Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Book recommendations: age 3-5

Hi everyone - I have been asked to create stickies for threads with lists of book recommendations gathered from member posts for different age ranges (0-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, 13+). Here is the thread for the 3-5 age range.

Glad to see this list!
Our DD loved reading Milly Molly Mandy by Joyce Lankester Brisley when she was 3-4. Amazon lists several versions as available and one does need to double check which stories are included in which book to avoid repetition. These books are quite retro and have no "scary" elements, bad language, or violence. Good for the advanced young reader as the stories have more advanced vocabulary.

For fiction: A bunch of books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Spoon, Exclamation Mark, Little Pea/Little Oink/Little Hoot, This Plus That, Wumbers), Stuck by Oliver Jeffers, Penrose the Mathematical Cat (for mathy kids), We just found a really cool book called The Numberlys by William Joyce...he also wrote The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore, which is fabulous. Math Curse (and Science Curse, to a lesser extent) by Jon Scieszka. If I think of any more I'll add them later.

We also like a lot of non-fiction over here, examples being the scholastic read-about-science books.

Some favorites of ours:

Bill Peet's picture books
Blueberries for Sal and other Robert McCloskey books
James Marshall's fairy tale retellings, and George and Martha by Marshall
Frog and Toad, and other easy readers by Arnold Lobel
The Story of Ferdinand—Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson
Millions of Cats—Wanda Gag
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge--Hildegarde H. Swift
The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes—DuBose Heyward
Roxaboxen—Barbara Cooney
Miss Rumphius—Barbara Cooney
Rosemary Wells' picture books (watch out for knock-offs based on TV series)
Kevin Henkes' picture books
Angus and the Ducks (and sequels)—Marjorie Flack
Stellaluna—Janell Cannon
Verdi—Janell Cannon
Leo Lionni's picture books
Some Dogs Do (can be read as a gifted theme)--Jez Alborough

Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems
Pigeon series by Mo Willems
Henry and Mudge series by Cynthia Rylant
Magic School Bus series
Wet Dog by Elise Broach (David Catrow has become our favorite illustrator)

My DS5 actually really likes the Fancy Nancy book series by

O'Connor, Jane/ Preiss-Glasser, Robin

They are very colorful and engaging visually,and he's learning "fancy" words in a fun way.

Thanks Mark!

Picture books illustrated and written by Brian Floca
Mercy Watson by DiCamillo
Bink and Gollie by DiCamillo
Nate the Great by Marjorie
Dodsworth books by Tim Egan (my favorite!)
Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg (a must have at age age but it really clicked at age 3 for DD)

Mr. Putter and Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant
Oliver Pig and Amanda Pig series by Jean Van Leuwen
Bubba and Beau series by Kathi Appelt

Fiction
Lost+Found by Oliver Jeffers
The Dark by Lemony Snicket/Jon Klassen
Billy and Blaze series by C. W. Andersen

Non-fiction:
Pierre the Penguin: A True Story by Jean Marzollo
The Planet Hunter: What Happened to Pluto by Elizabeth Rusch and Guy Francis
The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice Provensen
Barnum's Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World by Tracey Fern
The Great Horse-Less Carriage Race by Michael Dooling
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley
The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux by Emily Arnold McCully
Honda: The Boy Who Dreamed of Cars by Mark Weston
James Herriot's Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of Every Living Thing