As you can probably tell from the title of this article, we’re going to be exploring pre-school reading books in today’s piece.
Introducing your child to letters, words, and reading from an early (pre-school) age is by far and away one of the best things you can do for your little one. The best way to do this is through books; however, with so many pre-school reading books out there, it can often be a confusing task trying to decipher which books are best suited to pre-school reading and learning and which books will be the most effective at introducing your child to the alphabet and the words that are formed from it.
Luckily for you, we’ve examined hundreds upon hundreds of pre-school books, and in today’s post, we’re going to be sharing with you our top picks. Of course, this list certainly isn’t exhaustive (it’d take us a couple of years to look through every single pre-school reading book!), but it should give you a solid base from which to introduce your little one to letters, words, and reading.
What are the best reading and learning books for pre-school kids?
My First Library: 10 Board Books for Kids
My First Library from Wonder House Books is precisely that; your child’s first library of their own! It contains a total of ten well-researched books that will introduce your little one to a myriad of everyday words and objects, as well as important early learning topics. Each page has vibrant images and word labels to help your child begin to build their vocabulary in a fun and engaging manner. Topics included in this set of ten books are: Transport, wild animals, farm animals and pets, numbers, shapes, ABC, colors, birds, vegetables, and fruits.
This board books library for pre-school kids is an Amazon bestseller and has nearly 12,000 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/5 stars. If you’re looking to get your child’s reading journey started, this is one of the best places to start. Period.
First Little Readers: 25 Irresistible Books That Are Just The Right Level For Beginning Readers – Level A
Scholastic First Little Readers 25-book pack is the perfect introduction to reading for pre-school children. Containing a whopping 25 books, this set of pre-school books covers a vast array of topics and includes a huge amount of words – perfect for getting your little one’s reading journey started! Each page has bright, colorful, and engaging images in conjunction with simple sentences to help your child learned to read with ease and confidence. What’s more, this 25-book pack is exceptional value for money. As is evident from the average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars, this pre-school reading pack is highly rated by parents.
Sight Word Readers: Learning The First 50 Sight Words Is A Snap!
Sight words are a critical element of learning to recognize words and letters, and ultimately, learning to read; therefore, pre-school children need to become familiar with a range of high-frequency words before they start school.
Scholastic’s Sight Word Readers is a fantastic way to introduce your child to 50 sight words, helping them to learn these high-frequency words in a quick and effective manner. Spread over 25 colorful and engaging books, this set of pre-school books will boost reading skills, expand vocabulary, and boost confidence. Furthermore, included with this set is a mini-workbook that’s jam-packed with fun activities to help your child begin to write.
Rated at an impressive 4.8 out of stars from in excess of 5,300 reviews, it’s no surprise that this book is top-rated amongst parents of pre-school children. If you’re looking for a sight-word activity book for a pre-school child, this should be your choice.
Bob Books: Set 1 – Beginning Readers
Bob Books were designed for one purpose: to facilitate the moment when letters turn into your child’s first words. They’re expertly structured to slowly introduce your little one to new letters and letter sounds, using repetition, consistency, and short stories to help introduce your pre-school child to the wonderful world of words.
This set – Set 1 – focuses on four letters, which are used throughout the entire book, meaning your child will learn to read a whole 16-page book knowing just letters! This will not only help to further their understanding of letters and how they’re used to form words, but will also boost their confidence. As the series progresses, more letters and sounds are added until your little one is familiar with every letter and a wide array of words.
An impressive 4.8 out of stars from well over 10,500 reviews lays testament to how popular, effective, and well-loved this pre-school reading book series is. It’s on this list for a reason – it’s fun, engaging, and very effective at helping young children read. Period.
Meet The Sight Words: Level 1
As we discussed a little earlier on in this article, sight words are essential for building reading, writing, spelling, and comprehension skills; therefore, it should come as no surprise to see another sight word-based book set featured in our list of the best reading books for pre-school kids!
Meet The Sight Words: Level 1 pays specific focus to the 16 most commonly used sight words. Split over 12 easy reading books, this set of books will help your child to learn these 16 words in a fun and exciting ways. But, it doesn’t stop there; this set of books also contain some non-sight words, meaning your child is can further develop their vocabulary through decoding the visual clues included.
The Meet The Sight Words series has won more than 25 national awards and is used by thousands of teachers and parents across the country. Plus, with over 1,300 reviews with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars, it’s easy to see why it is so popular.
Pete the Cat Phonics Box
Published by renowned educational publisher Harper Collins, Pete the Cat Phonics Box is a set of fun and colorful storybooks (12 in total) that are designed for beginner readers aged between three and six.
Created by phonics experts, Pete the Cat books include repeated examples of short and long vowel sounds and the most common sight words. Each of the 12 simple stories included in this boxset has been created for one reason: to help young children to read… while having fun with Pete the Cat at the same time!
Phonics is an integral and critical element of learning to read and write as it teaches children the relationship between letters and letter sounds. Children who master these relationships build a solid foundation for learning, particularly where reading and spelling in relation to spelling and reading. In fact, according to research carried out by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, children who learn phonics have a method by which they can decode words they don’t recognize.
Like most of the books and book sets on this list, Pete the Cat Phonics Box has a very high rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars from well over 3,600 reviews. We highly recommend this phonics book set.
Learn to Read: Sight Words Storybook
Although we’ve already featured a couple of sight word based books in this list, we cannot emphasize just how essential learning high-frequency words are, so we’re including another one! We feel this is important as not every book will suit every child; therefore, it’s wise to have several options/different learning methods to see which works best.
This offering from Rockridge Press contains 50 essential sight words and utilizes colorful and engaging illustrated stories to help teach children to recognize letters and words and understand their meanings. To further reinforce this, each story is followed by fun activities to really cement what they’ve learned.
Learn to Read: Sight Words Storybook contains:
- Twenty-five stories in which sight words are introduced progressively, with each story increasing ever so slightly in difficulty.
- The most common sight words, which gives your child a robust foundation for reading.
- Fun and educational activities designed to reinforce learning and build confidence.
With an impressive rating of 4.6 out of 5 from over 850 ratings, this certainly is a great option for teaching sight words to pre-school children.
Educational Insights: Hot Dots Jr. – Let’s Master Pre-K Reading
Explicitly designed for pre-kindergarten kids, this comprehensive workbook from Educational Insights is sure to ignite a spark in your little one. It has been created by experts and structured in a way to give your little one the best possible start for academic success, using fun and engaging activities to introduce and then reinforce early reading skills.
Hot Dots Jr. Let’s Master Pre-K Reading contains two books with a whopping 100 lessons included, covering such topics as sight words, punctuation, letter recognition, reading readiness, grammar, and much, much more. Plus, there are also 15 activity-based challenges designed to help your child prepare and transition to the next stage of learning. The interactive electronic pen is a great addition, and your child will not only be fascinated by it but will also love using it too!
My First Bob Books: Pre-Reading Skills
Yes, that’s right – another pre-school reading book from Bob Books! This pre-reading skills book expands on the step-by-step philosophy synonymous with Bob Books and offers pre-school children a straightforward and rewarding structure to facilitate reading. This specific set uses hilarious read-aloud stories and tales to introduce your child to sequencing, relational, and spatial concepts that are required for independent reading.
We highly recommend this book if you’ve purchased or are keen on purchasing the Bob Books Set 1: Beginning readers.
Bob Books: Alphabet
Yes, that’s right – yet another pre-school reading book from Bob Books! This book is designed for children who are quite ready for Bob Books Set 1 and focuses specifically on the alphabet to familiarise your little one with the 26 individual letters. It uses funny and engaging stories to motivate and inspire your child while simultaneously introducing them to letters and letter sounds. It teaches them the name of each letter and the sound(s) they represent.
This book set contains:
- Twelve books for you and your child to explore, with each book focusing on two letters – both upper and lower case.
- Alliterating stories so your child can listen out for letter sounds.
- Hints inside each front cover to help your child learn quickly.
If your little one isn’t ready to beginning reading just yet, this is a fantastic choice for introducing them to the alphabet and letter sounds.
Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers: 15 Classic Stories That Are “Just Right” For Young Readers
Is there anything more synonymous with children’s reading than Fairy tales? We think not! Aimed at pre-school and kindergarten children, this set of 15 classic stories is the perfect way to introduce your little one to the exciting world of reading! Each story includes simple and easy-to-read text, supportive images, and a helpful glossary to help develop reading skills and build confidence.
Included in this early reading book set are the following classic fairy tales and stories:
- The Ugly Duckling.
- Cinderella.
- The Tortoise and The Hare.
- Martina and The Cockroach.
- Goldilocks and The Three Bears.
- The Gingerbread Man.
- The Three Little Pigs.
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
- The Spider and The Beehive.
- Stone Soup.
- The City Mouse and The Country Mouse.
- The Elves and The Shoemaker.
- The Little Red Hen.
- The Princess and The Pea.
- The Nightingale.
And if you want to make it even more fun and engaging, why not get all of these stories on audio CD (with the books included) here.
Fairy tales and classic stories take every adult back to childhood; after all, they’re part and parcel of growing up and learning to read.