler LOVED it.

This is also a GREAT ONE to have fun making all different kinds of animal sounds with your kiddo- howler monkeys, jaguars, snakes- you name it.

It’s available on Amazon here.

Hello, World: Rainforest Animals

I seriously seriously love the Hello World books for introducing nonfiction concepts to my kiddos. The illustrations are fun, colorful, and engaging. The text presents information in a really clear and easy to understand manner. But each page ALSO offers additional information if your kiddo is ready for more.

In Rainforest Animals, clearly the emphasis is on South American animals. My kids both loved it and we paired it up with some rainforest animal language cards for a fun activity to use the book even more.

It’s available on Amazon here.

Enchanting Picture Books

Secrets of the Rainforest: A Shine-a-Light-Book

LOVE THESE. Each page has a black page that you shine a flashlight behind to reveal an image. They’re fun, interactive, and engaging.

This one sticks true to the name and each page reveals different parts of the rainforest. Surprises include insects hiding behind plants, baby monkeys on their mamas’ back (which elicited squeals of delight from my girls), and a pink river dolphin swimming through a river. (I didn’t even know a pink river dolphin was a thing!!)

Really- my kid is in it for a reason to use a flashlight. But it’s so unique from the other books on this list that it definitely ranks as one of her favorites.

It’s available on Amazon here.

Over and Under the Rainforest

I really love the Over and Under books. And while this wasn’t my favorite one in the series, it still had that captivating element that these books tend to have.

In this book, a kid goes on a walk through a South American rainforest and hears all sorts of different animals. This book also introduced animals that we had not seen before in our other rainforest books, which I appreciated.

It’s available on Amazon here.

Nonfiction Rainforest Books for Preschoolers

Rainforests (Seedlings)

The books from Seedlings are a FANTASTIC introduction to nonfiction. The book uses real images and full color pages. Additionally, text is limited to a sentence or two for shorter attention spans.

I enjoyed this one because in addition to talking about animals, it also talked about why a rainforest is a rainforest and included different vocabulary like “canopy” and “forest floor.” We also paired this with our language cards.

It’s available on Amazon here.

Rainforest Animals (DK Level 2)

A little more advanced than the Seedlings book but still very accessible. I loved this book’s charts of where animals reside in rainforests (canopy, emergent layer, understory, etc.) which paired great with a sorting activity we did.

Additionally, I appreciated that they included a section on how some rainforests are in danger (never too early to introduce the idea of conservation), but I wish it had included ways for kids to actually help.

It’s available on Amazon here.

National Geographic Kids: Rainforests (Level 2)

Another great one for preschoolers- this one has a little more information than the Seedlings book. This one is suitable for older preschoolers and elementary school aged kids. (It also includes jokes on each page that go over my daughter’s head but would be right up a 7-year-old’s alley.)

What I loved the most about this book is that it included rainforests from around the world and not just South America (which I felt like all of the other books on this list really just focused on South America.)

It includes a map and helps kids sort the difference between tropical and temperate rainforests. It also has famous rainforests around the world.

This was a great pairing with our geography activities in our Rainforest Discovery Box. (I promise this post is coming soon!)

This book is available on Amazon here.

And if you’re looking for more National Geographic books for younger kids, they also have several Go Wild! books about animals like lemurs and frogs.

DK Eyewitness: The Amazon

Definitely the most information-heavy book on this list, we used this more just to flip through.

Full of fun images and A LOT of text- it’s a great reference book to pique interest about different topics. (And if you have older kids in your home- it’s a great reference book for them.)

What I loved about this book- it included cultural elements of people groups who live in different rainforests and information on ancient civilizations like the Inca. I loved this. So many books for young kids focus exclusively on animals, which is great, but it’s never too early to bring in social studies!

It’s available on Amazon here.